Padley Gorge & Longshaw

Start — Longshaw Estate

Park at the National Trust Longshaw visitor centre. Cross the B6521 and drop into the top of Padley Gorge, where Burbage Brook cascades through moss-covered boulders under twisted sessile oaks.

The gorge

Follow the brook downstream on either bank. Kids (and adults) will lose hours boulder-hopping here. In autumn the colours rival anywhere in Britain; in summer the shallow pools are paddling territory.

Bolehill & return

At the bottom, climb through Bolehill Wood — an old millstone quarry now reclaimed by silver birch, with abandoned grindstones still lying in the bracken — then loop back over the moor edge to Longshaw for cake at the café.

Local area

Surprise View car park (5 min drive) gives the best effort-to-view ratio in the Peak. Grindleford station café at the gorge's foot is a legendary walkers' pit stop — chip butties and pint mugs of tea.