This amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk is a great one for adventurous kids and their adventurous grown-ups! There are trees to climb, huge rocks to scramble over, a hermit’s cave to explore and a rope swing to play on. Robin Hood’s Stride is a fabulous collection of rocks perched high on a hill, perfect for climbing and scrambling, and there are fantastic views from the top.
This is a walk of 2.7 miles. There are gates, stiles and squeeze stiles. The terrain is uneven and muddy in places, and there are moderate uphill and downhill sections. There is free street parking in the pretty Peak District village of Elton at the start of the walk. PLEASE PARK WITH CONSIDERATION FOR LOCAL RESIDENTS! Although there is no pub in Elton, there are cafés and pubs in the nearby villages of Youlgreave and Birchover. Allow around 2-3 hours to complete this walk at a moderate pace for little legs, depending on how long you spend playing on the rocks! Be aware that you may encounter cows on this route.
Important Notes
This is a natural environment with
all the natural hazards that come with that. Take extra care when climbing
on the rocks at Robin Hood’s Stride – it hurts if you scrape yourself on them
and it would hurt even more if you fell off them. Grown-ups, please make sure all children in
your care are supervised. Wear
waterproof clothes if it’s rainy and sunscreen if it’s sunny. Please respect
this beautiful area and leave no litter. Finally, we try as hard as we
can to make our instructions detailed and accurate, but it’s a good idea to
carry a map of the area with you as well in case you go off course.
All walks are undertaken at your own
risk. Remember, we provide the walk, you provide the common sense!
This route is provided in good faith and is correct at the time of publication. Please be aware that routes may be diverted over time as paths and access are altered, particularly in farming areas. Our directions should not be used instead of a map. You should always take a map with you to cross-reference the route.
The Walk
1.
Park on the street near to All Saints church in the pretty village of
Elton. The walk starts on the lane that
runs to the left of the church, Well Street.
After approx. 200 metres the road forks and you should take the left
fork that heads slightly uphill, on a public footpath signed for Youlgreave.
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
2. Where the lane bears right
towards a farm, instead turn left and head through a small gate to the side of
a wide gate. The footpath is easy to see
ahead of you and heads diagonally to the right downhill across the grassy field. There may be cows in this field and be aware
that it can be muddy after wet weather.
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
3. Continue across the field through
a squeeze stile, and then across a second field heading for a small gate at the
bottom left corner to join a lane. Turn
right on the lane heading slightly uphill.
4. On the corner of the lane you
will see a collection of stone troughs fed by a natural spring. This spring provided the village of Elton
with all its drinking water until 1940, and the water was carried up the hill in
buckets every day.
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
5. Continue walking up the quiet
lane, ignoring the public footpaths off.
On nearing the crest of the hill, take the footpath off to the right,
opposite the entrance to Cliff Farm.
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
6. On reaching a barn on the right, turn left off the path as the road bears right and take a track through the bracken, aiming for the left of a small area of woodland. Continue on this track as it runs to the right of a stone wall. There are some good climbing trees along the way!
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
7. Where the stone wall curves away
to the left, follow its course, still staying to the right of the wall and
following the path through the bracken. The
track eventually widens and reaches a wide gate, which you should go through –
or climb over! Robin Hood’s Stride is
now directly in front of you. Have fun
playing on the rocks!
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
8. Robin Hood’s Stride is a collection of rocks made from gritstone. The whole area around here is full of ancient burial chambers, as well as the remains of an old hill fort. A stone circle lies about 200 metres to the north west of Robin Hood’s Stride. You can see it from the top of the rocks, although it’s on private land. There is also an ancient Hermit’s Cave only approx. 300 metres away. (We’ll help you find it.)
9. When you’ve finished climbing, to
continue the walk head to the other side of the rocks on Robin Hood’s Stride,
straight over from the direction you came in on. Look out for a stile over a wire fence that
leads on to a broad path, known as the Limestone Way. Turn right on the Limestone Way heading
downhill, with a stone wall on your left and Robin Hood’s Stride on your
right.
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
10. If you want to take a short
diversion to see the Hermit’s Cave, turn left off the Limestone Way after
approx. 50 metres, climbing over a stepped stone stile. (If not, fast forward to No 14!)
11. Head straight on across the field
ahead, keeping to the left of a wire fence.
In the far right hand corner of the field, climb over the stile and head
straight on, to the right of a large beech tree. The rocks to your left are Cratcliff
Tor. There are great climbing
opportunities here too!
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
12. Follow the path down for a short
distance to a collection of yew trees, to find the Hermit’s Cave on your left
at the base of the rocks. Look out for a
crudely-drawn crucifixion scene on the wall, with a little hollow for a lamp or
candle. The hermit’s sleeping ledge is
on the west wall. The cave is thought to have been inhabited from
around the 12th Century. There are later
records from Haddon Hall of 1549 which note, ‘Ye Cratcliffe Hermitte was paid
fourpence for guidance of people to Haddon.’
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
13. When you’ve finished exploring the Hermit’s
Cave, retrace your steps to rejoin the Limestone Way. Go back over the stepped stone stile and turn
left on the path to head downhill.
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
14. Continue downhill on the Limestone
Way across fields, following the obvious path.
When the path reaches a cattle grid on to a lane, turn right to continue
on the Limestone Way, heading slightly uphill between hedges.
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
15. Go past a collection of houses and, soon afterwards, look out for a public footpath sign on your right. Climb over the stile and take the path across the field.
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
16. If you look to your right as you walk along you can see Robin Hood’s Stride looking a bit like a castle on the hill, and to the right of that you can see Cratcliff Tor, with the Hermit’s Cave at the bottom.
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
17. Keep following the path slightly uphill, walking to the left of a hedge. Watch out for a lovely old ash tree here, with a brilliant rope swing attached to it. Have a swing and admire the views of where you’ve just walked!
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
18. Continue on the walk, following the obvious path across the fields through a succession of squeeze stiles to return to Elton. The path goes through a small gate between houses and finally leads to the back of All Saints church, from where you started.
Amazing Robin Hood’s Stride Walk
Kids’ Review
In my opinion the walk was good fun overall! There were lots of interesting things to do! My favourite bit was climbing the rocks at Robin Hood’s Stride but I also really enjoyed the rope swing at the end! Overall I would rate it 8/10.
Billy, aged 11
With big thanks to Billy (aged 11) for running, climbing, scrambling and swinging so enthusiastically on this walk.
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