Lud’s Church Walk Guide – Peak District

If you just want to walk to Lud’s church, this guide shows you how. There are options to make it a bigger walk. Whether by adding in some more woodland, or heading out further to The Roaches, which I will show you how to do on my guided route description further down. 

I did do the full walk to both, so you can follow that guide if it’s easier.

I walked it in the reverse direction though. So if you are undecided about wether you want to just walk Lud’s Church or if you want to do the full big walk to The Roaches, then start from here anyway, and you can decide when out there if you want to continue on.

What is Lud’s Church?

It’s an 18m deep moss covered chasm, in the depths of the Back Forest (not to be confused with the Black Forest).

Moss covered is an understatement. It’s dripping in the green stuff, adding to the mystical vibe.

Historically it was used as a secret place of worship for Lollards, who were persecuted for their beliefs. 

Interesting Fact: The name ‘Lud’s Church’ supposedly comes from a guy named Walter De Lud Auk, who was captured here during one of the worship meetings. 

Unsurprisingly, Lud’s Church has also become the source of a number of myths and legends. I mean, how could a place like this not be. 

My favourite is the devil story (I am always intrigued by how many of our nature places in England have a devil story). So it goes like this…the devil scraped back a part of the earth with his finger nail, to form the chasm. In reality, it was formed by a giant landslip.

Another story is that it was used as a hiding place for Robin Hood. If you are into Robin Hood, then if you head north to Northumberland National Park, you can visit Sycamore Gap. This spot was used as a filming location for Robin Hood the movie.

What to expect on the walk to Lud’s church

At 3 miles there and back, it’s a pretty short walk. However, you will have some hills to tackle on rugged, muddy terrain, and an optional river crossing over rocks.

The majority of the walk to Lud’s Church is through woodland (Back Forest). I would say it’s an easy walk, but could also be moderate if you are new to hiking, based on the hill and the terrain.

I did this walk on a weekday in winter, and the car park had a fair few cars in it, and although I did pass a few people walking on the trail, I actually had Lud’s Church all to myself. I have heard it can get quite busy though, as it’s a popular place. 

Read more: Best walks and hikes in the Peak District

Is the walk route easy to follow?

Yes. It is signposted along the way. There are also signs for The Roaches, if you wish to make the walk longer.

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Logistics for the Lud’s Church walk

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Tips for walking to Lud’s Church

• Hiking boots are recommend due to the mud.
• Maybe take spare shoes and socks to change into after, just incase. 
• It looks like it is quite a popular walk, so I would suggest starting early. I have read the car park gets full quick.
• If the car park is full, there is parking on the other end of The Moss (road), although you will follow a different route to reach Lud’s Church. Alternatively you can park over by The Roaches where there is a lot of roadside parking. If you don’t want to include The Roaches, then park at Roach End. I walked past this spot on The Roaches and Luds Church walk, so if you go to that guide, you can see the route from there (scroll down the the heading ‘Walk to Back Wood’)
• If it’s been raining a lot recently, the river crossing could be tricky, so maybe skip this bit. I will show you how, when I describe the walk below.

Map for the Lud’s Church walk

You can find my more detailed Lud’s Church route map on AllTrails

More walking routes near Lud’s Church will be at the end

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A guide to the Lud’s Church walk in the Peak District National Park

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Starting from The Roaches Gradbach car park, exit and turn right. This first bit of the walk to Lud’s Church is along the road. It seems to be a quiet road, so don’t worry.

Stick to the road when you reach the entrance to Gradbach Mill, and again, stick to the main path (right side) when you reach Gradbach House Farm.

Keep following the trail, passing by a house on the left, around a corner, and then stick to the right trail at the next junction.

This might all sound confusing, but don’t panic, just stick to the path that doesn’t take you into private places. 

Enter the woods

By now, the path will have become a bit more rugged and rocky, as it leads you into the woods, where you will remain for the rest of the walk to Lud’s Church.

It’s easy to follow at first, then you will reach a point where the path curves left, with a slightly less obvious trail leading off it downhill to the right (see photo below).

Choose your route

At this point you can take either trail. Sticking to the main one as it curves left seems like the obvious easy one, however, this takes you to River Dane.

If you don’t fancy walking precariously over rocks to get across, then don’t go that way. I took that route on the way back, so you can have a look at it further down in this guide. 

If you want to go that way, then I will show you were we meet up in a moment (because I took the right).

