🥾 Walking route
Ashes Quarry Geotrail
County Durham
- 📏 3 km · 1.9 mi
- ⛰ +181 m
- ⏱ 60 min
- 🐕 On lead
Walk stats
- Distance3 km · 1.9 mi
- Elevation+181 m
- Duration60 min
- DifficultyModerate
- Route typeCircular
- TerrainVillage lanes, tracks and stony quarry paths with a steady climb
- Best seasonLate spring to early autumn for clearer paths and long views
- DogsDog-friendly on leads; take care near quarry edges
About this walk
This 3 km loop packs a surprising amount of climbing into an hour, rising some 180 metres from the heart of Stanhope onto the fell above. The route sets off past St Thomas the Apostle church and Stanhope Methodist Church, giving you a quick glimpse of the village's stone-built character before the streets give way to open ground and the pull uphill begins.
The reward is Ashes Quarry itself, a dramatic disused limestone working carved into the hillside high above Weardale. Interpretation on the geotrail helps make sense of the rock faces, spoil heaps and industrial remains, while the views stretch back down over the dale and the winding line of Shittlehope Burn.
The descent returns you to Stanhope in time for a well-earned stop. The Grey Bull and the Sports & Social Club are both close to the finish, and Hill Crest sits on the edge of the village if you want to linger a little longer before heading on.
Route map
Route line drawn from OpenStreetMap footpath data. Numbered markers are waypoints on the route; amber star markers are points of interest a short detour away.
Waypoints along the route
2 waypoints along the way
- 1
St Thomas the Apostle
- 2
Stanhope Methodist Church
Worth a short detour
Points of interest just off the route, look for the amber markers on the map.
Weardale
~377 m off the route
Shittlehope Burn
~459 m off the route
Sports & Social Club
~226 m off the route
The Grey Bull
~377 m off the route
Hill Crest
~186 m off the route
Route & waypoint data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).