Stanage and Lady Cannings Explorer
Difficulty: Medium
Length: 19.5 miles
A reliable 19.5 mile route climbing just over 2000 feet of elevation, taking in the views of stanage edge the enjoyment of Lady Cannings with some lovely ice cream from Thorpe farm.
This ride has a little bit of everything for everyone whether you want to race around or make a day of it enjoying the ice cream and the numerous pub stops.
Route Profile
This ride starts out at the bike garage turning left out of the car park and following the A6187 towards Hathersage for 1 mile before taking another left and climbing up towards Thorpe farm. The owners of Thorpe farm have been kind enough to allow us access through the farmyard on this route, please be respectful of other users of the trail and any personnel working on the farm. Thorpe farm also makes and sells its own ice cream so be sure to stop by to get yourself home along with a refreshing drink!
After passing through the farm the route to climbs further up following coggers lane for a little over a mile before taking the Stanage Causeway up to the top of Stanage Edge. You will pass over a cattle grid and the road will take a sharp right-hand turn where there is a small car park, follow the gravel bridleway continue straight ahead and follow this all the way up to Stanage Pole.
The climb from the start of the causeway up to Stanage pole is a little over 1.5 miles climbing 360 feet, on a clear day you can see the majority of the Peak District from the top of the edge, making this an incredibly satisfying climb. From Stanage pole the route drops down towards Redmires Reservoir, this is a wide gravel descent descending just short of 1 mile and dropping you down 260 feet, it can be a fast descent so be careful of other trail users both coming up and going down. The route now follows the road for 3.5 miles taking you along the top of redmires reservoirs before taking a right turn onto Soughley lane, up Roper hill and towards Ringinglow. Ringinglow is a good spot to stop at for a refreshment drink at the Norfolk Arms before heading up to Lady Cannings.
At this point in the ride it is up to you on how many laps of Lady Cannings you want to do. Lady Cannings offers two mountain bike trails, the older of the two being Blue Steel, a very fun, flowy trail with a small climb at the end to get back onto the main fire track. The second trail is Cooking on Gas this is a more pedaly descent with the top section being relatively flat but still very fun! Cooking on Gas feels longer, however both descents are the same length with Blue Steel being more downhill focused and cooking on gas having some flatter sections. It is up to you how much of Lady Canning’s you ride but once you’re finished the route continues over Houndkirk towards the Fox House pub. The ride over houndkirk is just shy of 2 miles meandering over a wide sandy byway.
After Houndkirk there is a short half mile road section passing the Fox House before turning right onto the bottom of Burbage valley. Burbage valley is a very similar trail surface to Houndkirk however it is considerably smoother with less loose rocks. It is a nice gentle 1.5 mile climb up to the top to gain the last bit of elevation for the main decent back to the bike garage. At the top of Burbage valley turn left and instead of following the road, pass through the car park as a short steep little technical climb cuts out the long road bend and keeps you off the road just for a little bit longer. After the last little climb from the car park the road forks into two, this route follows it to the right hand side before dropping down on a road section to the bottom of Stanage Edge. Just before the cattle grid turn right onto North Lees road, follow North Lees road for half a mile before turning right again just before the cattle grid. On the left-hand side there is a bridleway that drops into the woods, take this and follow the trail through the woods and into the fast rolling field behind North Lees campsite and into Cottis Side.
This is a really enjoyable route that holds up in most weather conditions, it has a little bit of something for everyone and regardless of the weather it is always a good ride out! If you were to make a day of it in the summer make sure you stop at Thorpe farm for some locally made ice cream, the perfect way to start or finish a ride.
The Trail at Lady Cannings was crowd-funded by the local riding community. Organised by Ride Sheffield a trail advocacy group run by volunteers. We have supported their work over the years and would encourage you to support them with either your time or cash donations to help maintain the trails in and around Sheffield.