Thorpe Cloud walk: including Dovedale stepping stones (2.5km, circular)

Thorpe Cloud walk map

On all Peak District family walks it’s a good idea to have an Ordnance Survey paper map with you, even if you have your phone on you. For this walk you need the OS Explorer Active Map OL 24 (White Peak). It’s also a good opportunity to show young kids the map features and get them started with map reading.

Preview	Product	Price
	The Peak District: White Peak Area Map | Weatherproof | Peak…	£14.07	Buy on Amazon

This Thorpe Cloud walk follows a clockwise direction starting Dovedale car park.

Get a printable download of this walk

Need to know

DISTANCE OF WALK: 2.5km / 1.6 miles

TYPE OF WALK: short circular walk with fantastic views

PARKING: Parking at Dovedale car park. Click here for location on Google Maps, postcode is DE6 2AY. Parking is £5 for 4 hours, £7 all day (card payments possible, but the machine doesn’t always work); FREE for National Trust members. Please note that this car park gets exceptionally busy during school holidays, bank holiday weekends, and sunny weekends. We recommend arriving before 9am or after 4pm on these days. Otherwise, you can reach Thorpe Cloud from nearby Thorpe; follow this Dovedale walk.

WALK HIGHLIGHTS: Fantastic views from Thorpe Cloud, Dovedale Stepping Stones, paddling in the River Dove, and an ice-cream at the end.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE: This is a 1 hour walk without kids. Allow for a good 2 hours for walking with young kids.

TOTAL ASCENT: 142 metres

ACCESSIBILTY: Not pram or wheelchair friendly. It’s a steep climb towards the top of Thorpe Cloud and tricky underfoot; a bit of scrambling is required at the very top and on the way down it can get very slippy in wet weather.

FACILITIES: There are public toilets (20p coin needed) and an ice-cream hut (cards accepted) at the start of this walk.

The route

START: Dovedale Car Park
Click here for Google Map point
Grid reference: SK 1466 5098
Post code: DE6 2AY
what3words: ///describes.canny.page

Route follows a clockwise direction.

1. From Dovedale car park, follow the footpath to the right of the toilets that goes along the River Dove. After 650 metres, you will arrive at Dovedale Stepping Stones. This is the busiest section of the walk.

2. Cross over the stepping stones (little ones may need a helping hand) and almost straight ahead you will see the footpath sign for Thorpe Cloud.

3. Follow the waymarkers to the top of Thorpe Cloud. Please note that the footpath up to Thorpe Cloud often changes to alleviate footpath erosion (and will be different to what is marked on your OS map). Please only take the marked trails up, and don’t veer off to form your own path.

4. As you approach the top, the path get much steeper and a bit of scrambling over rocks is required to get to the summit. You can then walk along the ridge a little further for fantastic views back down into the valley; be careful though, it’s very steep!

5. To get back down, retrace your steps. However, after the steep section, rather than follow the path round to the left, go round to the right. This footpath goes past a small farm building, along a drystone wall on your left.

6. Continue along this path and soon Ilam Park will come into view. This footpath then leads out to a wooden footbridge over the River Dove.

7. Walk over the footbridge, then take a left, retracing your footsteps back to the car park. Reward yourself with a treat from the ice-cream hut (cards only).