A varied walk from Crowden-in-Longdendale. The first half is nice and level, then there is a fair bit of uphill, followed by some genuine Dark Peak moorland

• Distance - 12 kilometres
• Terrain - gravel & tarmac track, road, open moor
• OS Map - Outdoor Leisure 1, Peak District Dark Peak
• Parking - Crowden Car Park and Torside Car Park
• Cache - Lad's Leap

 Click on the map to purchase it direct from the Ordnance Survey

This route starts from the car park at Crowden, which gets very full, very quickly. The last two times I've been there were in October and February, and it has been overfull both times. As an alternative, you could start from the car park on the other side of the valley

From Crowden car par, cross the A628 and walk uphill a few hundred yards and take the permissive footpath on the right. Where this crosses a drainage channel, follow it upstream, then take the bridge over the weir

From here, go up to the B6105 join the Longdendale Trail on the far side. This is the old Manchester-Sheffield railway and is very easy walking. Approx 1 km from the start of the trail, a path on the left will take you to the alternative car park at the side of the Torside Reservoir

Where the trail meets the B6105 again, cross the road but do not carry on down the trail, take the metalled track on the far side of the trail. This takes you down to and across the dam between Torside and Rhodeswood reservoirs. On the far side of the reservoir, follow the road until the sharp right hand bend, and at this point take the lower of the two gates on your left. A woodland/field track takes you to the road over the bottom of Rhodeswood reservoir - follow this back up to the A628

Cross the main road and take the path opposite at the side of the wood. After a few zig zags, this takes you into the woods and past Tintwistle Knarr. Past the quarries, the path narrows. Where it crosses a wire fence, cross over Rawkins Brook/Black Gutter and follow the path up to Millstone Rocks and then on to Lads Leap . After leaving Lads Leap, where a decrepit stone wall comes in from the right, follow the linear depression which is in front of you

This path descends, becoming quite steep in places, eventually reaching a crossroads by a fenced wood. Take the path here to the right (actually the Pennine Way). A left turn down the metalled track which later crosses it will take you back to the car par at Crowden

You can find a detailed route card for this walk on the downloads page