Beresford Dale, Wolfscote Dale and Biggin Dale from Hartington

The walk starts from the car park on Mill Lane in Hartington. A path crosses the fields south of the village to the river Dove and enters Beresford Dale, a short wooded gorge where Charles Cotton, Izaak Walton's fishing companion, had his fishing house. Beyond the footbridge the valley opens into Wolfscote Dale, and the path follows the river for more than 2 km between steep grass slopes and limestone screes. At the foot of Biggin Dale the route turns left and climbs the dry side valley, then leaves it for a track up to Reynards Lane, which leads back over the hill to Hartington.

It is 8.8 km with 113 m of ascent; allow about 2½ hours. The grade is Easy.

The riverside path is good. Biggin Dale is narrow, rocky and rough underfoot; it is normally dry but can carry a stream, or flood, in winter. The Dove here is the boundary between Derbyshire and Staffordshire. Wolfscote Dale belongs to the National Trust, which asks for dogs to be on a short lead across its White Peak land; sheep and cattle graze the dales.

The Derbyshire Dales car park charges, and there are toilets nearby in the village. 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.