Walks you can reach from Furness Vale by train

Mostly field tracks with a steep descent and several stiles. Passes the regally-sounding village of King Sterndale.

Time: 3h30

Warnings: Steep downhill section to the railway line and several stiles.

Walk details: Buxton Town Team (PDF).

Spectacular views. Wild landscape of deep valleys and gritstone peaks and studded with peat bogs and pine forests. Buxton developed as a fashionable spa in 18th-19th centuries using profits from Dukes of Devonshire's copper mines. Macclesfield granted borough charter for market in 13th Century. Extensive woodland.

Warnings: Stiles; busy road with no pavement and fast traffic.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Similar walk: Walk Midlands (inc. GPX).

Reverse direction: Slow Ways (inc. GPX).

Beautiful Peak District fringe landscape. Valley floor walk with canal towpath and former tramway trail. Historic route tracing pioneering industrial transport infrastructure through Peak District foothills. Extensive woodland.

Warnings: Busy road sections; rough ground with old concrete and limestone blocks.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Walk details: Rail Rambles.

Great views across the Goyt Valley. An almost entirely road-, lane- and track-based route between two towns, with a long steady climb out of Whaley Bridge along a quiet tarmac lane. Good open views across the Goyt Valley. Some rocky, rubbly track sections and a flight of steps. Trains between the two stations are regular and take under 20 minutes. No mid-route facilities, so bring food.

Lunch: No mid-route facilities; bring your own food.

Warnings: A short section joins the A-road at Long Hill where there is no pavement, so you walk on the verge of a 50mph road. Some rough rocky tracks.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A pleasant, varied route with generally solid surfaces, taking in a canal, a river, woodland and farm tracks. It is not very direct, with quite a few steps, stiles, kissing gates and at least one cattle grid and some seasonally overgrown and muddy sections. Visits the outskirts of Lyme Park and passes through Disley three miles from New Mills; adding the Millennium Walkway and the Torrs at New Mills is recommended. Extensive woodland.

Lunch: Pubs and a Co-op at Disley, about three miles before the end.

End-of-walk reward: Plenty of cafes in New Mills at the end.

Warnings: There are three crossings of the busy A6; use the controlled crossings nearby rather than crossing where the footpaths emerge. Farm tracks may have slow-moving cars. Steps, stiles and gates. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Stunning National Trust Lyme Park. A rapid change from town to country, with a road climb out of Poynton before reaching open Peak District country. The eastern half is characteristic Peak walking with hill views, gorse and sheep pasture, rocky farm tracks and many stiles; the western half is gentler, mostly narrow woodland paths winding through farms and beside streams. A short section of disused railway path and canal towpath and with occasional deep mud around gateways. Passes through the National Trust's Lyme Park. Uses a short section of the Middlewood Way, a disused railway now a multi-use route. Extensive woodland.

Lunch: Lyme Park (National Trust), roughly mid-route, has facilities.

Warnings: A footpath near Hagg Farm has been closed since 2022 due to a dangerous footbridge and is expected to stay closed until at least June 2026; continue along the Middlewood Way to the next bridge and rejoin via the canal towpath. Two higher-speed road crossings near Lyme Park need care. Stiles and ladder stiles throughout, and watch for nettles. Can be muddy.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

An almost entirely off-road, foot-only route using Torkington Park, the Middlewood Way (an old railway line) and the Macclesfield and Peak Forest canal towpaths, with two golf-course crossings and a horse tunnel near Marple locks. Surfaces are largely gravel/packed earth and paved, but with difficult stiles and muddy and narrow stretches in places. Uses the Middlewood Way (NCN 55) and the Macclesfield and Peak Forest canal towpaths. Extensive woodland.

1 end-of-walk reward: the Ring O'Bells

Warnings: Several difficult or wobbly stiles (one with no step) and narrow, muddy stretches make it foot-only. Two golf-course crossings — watch for golf balls (well signposted). A muddy, cambered drop near Marple golf course. Nettles can be high in summer.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Moorland plateau ascent from valley station, gritstone scarps, green valleys and hillfort promontory.

Warnings: Can be muddy.

Source: An alternative variant of Buxton Circular via Combs Moss – the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).