The Most Beautiful Peak District Walks for Autumn
Autumn is one of the best times to explore this beautiful national park, when the heather fades to bronze and the woodlands around places like Padley Gorge and Lathkill Dale come alive with colour. Here’s a collection of the most beautiful Peak District walks for Autumn.
Whether you fancy a gentle riverside stroll or a proper hike up onto the moors, there’s no shortage of stunning routes to enjoy.
The Best Autumn Walks in the Peak District
Three Monuments Hike
This 7.5 mile walk starts from Chatsworth House and visits a number of interesting places including Nelson’s Monument (to commemorate the victory at Trafalgar) and Wellington’s Monument to the victory at Waterloo. There’s a trig point as well! Chatsworth is stunning whatever the season, and the deer roaming the parkland and the beautiful woodland there make it a perfect place for an Autumn walk.
Wyming Brook Waterfalls Walk
Wyming Brook Nature Reserve is a hidden gem at the northern edge of the Peak District. Home to beautiful waterfalls and pools, this Wyming Brook waterfalls walk takes you through the nature reserve itself and then off over the moors to bag the Rod Moor trig point, before returning via The Head Stone on Hallam Moor. This 6 mile walk is perfect for Autumn as the woodland really comes alive with colour.
Padley Gorge Short Walk
Popular whatever the time of year, Padley Gorge really hits its stride in Autumn. This Padley Gorge short walk explores Padley Chapel and the ruins of Padley Manor, the former Bole Hill quarry and it’s stacks of abandoned millstones and beautiful Padley Gorge. Bole Hill quarry is packed with different species of fungi in Autumn – it’s definitely worth adding to your list!
Bolehill Quarry, Higger Tor and Padley Gorge
This Peak District walk is great for history fans – we explored the site of the abandoned Bolehill Quarry (and it’s massive stash of millstones) before heading off to Surprise View, Higger Tor, Burbage Rocks and back through Padley Gorge. At 7.5 miles this walk has lots of points of interest, exploring the beautiful Dark Peak moorlands and woodlands. The woodland around Bolehill Quarry is stunning, and you can expect to find lots of toadstools and fungi there in Autumn.
Surprise View Short Walk
A lovely short walk of 2 miles, exploring Surprise View and the silver birch woodland around Over Owler Tor. There are no major climbs and kids will love exploring the gritstone rock outcrops!
Steel Cotton Rail Trail: Grindleford to Hathersage
This section of the Steel Cotton Rail Trail starts from Grindleford train station and heads past Padley Chapel through the woods and along the riverbank to Hathersage. A lovely gentle 2.5 miles, this walk is great for Autumn.
Oyster Clough and Blackden Brook Scramble
A challenging day hike, discovering Oyster Clough Cabin and then crossing Snake Pass to scramble up Blackden Brook onto Kinder Scout. Blackden Brook is beautiful whatever the season but the ferns and birch trees change colour in Autumn and look amazing! Also, the route passes through Snake Woodland which is perfect for this time of year.
Ladybower Reservoir and Win Hill
This Ladybower Reservoir walk is just under 8 miles long and explores the woodland surrounding the reservoir as well as Win Hill with it’s stunning far reaching views. Starting from Haggwater Bridge, this walk only has two steep(ish) climbs and is a gentler way to climb Win Hill.
Riding Wood and Ramsden Reservoir Circular
This is a gorgeous autumn walk in the very north of the Peak District. There isn’t much of an incline (if any) and this Riding Wood and Ramsden Reservoir walk is nice and gentle, perfect to enjoy the changing seasons. This 3 mile walk is great if you’re short on time or just fancy an easy walk in the Peak District.
Redmires to Stanage Edge
This 6 mile walk visits Stanage Edge, which is gorgeous whatever the season, but a visit to the Spooky House makes it a perfect walk for October. The creepy house stands all alone by Oaking Clough and looks especially creepy on a misty day!
Jane Eyre Trail from Hathersage
This 5 mile route is perfect for fans of Jane Eyre as it visits some of the landmarks Charlotte Bronte knew and wrote about in her books, including North Lees Hall (aka Thornfield Hall where Mr Rochester kept his secret wife locked in the attic). It also heads up onto Stanage Edge, which is where they filmed part of the BBC’s Jane Eyre adaption with Ruth Wilson. It’s very likely that Stanage Edge inspired the moors mentioned in Jane Eyre.
Stanton Moor Circular
Magical, mysterious and definitely worth a visit in October, Stanton Moor has long been associated with all things mystic. This route visits lots of the interesting landmarks on Stanton Moor, including the Nine Ladies. The Nine Ladies are a mystical stone circle which legend says is the remains of nine women who were turned to stone for dancing on a Sunday, as well as the nearby King Stone which is said to be the fiddler on that fateful day. If you visit, please respect this ancient site and treat it with respect.
The route also visits Rowtor Rocks, a curious carved gritstone outcrop with a very mysterious past!
Lathkill Dale Walk
This walk takes you through the beautiful Lathkill Dale Nature Reserve, packed with wildlife and waterfalls as well as history. With traces of the area’s industrial past dotted around, caves to explore and stunning views from the head of the gorge, this 7 mile walk also passes the beautiful Lathkill Dale waterfall on the River Lathkill.
I hope you find your perfect walk from this list of beautiful Peak District walks for Autumn!
