The Pike to Peak off-road route is a 118 mile route linking Stoodley Peak near Hebden Bridge and the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park. It was devised by Richard Peace in 2019 and is published (along with many other rides) on Excellent Book’s South Pennines & Peak Off-road Cycle Map.
It features iconic landmarks such as Stoodley Pike, Mam Tor and Rushup Edge and is made up of around 75% off-road tracks including packhorse trails and turnpike roads.
The section over Cut Gate, north of Howden Reservoir is particularly testing and so there is an alternative route via spectacular Stanage Edge and the very attractive villages of Bamford, Low Bradfield and High Bradfield. The GPX for this alternative is below. It adds around 7.4 miles to the overall length of the Pike to Peak.
By using the Trans Pennine Trail between Tintwistle/Hadfield and Winscar Reservoir the Pike to Peak route can be divided into two loops; a northern one of around 77.5 miles and a southern one of 42.5 miles (or around 50 miles if you use the longer Stanage Edge option) . The GPX for the TPT link is below.
Richard Peace - cycling journalist and author 