The route runs from the Thorpe Pastures north of the village of Thorpe, at the foot of Thorpe Cloud, about the eastern base of which competitors race down to the notoriously slippery Stepping Stones across the River Dove. The route continues along the western side of the Cloud, across the ridge above the Izaak Walton Hotel, down into Ilam, where the course doubles back along the southern bank of the Dove, down to Coldwall Bridge. Across the Bridge, runners follow the valley through Thorpe Mill Farm, back to the Cloud, where they retrace their path to the Stepping Stones and back to the starting position on Thorpe Pastures.