Photo of Winnats Pass, a gorge near Castleton in the Peak District, Derbyshire, central England.

Photo Luke Ellis-Craven / Unsplash

Winnats Pass

National icon

Steep limestone gorge road, hugely photographed.

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Winnats Pass is a steep limestone cleft climbing west out of Castleton, hemmed in by jagged pinnacles that were once reefs in a tropical sea. The single-track road up it makes one of the most dramatic drives in the Peak, closed to through traffic at busy times and much used by walkers heading for Mam Tor. The name is a worn form of ‘wind gates’.

More places to visit near Winnats Pass

Photo of the Peak District, a National Park in England.

Peak District

You’re inside itNational Park near Castleton

Britain's first national park: gritstone edges in the Dark Peak, limestone dales in the White.

Photo of Speedwell Cavern, a cave near Castleton in the Peak District, Derbyshire, central England.

Speedwell Cavern

Cave near Castleton

Flooded former lead mine at the foot of Winnats Pass, reached by an underground boat trip to a vast Bottomless Pit.

here

Photo of Peveril Castle, a ruined castle near Castleton in the Peak District, Derbyshire, central England.

Peveril Castle

Castle near Castleton

Norman keep perched above Castleton and Cave Dale.

1 km E

Photo of Peak Cavern, a cave near Castleton in the Peak District, Derbyshire, central England.

Peak Cavern

Cave near Castleton

Long known as the Devil's Arse, it has the largest cave entrance in Britain and once sheltered a whole rope-makers' village.

1 km E

Photo along the Pennine Way, a 268-mile National Trail running from Edale to Kirk Yetholm, England and Scotland.

Pennine Way

The first and toughest of them all — 268 miles along England's rocky spine from the Peak to the Cheviots.

3.6 km NW · spans 8 counties

Photo along the Pennine Bridleway, a 205-mile National Trail running from Middleton Top or Hartington to A683 at Cote Moor, England.

Pennine Bridleway

The Pennines for horse and bike — old packhorse trails and drovers' roads.

3.8 km SW · spans 6 counties