Black Harry Trails

The Black Harry Trails can be found in the Longstone Edge area of the Peak District, and are suitable for hiking, cycling, and horse riding.  The Black Harry Trails are just less than 20km long in length and provide visitors with a mixed range of picturesque scenery.  The Black Harry Trails themselves can be accessed from the village of Bakewell, as well as directly by the Monsal Trail.  The trail itself is well signposted due to recent work by the park authority, though the terrain can be both steep and uneven in places, which will mean that cyclists will require more rugged bikes.  The Black Harry trails themselves are also intersected with a number of walking trails which pass through open access land.

The Black Harry trails were created in 2010 via the Derbyshire Aggregate Levy Grant Scheme.  The project to create the Black Harry trails was also closely supported by the Peak District National Park Authority, and a number of interest groups were closely involved, including local residents, landowners, and councils in the area.

The project itself had a range of different aims which were common with the overall objectives of the Peak District Park Authority to enhance the Peak District and its special qualities, as well as promoting the special nature of the Peak District to both residents and visitors.  The first of these objectives was to improve surfacing so that the Black Harry Trails could be used by more users including cyclists and those on horseback.  The Authority also sought to link up existing trails in the area in order to form a more comprehensive set of trails, which were to be signposted encouraging their usage among visitors.  Motor vehicles have also been a contentious issue within the park and the park authority aims to manage and monitor motor vehicles more closely in order to deter their use.  The final objective of the project involved involving the local communities in the area in order to help develop knowledge of the routes and for different users of the routes to be able to share the routes.  The project itself witnessed large scale volunteering efforts by the Peak Park conservation volunteers, who made an enormous contribution to the success of the project.