Buy the OS Route Map and instructions for this route

Don’t be deceived by tourist-tempo starters from Glossop. Despite this particularly gentle stretch of the Southport-Hornsea Trans-Pennine Way incorporated within the route, this still remains a true test of Peak mettle. Climbing steeply after Woodhead reservoir, things soon pick up.
Once the section of the Barnsley Boundary Walk and a short, dicey stretch of the main A628 is dealt with, the first side of this rough 45km triangle is left for one of two key passes — which form the backbone of this classic Dark Peak jaunt. While Hingcliff Hill is scrubbed off fairly rapidly before a short drop. Save your breath, as the 500m-plus climb over Cut Gate Path is fast approaching. Thankfully the rewards are large: a descent going from flat-out to a rock-picking test of gradient and boulder-step nerve. Scooting around Derwent’s history-steeped reservoir, an unfortunate leg on the Snake Pass stretch of the A57 is a necessary evil to connect this triangle to Doctor’s Gate.
This is a culmination of perhaps the biggest rocks, in the highest concentration, on one of the longest descents in the Peaks. A fitting finale to this trial of technical, anaerobic and occasionally juggernaut-dodging ability.