Trails
Higger Tor & Carl Wark
Explore the spectacular terrain on the plateau of Higger Tor and the nearby tor of Carl Wark, regarded as an Iron Age hill fort.
About
Explore the spectacular terrain on the plateau of Higger Tor. Huge gritstone boulders are interspersed by heather and cotton grass. Nearby discover the tor of Carl Wark is regarded as an Iron Age hill fort, although the date of construction is unknown, likely to be somewhere between 500 and 800 years BC.
Guided walks can be booked with Live for the Hills.
Trail directions
A short 3 miles walk from Hathersage
From the road, the short walk to the summit of the imposing tour is rewarded by spectacular views in all directions. To the north and east, the view extends across Burbage Moor, and the gritstone edge which hides the skyline of nearby Sheffield. From the southern edge of the tor, the view looks over the Iron Age Carl Wark fortress and the huge boulder known as Mother Cap which sits on the back of Owler Tor.
The site was used as a location in the popular 1987 film, The Princess Bride, with the dominant Higger Tor in the background. You may wonder why the fort was built at the lower, smaller outcrop rather than on Higger Tor itself. But Carl Wark was sufficiently distant from the higher tor to be out of range for missiles. The vertical sides were also far easier to defend than the larger expanse nearby.
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