A delightful 9-mile walk from one of the quieter Peak District villages, Winster. This circular walk takes in many historic points of interest, including stone circles, caves, and some lovely villages and waterways. There’s also Stanton Moor Plantations trig point to bag along the route!
Start by heading out of Winster on the Limestone Way to Robin Hood’s Stride, where you can take a short diversion to the Hermit’s Cave. Continue to Harthill Moor to cross the River Bradford, just outside Youlgreave. You then head into the pretty village of Alport and onto the steep streets of Stanton in Peak (where you can stop for refreshments at The Flying Childers pub).
From here, your hike continues to the archaeologically important site of Stanton Moor, where you can divert again to Nine Ladies Stone Circle, before reaching the trig point, then the iconic shape of the Cork Stone. Leaving Stanton Moor, you enjoy the pretty, rolling countryside taking you back to your start point at Winster.
Here you will find details on how to get to the start of the walk, route information, a map, a GPX file, plus detailed step-by-step directions for the walk.
Let me know in the comments if you’ve done this walk and what you think!
Buy a printable/downloadable PDF route guide for the walk here.
Robin Hood’s Stride + Stanton Moor from Winster
Walk information + GPX
Walk type: Circular Walk
Distance: 9.1 miles/14.6 km
Walk time: 3.5-4.5 hours
Total ascent: 423 m/1389 ft
Highest point: 319 m/1047 ft
Walk highlights: Pretty villages of Alport and Stanton in Peak. Stanton Moor and trig. Nine Ladies Stone Circle.
Trigs: 1
Ethels: 0
Stiles: Yes
Robin Hood’s Stride + Stanton Moor from Winster walk map
© Crown copyright and database rights (2024) OS 002572460
Click for online mapWalk start point
Start grid reference: SK 2385 6027
Car parking address: Winster South Car Park, East Bank, Winster, DE4 2DR – Google Location
This is a small, free car park, just outside the main village. There have been spaces both times I have used it but it could get full quickly on a busy day.
Public transport
Nearest train station: Matlock train station (5 miles/8 km)
Bus: The 172 bus runs from Matlock and Bakewell to Winster around six times per day.
Facilities on the walk
There are no public toilets available at the start of the walk at Winster South Car Park. There are public toilets in Winster Village and in Youlgreave (if you take a short diversion on your walk).
Water on your walk – I recommend a filter water bottle for your Peak District walks, it saves you from carrying extra weight and you can fill up safely and drink water from the streams on your walk.
Other useful information
There are a couple of busy roads to cross on this walk. One at the start and one coming out of Stanton in Peak. The second one you need to walk along for a short time. Take care of these crossings.
Please keep the Peak District beautiful and respect everyone who uses the park. Take ALL your rubbish home to dispose of and remember close gates (as you found them). Thank you so much.
Would you know what to do in an emergency situation?
We have a guide with what to do, who you need to call and also some useful kit that should be in your backpack. Ask us any questions in the comments or via our social media.
Happy hiking + stay safe
read herePeak District weather
Check the weather for your walk location and hills. We’d recommend that you check a few resources and for hill walks look at the weather conditions in the valley and on the hilltop as they can greatly vary.
- BBC Weather for Winster.
- Met Office weather for Winster.
- Met Office weather and/or MWIS (Mountain Weather Information Service) for the Peak District
Ordnance Survey walk map
The map required for this walk is the Ordnance Survey OL24 – Peak District (White Peak Area).
Check prices here with Ordnance Survey or Amazon. If you’re hiking in all weather the Active OS maps are good to have as they are laminated so better on rainy days.
View both Peak District map options here.
And don’t forget your compass, I recommend the Silva Expedition or the Silva Classic compass.
For online maps, I recommend OS Online App (I have been using it for many years and it is worth getting if you want to start walking more). Check prices here for the one-month or annual option with OS Online App. All the walks on the website are created using OS Online + you can download them to the App.
See both maps that cover the Peak District here.
Want to learn more map skills? Check out our Guided Walks with map reading skills here.
Robin Hood’s Stride + Stanton Moor from Winster walk route
Stage 1 – Winster to Robin Hood’s Stride
Distance: 2 miles/3.3 km
Grid reference SK 2385 6027
Turn left as you leave the car park, coming off East Bank Road and onto the B5056 for a short time. Cross the road to go up a smaller road opposite, which immediately curves around to the left. Follow this road for around 200m before you see a sign for the Limestone Way on your right. Turn up this track, following the Limestone Way towards Elton.
Continue on this path for around three-quarters of a mile, when you reach Elton Road. Cross straight over and continue on the Limestone Way up Dudwood Lane. Where the B5056 meets Dudwood Lane from the right (around 1.5 miles into your walk) you will continue on the Limestone Way, to the left, reaching Robin Hood’s Stride after another half a mile.
Here you will see another path off to the right, towards the Hermit’s Cave at Cratcliffe Tor. If you’d like to explore the cave follow this path off to the right for around 150 metres. The Hermit’s Cave has a stone crucifix, which is believed to date back to the 13th-14th centuries.
