Lud's Church – Luds Church Gorge loop from Roaches Gradbach

Hiking trails & Routes

West Midlands Region

Staffordshire

Staffordshire Moorlands

Quarnford

Lud's Church – Luds Church Gorge loop from Roaches Gradbach

Moderate

4.8

(118)

935

hikers

Lud's Church – Luds Church Gorge loop from Roaches Gradbach

02:46

9.61km

240m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: July 17, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

Please check local regulations for:

Peak District National Park

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

Get Directions

1.64 km

Rock Climbing at Peak District National Park

Highlight • Climb

1.64 km

View from Lud's Church

Highlight • Viewpoint

i found this by a mistake , glad i did. i went off oringinal path and down and found this

Tip by

1.89 km

A fabulous place to explore but it's very muddy! Apparently, the sun only shines in the chasm on midsummer's day. Keep an eye out for the Devil's Pulpit, a natural platform in the chasm from where a speech or sermon may have been given. Lud's Church is a great place to stop off on your way to The Roaches and is a short walk from the free Gradbach car park.

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1.95 km

Luds Church Gorge

Highlight • Cave

Breathtaking to walk through the heart of Luds Church. Does get a bit boggy though when it has rained and needs some surefootedness at times.

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2.65 km

Hanging Rock Outcrop, The Roaches

Highlight • Natural Monument

One of a number of hanging rock outcrops along the ridge from The Roaches. Great views across the Cheshire Plain, Staffordshire Moorlands and The Peak District.

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4.26 km

Hanging Stone

Highlight • Natural Monument

The rock probably took its name from the fact that the upper layers of rock overhang slightly, or maybe from the old-english word ‘hangra’, meaning ‘a wood on a steep hill-side’. It certainly is on a steep hillside which may have once been wooded. Certainly no hangings took place there, as is often miscommunicated.
See if you can find two inscriptions. The one for Lt Col Brocklehurst is fairly obvious, but there is also one for a dog!

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5.23 km

River Dane — along the Dane Valley Way

Highlight • Trail

The River Dane is a tributary of the River Weaver, flowing off the Peak District and down towards the Irish Sea.

The Dane Valley Way follows the eastern bank along this section of the river. It's a 48 mile (77 km) long distance walking trail, following the full course of the river.

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8.36 km

The River Dane

Highlight (Segment) • River

The River Dane is a tributary of the River Weaver that originates in the Peak District area of England. The name of the river (earlier Daven) is probably from the Old Welsh dafn, meaning a "drop or trickle", implying a slow-moving river.

It forms the border between first Cheshire and Derbyshire on the west and east, and then between Cheshire and Staffordshire where it then flows north-west through Cheshire before meeting the Weaver in Northwich.

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