Distance: 5.2 miles

Difficulty of the terrain: medium

Get the route: via Ordnance Survey Maps or download the GPX. file from Dropbox

This walk from Middle Mayfield climbs up to the ridge which the Limestone Way runs along towards the Peak District National Park before crossing the River Dove to reach Thorpe and Thorpe Cloud.

The Story

The Walk

Getting Back

An “Achievable” Hill

Standing 287 metres above sea level Thorpe Cloud in the south of the Derbyshire Peak District, which has been protected like nearby Dovedale through its ownership by the National Trust since 1934, is not especially tall compared to other nearby peaks.

It is, however, prominent in the part of the landscape where it sits, standing proud, almost 80 metres taller than any hill in the immediate vicinity, and unusually clearly shaped like a miniature mountain.  

For this reason and the fact it is easily reached from both Dovedale and the nearby village of Thorpe from which it derives its name, Thorpe Cloud is a very popular climb. A taxi driver from Walsall who works from Ashbourne once described it to me as “an achievable hill”, which seems to neatly sum up Thorpe Cloud’s popularity.

Once stood at the top of the hill there are commanding views across the flatter ground to the south, the near reaches of the Staffordshire Peak towards Ilam to the west, and north up the valley of the River Dove deep into the White Peak’s limestone heart.

Route Notes

Get the route: via Ordnance Survey Maps or download the GPX. file from Dropbox

I create the Walk Midlands routes via Ordnance Survey Maps Explorer enabling me to take them on my phone. Subscribe yourself via the banner above.

Middle Mayfield is served hourly (at the time of writing in September 2025) by the Swift bus between Derby and Uttoxeter. It is the first stop after the main Mayfield village.

Upon alighting cross the road and head over a stile crossing a pasture to reach the oldest part of the village.

Here pick up a green lane to the right running straight ahead uphill.

Presently you pass a remote cottage and head into woodland.

Continue along the green lane until you reach open fields where you continue straight ahead climbing a couple of stiles to cross hedgerows.

Soon you reach a large hilltop meadow with a farm situated on the far side. Upon reaching the far side of the field you are standing on the Limestone Way long distance footpath. Turn right here and begin following the Limestone Way (which is not waymarked as such in this section) along the ridgetop.

Follow the path, which is usually clear to follow, along the top of the ridge. To the right you get occasional glimpses of Ashbourne in the valley below. While to the left part of the limestone White Peak are clearly visible.

Passing near to a farm you reach the side of the busy A52 road. 

On reaching the side of the road turn right and walk along it heading downhill for a short distance until you are stood opposite a lane on the far side.

When it is clear to cross, walk over the road and head along this lane.

Soon the lane crests the hill and begins descending towards Dovedale which stands in the middle distance, just inside the Peak District National Park.

Continue along the road which is public, but has gates intermittently placed along it, due to the cattle and other livestock in the fields which are not fenced off from the carriageway.

Presently there is a stile on your right and the footpath runs off down the side of a fairly steep hill, towards a dale bottom. You climb the corresponding side of the valley and approach the side of a road.

At the road side more or less opposite where you stand there is the entrance to a farm.

Enter the farm and walk across the farmyard following a track which descends down the hill behind it.

You follow the track downhill until you reach the old stone bridge at the bottom over the River Dove.

On crossing the bridge you pass from Staffordshire into Derbyshire, the western to the eastern Midlands, and enter the Peak District National Park.

Once over the bridge you follow the track uphill climbing towards Thorpe village.

The path runs across pasture near the top of the hill and around to a gate which leads to a road through the village.

Follow the road until you reach Thorpe’s parish church which is wreathed by trees.

From here Thorpe Cloud is visible looking left.

This is where the walk ends.

Getting Back

Thorpe does not have any public transport connections. The nearest bus stops are a couple of miles away along the A515 near Fenny Bentley and at Tissington. These stops are served by the Ashbourne to Buxton bus, which is frequent throughout the day (last service – at the time of writing in September 2025 – just before 18:00) on weekdays and Saturdays but which does not run on Sundays and bank holidays. From Buxton (at the time of writing in September 2025) there are trains north towards Manchester via Chapel-en-le-Frith, New Mills and Stockport. And from Derby there are buses, half hourly for much of the day during the week, between Derby and Uttoxeter which both have railway stations.