Mam Tor

Mam Tor, near Castleton, is 517 m high. Its name means “mother hill”, because the landslips on its eastern flank have created many small hills beneath it. It is known as the “Shivering Mountain” because the unstable shale keeps slipping; the main landslide began about 4,000 years ago. The A625 was closed as a through road in 1979. Around the summit runs the rampart of a hill fort from the late Bronze Age to the early Iron Age; occupation is dated to around 1200 BC.

A steep path with steps leads from the National Trust’s Mam Nick car park to the summit in 15 to 30 minutes (0.6 km). The ridge continuing east to Lose Hill is about 4 km long; a short circuit of 4.5 km takes around 1.5 hours. The ridge is exposed to the wind. There are no toilets at the car park, and it is busy on fine days and in the holidays; weekdays outside the school holidays are quieter.