Hope Valley Highlights (22 miles/35 km)
This wonderful Hope Valley mountain biking trail in the Peak District takes in three whopper hill climbs in order to get in three fabulous flowy descents. None of the descents are overly demanding, though to get the most from them you do need to know a little bit about what you’re doing. If you’re struggling with the hills, you can always miss out the final ascent and not do Shatton Edge. (But it would be a huge shame to miss this one out!) By starting and finishing at Bamford Station or Hope Station, this is an ideal route to access by public transport too, which allows you to have a swift pint before heading home and saves the environment at the same time!
Route details
Start in the Hope Valley, either Bamford Station or Hope Station would work well. Warm up those legs by heading in the direction of Castleton. As you exit Castleton, the road splits with Winnat’s Pass to your left and the Old Broken Road to your right – take this option. Head up up up to Mam Nick. Skirt around the north flank of Mam Tor and then head downhill to Hollins Cross. If you’re lucky (be nice, say hi) some walkers may even hold the gates open for you. At Hollins Cross, switchback left and down to Edale. (Best descent of the ride maybe!) A few easy road miles later take an oblique trail left up to Clough Farm and this leads you onto Jaggers Clough. Follow this up, down and steeply up, to Hope Cross. Ride south-east along the tops in the direction of Win Hill before heading down the bridleway that skirts Thornhill Brink and past Twitchill Farm, to Aston and onto Brough. From Brough it’s up, up, up to Shatton Edge: but it’ll be worth it! Past the radio mast on your left and then down down down. As you reach the tarmac be sure to stop or you will miss the wonderful finale of the bridleway (on your right) that leads you down to Offerton Hall. From here head back to your start point, grinning from ear to ear.
General Information
Start / Finish Location – Bamford Station S33 0AH
Distance: 22 miles / 35 km
Height gain: 969m
Time required: 3 – 5 hours
How tough? Strong legs, good heart and big lungs required!
How technical? Some steep descents could easily throw you from your bike – but nothing more technical than about a blue route
Nearest bike hire: The Bike Garage – Bamford/Hope Valley
Local pubs we would recommend: The Traveller’s Rest, Brough, S33 9HG
What bike for this ride?
For all these routes I ride an On One Scandal hard-tail. Really, for 95% of mountain biking in the Peak District, a decent hard-tail will see you right.
Mountain bike hire in the Peak District
We’ve listed here a few places that offer higher spec mountain bikes for hire. Typically you can expect to pay around £35 per day for hiring a decent bike from these places. For families looking to do a circuit of the reservoirs, lower spec bicycles will be perfect and cost closer to £20 for the day.
- The Bike Garage – Bamford/Hope Valley
- Derwent Bike Hire – Derwent / Ladybower Reservoirs
- Peak eBikes – Hassop Station (near Bakewell) on the Monsal Trail
- Carsington Water Bike Hire (southern most White Peak)
Further reading / information
- 10 of the Best Peak District Mountain Biking Trails
- Peak District Accommodation
- Mountain Biking Skills Courses
- 10 Ways to Be Better at Map Reading for Mountain Bikers
- Ten GREAT Peak District walks to do
- The Tongue In Cheek History Of The Peak District
- Vertebrate Publishing – mountain biking guidebooks
- Peak District MTB – voluntary organisation that aims to preserve, improve and promote mountain biking within the Peak District National Park
