Monsal Head

Monsal Head looks straight down onto Headstone Viaduct, the five-arch railway bridge that carries the Monsal Trail across the River Wye, with Monsal Dale opening out beyond it. The view is available directly from the car park, no walk required, which is part of why this is one of the most visited single spots in the Peak District.

The viaduct, built in 1863, was fiercely criticised at the time for intruding on the dale; John Ruskin mourned the valley as “divine” before the railway came. Public taste has since reversed itself completely, and the viaduct, listed Grade II by Historic England in 1970, is now the main reason people come to look. It needed remedial work in 1907-08 after slippage in one of its piers, and has carried walkers and cyclists on the Monsal Trail since its tunnels reopened in 2011.

Monsal Head itself has a hotel, a pub, cafes and a gift shop clustered around the car park, making it as much a stopping point for food as for the view. Two car parks serve it, a larger one and a smaller short-stay option, both pay and display. For anyone who wants more than the view from the top, a path drops down to the trail and the viaduct can be walked across, but that is a short extra outing rather than a requirement. It suits anyone short on time, short on mobility, or breaking a drive across the White Peak, since the view costs nothing but the parking. Anyone who came for a walk will not find one: there is perhaps ten minutes of it here. For the viaduct on foot and four miles of level trail with it, start instead from Bakewell station and walk the Monsal Trail north.