The Monsal Trail from Bakewell to Headstone Viaduct

The Monsal Trail is the old Midland railway line through the White Peak, turned into a path. It starts on the edge of Bakewell and runs north and west through the dales to Blackwell, near Buxton. Hassop Station, which hires bikes on it, gives the length as 8.5 miles; the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust gives 8.9 miles. Either way, the part most people from Bakewell do is the first stretch, from the old Bakewell station to Headstone Viaduct over Monsal Dale. Measured along the line as it is mapped on OpenStreetMap, that is about 5.4 kilometres each way.

Getting onto the trail

The trail's official end is Coombs Road on the south-east edge of town, but the usual way on from the centre is at the old Bakewell station, about 700 metres from the Square in a straight line, across the river from the town centre. The station buildings still stand beside the trail. The Walk Wheel Cycle Trust says there are accessible ramps for wheelchairs and mobility scooters at Bakewell station, and Hassop Station describes the surface as flat and easy, suitable for pushchairs and wheelchair users as well as walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riders.

Bakewell station to Hassop Station

Heading north, the trail runs in a shallow cutting and under road bridges for about 1.7 kilometres to Hassop Station. The old station here is now a cafe, bookshop and the base for Monsal Trail Cycle Hire. Both the cafe and the bike hire open 9am to 5pm daily, per Hassop Station's own site. Bikes go out for two hours, four hours or a full day, from hybrids and full-suspension mountain bikes to electric mountain bikes, children's bikes and accessible bikes; you can book online or walk in, and you need photo ID for each bike. If you are walking, this is the obvious place for a coffee.

Hassop to Headstone Viaduct

From Hassop the line swings west, past the old Great Longstone station, about two kilometres further on. Another kilometre and a bit brings you to the east end of Headstone Tunnel. The Walk Wheel Cycle Trust lists four long tunnels on the trail, Headstone, Cressbrook, Litton and Chee Tor, each about 400 metres long, lit during daylight hours on a light sensor. In winter, when the days are short, the lights switch off earlier, around 4.30pm, so if you are on the trail in a winter afternoon carry a torch or bike lights.

Out of the west end of the tunnel you are straight onto Headstone Viaduct, a row of stone arches high over Monsal Dale. A viewpoint above the viaduct looks down on it from the Monsal Head side. Then turn round, or keep going.

Beyond the viaduct

West of the viaduct the trail carries on through Cressbrook and Litton tunnels and the dales Hassop Station names as Water cum Jolly Dale, Millers Dale and Cheedale, where it says there are stepping stones, to Blackwell Mill near Buxton. On a bike from Hassop it is a good half-day out and back. On foot, the viaduct is a sensible turning point for a day based in Bakewell.

How long it takes

• Bakewell station to Hassop Station: about 1.7km, 20 to 25 minutes walking
• Hassop Station to Headstone Viaduct: about 3.7km, 45 to 50 minutes walking
• Bakewell station to the viaduct and back: about 10.8km, allow three hours on foot with stops

Those times assume an easy walking pace on a level surface; on a bike, halve them.

Things to know

The trail is shared by walkers, cyclists, horse riders and wheelchair users, so ring a bell and pass wide and slowly. Keep dogs close near horses and bikes. Hassop Station has a car park if you want to start there, and Bakewell's town car parks are a short walk from the old station.

The railway that was here

Hassop Station says the line was part of the Midland Railway's route between Manchester and London and closed in the late 1960s. Bakewell's own station building survives beside the trail, and Hassop's is the cafe. Nothing runs on it now but bikes, and the nearest working station to Bakewell is Matlock, a bus ride south. The trail itself is free and needs no booking; it is the hire bikes that are worth booking ahead on summer weekends.