Taking the right trail

If you take the right trail, it will take you immediately downhill on a dirt path. Keep going all the way to the bottom, to reach the gate and bridge.

Through there you will see your first sign for Lud’s Church. Follow it up the hill, then up a few steps to reach the main trail, where you turn right. If you took the river route, you should end up here. 

Walk to Lud’s Church 

The route is now super easy to follow. Just keep walking along this main trail to reach the big rocks.

I went and stood on the top of those rocks, hoping for a view. But all I saw was white. It was a very foggy day, which will become more evident later. 

At these rocks, there will be a trail directly back on the left. Like a V. Follow that.

Continue walking further uphill, and when you reach an opening on the right, you have reached Lud’s Church. 

Walk through Lud’s Church

As you walk through the chasm, it will be a little rocky, and there is one section which can be very very muddy. Once you get passed the mud, and deeper inside, the terrain will be easier briefly. 

You would think that being in a place like this, all alone, on a foggy day, might be a little scary. Well, it’s the kind of thing that would usually make me nervous.

However, today I didn’t feel like that. It was just so magical, standing at the bottom of a deep gorge, with moss covered rocks, and the way the light shone down. I was mesmerised. 

To get out, walk through to the other side, where you will have to go up some rocks. You will see there is a split in the gorge. You can go either way, but the main exit is to the right.

You will need to go up a few rock steps, then again a few more to get out and to the top. 

Loop through the woods, or turn back

From here, you can go back the way you came, or go for a little woodland wander (or even further to The Roaches).

I did a little woodland wander, which was as simple as just following the main trail. Which starts off as dirt, then there are a series of wooden plank walkways to mix things up.

When you reach the next wooden trail signpost, you will see it points left for The Roaches. I went left (although not to the Roaches), to make a loop back.

I must warn you though, this next bit gets very very muddy. So if you want to avoid the mud, turn back here. Saying that, it might not be so bad during summer. 

Walking the loop back to Lud’s Church 

If you are following me, go left here, then at the next junction with a trail signpost, go left again. (note: If you want to head to The Roaches, you will turn right. Just follow the signs and they will lead you there).

Taking the left trail, it will lead you back to Lud’s Church. As I said, some bits are very very muddy, and I had to do a bit of hopping about to try to avoid it.

There are some bits where there is an open area where I felt the trail wasn’t so obvious, but just look around and you will find it. When you spot it, it will then become obvious. 

You can see from my photos, the fog had really set in, which added to the spooky woodland vibe. 

Once you rich the entrance to Lud’s Church, keep walking straight along the trail you got here on, remembering to turn right at the V turn at the big rocks. 

The river crossing

Continue following the trail, then when you reach those steps from earlier, you can go down them to go back the way you came, or stay on this main trail to cross the river. 

As you already know, I crossed the river. It’s just a bit further along this main trail. I found the river to be just about passable today.

Some of the rocks I needed to step on did have water running over them, but it was just low enough that I could get across (my waterproof hiking boots might have helped a little)

Once across the river, the trail takes you fairly steeply uphill, then around to the right to take you out of the woods.

The end

Now just follow this path and road to get back to the start. Make sure that when you reach the group of houses, don’t turn left like I did. Stay straight.

I do sometimes find, walking back the way I came can get a little confusing, trying to remember things in reverse. 

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More walks near Lud’s Church and in the Peak District 

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I have mentioned The Roaches a few times now. You can do that on it’s own, or add it on to the Lud’s Church walk. I highly recommend doing them both together. If you decide to do them both, then make sure to walk all the way to the other end of The Roaches, rather than just the first bit. I think the views are better over there. 

For more gorge vibes, you could try the walk through Winnats Pass. It’s also a short one, and not too challenging (apart from the start). 

You should definitely do Cave Dale. It’s a tucked away limestone valley, with hidden secret vibes.

Now, I only walked Cave Dale as part of the Mam Tor walk, which made it a long one. But if you want to keep things short, you can do Cave Dale alone, and park in Castleton (or nearby).

Mam Tor is a great one though. You can walk along the Great Ridge with a gorgeous view down both sides into the valleys. 

If you like big rock faces, then you might like Stanage Edge and Bamford Edge. I did both of these as a longer circular walk, but you can easily shorten them to just do the rock bits.

You can find a more detailed side by side look on the best walks in the Peak District here.

For more information about things to do in the area, you can check out the Visit Peak District website

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