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Monsal Trail
Type:Cycle Route
Buxton
DE45 1GE
About
The Monsal Trail is a traffic free route for walkers, cyclists, horse riders and wheelchair users through some of the Peak District's most spectacular limestone dales.
The trail runs along the former Midland Railway line for 8.5 miles between Blackwell Mill, in Chee Dale and Coombs Road, at Bakewell.
Click here to see the Monsal Trail cycling route.
Most of the route was opened to the public in 1981, with the four impressive railway tunnels at Headstone Tunnel, Cressbrook Tunnel, Litton Tunnel and Chee Tor Tunnel only re-opened as recently as 2011 by the National Park Authority. Each tunnel is about 400 metres long and lit during normal daylight hours.
The public can now experience the full length of the former railway route at their own pace and see breathtaking views at places like Water-cum-Jolly Dale that had remained hidden since the railway closed in 1968. A Monsal Trail highlight remains the striking view from the Headstone Viaduct, below Monsal Head.
The former station ticket office at Millers Dale – around half way along the route – re-opened in 2019 as a café, with toilets and parking also available. The public will also be able to access the former station Goods Shed as a free interpretation zone from 2020.
Cycle hire centres servicing the trail can be found at Hassop Station, (at the Bakewell end of the trail) and at Blackwell Mill, (at the northern end of the trail).
Other former railway lines now open as traffic-free trails can be found at High Peak/Tissington Trail and Ashbourne, with cycle hire centres also servicing these routes.
