Milldale, Dovedale and Hall Dale from Alstonefield

The walk starts from the car park in Alstonefield. A lane and a field path drop to Milldale, where Viator's Bridge, a narrow medieval packhorse bridge, crosses the Dove. The path follows the east bank down Dovedale for 2 km, under Raven's Tor and past the dry caves of Dove Holes, to the footbridge at Ilam Rock, a limestone pinnacle. The route crosses the bridge, goes back upstream a short way and turns up Hall Dale, a dry side valley, to the hamlet of Stanshope. Field paths lead north across the valley of Hopedale and up to Alstonefield.

It is 7.1 km with 200 m of ascent; allow about 2½ hours. The grade is Easy, with two steady climbs on the way back.

The riverside path is good but can be muddy, and the descent to Milldale and the grass in Hall Dale are slippery when wet. The National Trust asks for dogs to be on a short lead in Dovedale, which is a National Nature Reserve, and near livestock everywhere. There is loose rock in the ravine woods and no phone signal in the dale. Ash dieback felling is under way here: trees marked with red dots are due to come down.

The National Park car park charges and has toilets. There is no station nearby.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.