Walking in Derbyshire-Castleton.: Walking Mam Tor and Winnats Pass

Walking in Derbyshire-Castleton.: Walking Mam Tor and Winnats Pass: "Walking around Castleton, Treak Cliff Cavern, Odin Mine, Crushing Circle, Old Collapsed Coach Road, Mam Tor, Hollins Cross, Rushups Edge, Bl..."

Walking Mam Tor and Winnats Pass

Walking around Castleton, Treak Cliff Cavern, Odin Mine, Crushing Circle, Old Collapsed Coach Road, Mam Tor, Hollins Cross, Rushups Edge, Blue John Cavern, Windy Knoll, Winnats Pass, Cave Dale, Pevril Castle, Speedwell Cavern and The Devils Arse Cavern.

 

The walk

Start the walk from Castleton visitors centre turning right along cross street. Walking towards Mam Tor and passing The Devils Arse Cavern, continue to follow the road along the bottom of Winnats Pass and then passing the Treak Cavern ( all the caverns are well worth the visit and discount tickets are available for Treak and the Devils Arse) after a while the road comes to an end and to your left is the crushing circle an old mill stone used for grinding and to your right a small cave called Odin mine. From here follow the disused road up and around Mam Tor passing over the collapsed road and at the foot of the landslide, when you get to the road and car park you can continue up the road to the Blue John Cavern and follow the road round and back down Winnats Pass or follow the dirt path at the side of the fence up the side of Mam Tor walking along the edge of the collapsed face. At the top of the Tor looking straight ahead you are looking at Edale and Kinder Scout to your right is Hollins Cross and Back Tor and to your left is Rushups Edge. Follow the path down Mam Tor to your left and descend the stone slab path and take note of the Roman excavations. At the bottom of the path continue in this direction through the fields and pass through Windy Knoll( a small cave were many bones have been excavated from and displayed in the local museums).Coming out of the fields onto Sparrow Pit lane face Rowter Farm. It is possible from here to follow the path through the farm and at the cross path turn left and follow the path down through Cave Dale and past Peveril Castle coming out in the town next to the Devils Arse Cavern. However an easier route is to turn left and head down to Castleton through Winnats Pass, This is a 1 in 4 descent and the edges have lots of little caves among them. At the bottom of Winnats Pass you will see the Speedwell Cavern (where you go into the cavern on a boat at the bottom of the Cavern). Winnats Pass is the scene for a brutal murder and the Pass is rumoured to be haunted. At the bottom of the Pass turn right back past the Devils Arse Cavern and to the visitors car park. Depending on the route taken from the visitors car park head up towards the castle and into the entrance of Cave Dale which at first glance looks like a valley with small caves in it but is in fact a large cave its self which the roof collapsed hundreds of years ago. This is also the scene of another brutal murder of a college student whose body was hidden in one of the little caves. The walk its self is short and can be done either way but the walk up Winnats is long and difficult, likewise the walk through Cave Dale from Rowter Farm is difficult to follow although very easy on the legs. Doing the walk the easiest way allows enough time to visit the caverns however The Devils Arse Cavern (Peak Cavern) is the largest of the Caverns and worth a visit on its own.