Alport Castles

This is the dominant landslip on the eastern skyline of Alport Dale, a place often described as Britain's largest landslip, and it sits in a remote, lightly visited part of the Dark Peak. The reward is simple and big: broken gritstone pinnacles, a deep rugged valley, and wide moorland views with very little sign of anything else. Visitors consistently say the views and the remoteness are the whole point.

The geology is easy to read once you know it. Weak Carboniferous shales sit beneath harder Millstone Grit, and when water weakened the shale the softer layers slipped away from the Birchin Hat escarpment. The jointed gritstone above broke into blocks and tumbled down the valley side, helped along by frost and ice and probably by earlier glacial over-steepening of the valley.

• The Tower is the isolated pinnacle standing clear of the main crag line, and a distinctive visible feature of the formation.
• Alport Mere lies beneath The Tower, tucked into the tumbled ground.
• The meandering River Alport below drains a valley cutting into the edge of the Bleaklow plateau, with important habitats and some locally uncommon species.
• Peregrine falcons nest regularly at the crags, so keep an eye and an ear out, and give nesting birds space.

Wear proper boots. The route includes steep sections that can be muddy, and stretches of boggy moorland further along. It is a genuine half-day hill walk rather than a stroll, and it needs navigation confidence in poor visibility because the area is remote and lightly visited.

Reaching the top of The Tower involves a scramble that many find challenging. You do not need to do it: the crag line and the valley edge give excellent views and the best sense of the landslip's scale without any climbing. If you do scramble, do it in dry conditions.