Walks: Torside Trail Loop

The Torside Trail loop is a walk around both the Torside and Woodhead Reservoirs off Woodhead Pass in the Peak District. My recommended starting point would be the car park opposite Glossop Sailing Club, it's a paid for car park but there's plenty of spaces, a picnic area and a public toilet as well. There are two free car parks either side of Woodhead Reservoir, the one between Topside and Woodhead Reservoirs is very small and usually full, the one the other end of the Woodhead Reservoir is quite large and usually has a lot of free spaces. Depending which car park you use, just adjust the route shown on the map accordingly, the route passes by all three car parks so it shouldn't matter where you start.

Things to Note About the Route

In terms of difficulty, the part that follows the Longdendale Trail is fairly easy walking with limited hills and a well maintained path. However once you get off that part, and once you are taking the hills back on the other side of the reservoirs, the difficulty of the walk increases quite a bit (but isn't too bad). The path isn't well marked on the north side of the reservoirs, along with there being a lot of step inclines and there are a couple of points where you have to cross roads to continue on the walk. If it's been dry for a week or so beforehand, the north side trails aren't too bad, but if it's muddy make sure you are prepared with the appropriate gear.

Points of Interest

Along the way I'd recommend keeping an eye out for the following points of interest:

Longdendale Trail

Along this part of the walk you get some stunning views of the reservoirs, and also information posts explaining about the construction of them voiced by no other than Brian Blessed.

Woodhead Tunnels

The old Woodhead tunnels that used to run under the peaks, joining up the Glossop line to Sheffield. Nowadays it just carries high powered electricity lines, but the old platforms are still there.