Stage 2 – Robin Hood’s Stride to Alport
Distance: 2 miles/3.3 km
Grid reference SK 2245 6233
Returning from your diversion, rejoin the Limestone Way across the field and past a standing stone on your right, up to a road. This is Cliff Lane. You briefly leave the Limestone Way here and go straight across, up the track towards Harthill Moor Farm. Follow this path around the farm for around 450m before you reach a gateway and junction of paths with a fingerpost footpath sign.
Go through the small gate and rejoin the Limestone Way towards Youlgreave. You will continue on this path for over three-quarters of a mile until coming out onto Mawstone Lane, just outside Youlgreave. Turn right along the road for a short time. The road crosses the River Bradford and immediately after you take a footpath on the right.
Cross the river again, on the footpath, as it curves round to the left. Ignore paths coming in from the left and right as you follow the river for around half a mile until you cross it again to come into Alport.
Stage 3 – Alport to B5056
Distance: 0.8 miles/1.3 km
Grid reference SK 2196 6454
The footpath emerges onto Alport Lane at a junction of roads, four miles into your walk. Turn right off Alport Lane onto a smaller road with an old street lamp and stone pillar on your right as you turn down it. Follow this road, as it curves left, past lovely old stone houses for around 150m.
When you reach a small junction, with a triangle of grass and lamppost in the middle, take the right turn over a pretty stone bridge, down Cliff Lane. Follow this lane for another 150m until you reach a sharp right-hand bend. At the corner here you’ll see a track off to the left, with a fingerpost footpath sign. Take this track and follow it straight along, emerging into a field. Cross this across this field and continue into another field, containing static caravans. The footpath is then marked off to the right, through the caravans, taking you out onto another road.
Emerge onto the road and turn left along it, following it down to a junction with the B5056. You are turning left along the B5056 and following it for around 275m. Please take care along this stretch of road as it is busy and cars can travel fast along it.
Stage 4 – B5056 to Stanton Moor Plantation
Distance: 1.3 miles/2 km
Grid reference SK 2307 6452
Look out for a narrow path by a gap in a stone wall, on the right hand side of the road, marked by a Public Footpath fingerpost sign. Take this path and follow it up rough steps in the undergrowth, through a wooded area.
Coming out into the open you continue straight across the field, following footpath signs, to briefly join a hedged path. At around 5.2 miles take the footpath off the track to the right to cross a field. You exit the field in its left-hand corner, over a stile and onto the Birchover Road, opposite The Lodge.
Turn left along Birchover Road and follow it into the pretty village of Stanton in Peak. You stay on this road, through the village for around half a mile, passing The Flying Childers pub on your right (a lovely place to stop for refreshments) and then the village church. The road begins to go steeply uphill as you pass the Stanton Hall estate on your right. At the junction with Lees Road (signposted for Stanton Lees), take this road to the left and continue uphill for a quarter of a mile.
Just past a track which crosses the road, with a large metal gate to your right, you will see a boulder with a path leading off to the right. Go up here and you will see the signs telling you you’re entering the Stanton Moor Plantation.
Stage 5 – Stanton Moor Plantation to Clough Lane
Distance: 1.4 mile/2.3 km
Grid reference SK 2465 6416
Enter the plantation and follow the clear path across fields and into the shrubbery and trees for a quarter of a mile. Here, take a smaller path off to the right to go deeper into the plantation itself. Shortly after, another track joins from the right, taking you on a very short left hand curve, before you turn back off it to the right and continue.
After about 250m there is a small split in the path again. Take the left hand track, around the edges of an old quarry. After around 500m you will spot the Stanton Moor Plantation trig point on your right. You can take a short diversion to visit the trig before returning to the path for about another 200m. Here you reach a t-junction of the path. Turn left along the wide footpath for just under a quarter of a mile, until you reach another junction of paths.
Here, turn right and take the track to the Lees Road. Go over a wooden stile to reach the road before crossing and going through a wooden, five bar gate onto the footpath in the field opposite. Head through a small copse and across a field to reach Barn Farm. The footpath takes you through the farm to a path junction on the far side of the farmyard. Here, continue straight to follow the hedge line of two large fields, reaching the track of Clough Lane at around 8 miles.
Stage 5 – Clough Lane to Winster
Distance: 1.6 mile/2.6 km
Grid reference SK 2453 6253
Turn right along Clough Lane, passing Upper Town Farm on your right, for around 225m. Here a footpath leaves to the left. take this path, heading downhill across multiple fields for almost half a mile. Continue on when other paths come in from the left and right, until the last field before Winster.
Here you take the path right, along a stone wall for a short stretch. Then left to cross the field to the village. Passing some old farm buildings, the path now becomes a track between buildings. Emerging at the junction of Main Street, West Bank and Elton Road in Winster.
Continue straight on to West Bank and follow this road, uphill and out of the village to return to your car at the starting point.
Ask me in the comments below.
Other walk information
More walks in the Peak District
Love this area of the Peak District? You might like these walks.
- Bradford Dale, Short Walk near Youlgreave – 5 miles
- Bradford Dale Walk from Youlgreave – 6 miles
- Robin Hood’s Stride + Bradford Dale Walk from Elton – 8 miles
- Robin Hood’s Stride from Elton – 4.5 miles
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