Parking
Begin at Hayfield bus station; the signed trail entrance is just beyond the public toilet block, toward New Mills. Current car-park location, capacity and fees were not verified.
Overview
About Sett Valley Trail
Why go
- A low-effort link between Hayfield and New Mills
Heads up
- Point-to-point; plan the return or retrace the route
- Several gates and two road crossings
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Peak District map
Full mapElevation146–193 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
5 active Peak District alerts
- ClosureA54 Cat and Fiddle road closureThe A54 Macclesfield Main Road (Cat and Fiddle) is fully closed to all traffic from 27 July through 30 October 2026 during phase 1 improvement works.Official details
- ClosureHooks Carr (Stanage Popular) car park closureHooks Carr (Stanage Popular) car park will be partially or fully closed from 6 October for four weeks.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Peak District Tour Guide
Your drive to Sett Valley Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Peak District National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this trailhead
Sett Valley Trail from Hayfield0:00 / 0:22
“You're approaching the Sett Valley Trail at Hayfield, an easy former railway path to New Mills.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Peak District Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Road Worn Into Hayfield
- Kinder Scout Mass Trespass Walk
- The Hayfield Decoy
- The Quarry That Shaped the Hill
- 298 audio storiesacross Peak District’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Red Deer, Red Fox, Eurasian Otter, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 88 trails, 76 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Sett Valley Trail
The direct route between villagesThe Sett Valley Trail is a 2.
The Sett Valley Trail is a 2.5-mile, one-way shared-use path between Hayfield and New Mills, following a former single-track railway. It is a level, low-effort way through the valley rather than a viewpoint hike. Allow about 75 minutes on foot each way; retracing makes a roughly five-mile return. The 8.1-mile Hayfield circuit is a different walk that leaves the trail and returns by countryside paths and lanes.
What the railway left behindThe railway opened in 1868 and closed in 1970; its corridor is now a traffic-free route for…
The railway opened in 1868 and closed in 1970; its corridor is now a traffic-free route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. Expect several gates and two road crossings. Most of the walk is straightforward, but it is a shared path, not a walkers-only track. The New Mills end reaches St George's Road.
Start and planBegin at Hayfield bus station; the signed entry to the trail is just beyond the public toilet…
Begin at Hayfield bus station; the signed entry to the trail is just beyond the public toilet block, toward New Mills. This is point-to-point, so arrange a return or walk back. Current parking capacity and fees, and the dog rule, could not be confirmed.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Peak District
248 sightingsRed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
36 sightingsRed FoxMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
15 sightingsEurasian OtterMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
51 sightingsPeregrine FalconMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
47 sightingsEuropean Fallow DeerMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
54 sightingsWestern Roe DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Peak District. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
