With your back to the vehicle entrance, walk to the top left-hand corner of the car park and follow the path to reach the visitor centre, which is on the right. From the visitor centre, turn left down a flight of steps and walk down through the garden heading towards the church, the building that is on the left is a youth hostel. Go down a further set of steps and cross a gravel area diagonally left to join with an estate road. Turn right and, after a short distance, turn right again along the path to the church. (If you explore the churchyard, look out for the shafts of two 1,000-year-old Saxon crosses.)

Continue on the path passing through a gate beside the church and on to join a wider path. (In the distance you will see Thorpe Cloud, the large flat topped hill). Turn left and follow the path with a large grassy area on the right. Go through a gate beside Dovedale House, turn right and soon right again. Walk along the pavement until you are level with the Mary Watts-Russell Memorial Cross, which is in the centre of the road. This was built in 1840 in memory of Jesse Watts-Russell's wife. Jesse Watts Russell, a wealthy industrialist had inherited the estate in 1820 on the death of his father. He lived there until his own death in 1875.

Bear left, crossing over the road to join the side branch, walking in the direction of Dovedale and Thorpe. Stay on the right-hand pavement. Just beyond the last house on the left and at a lay-by, cross the road to turn left through a small wooden gate.

Note that there may be cattle and sheep in the fields for this section. Veer right up a short steep uneven slope to reach a wider footpath. Turn right, following the path to cross a squeeze stile by a gate. Cross the next field heading towards Thorpe Cloud and go through a small gate. Continue over the next field, passing the rear of the Izaak Walton Hotel which is on your right. The hotel was named after the author of a book called The Compleat Angler. He fished the River Dove in the mid-17th century.

Cross a wooden fence stile, a narrow field and a second fence stile, then continue along the path as it veers slightly left to reach a third fence stile. Cross this stile and follow the footpath downhill through the trees. Go down a short set of wooden steps and veer left to go through a gate into a car park. Turn left between the toilets and the refreshment hut and walk along the path with the River Dove on your right. This is Dovedale. The river marks the boundary between the counties of Derbyshire and Staffordshire. On the river you may be able to spot ducks, heron and dipper, while sheep graze the steep slopes down to the river. The path passes the Izaak Walton Gauging station. This weir was constructed by the Trent River Authority in 1969, its purpose is to measure continually the flow of water in the river. After a short distance turn right, crossing a wooden footbridge.

Immediately beyond the bridge, turn right over a fence stile. Head across the field bearing slightly left to go through a small wooden swing gate, the River Dove will now be on your right. Walk along the woodland path, cross a fence stile and soon emerge from the trees. Cross the field veering slightly right to a gate and a short concrete bridge. Continue over the next field, the river is still on the right. Go through a small gate and follow the path around the edge of the field, with a line of trees on the right, heading towards a farm in the distance. Just before reaching the end of the field, turn right through a gate in the hedge. Bear left to reach the road at St Mary's Bridge.

Take care and cross the road, heading diagonally left to a waymarker post (this is to the left of a telegraph post). Go through the gate and follow the grassy path over the field to cross a stile beside a metal gate. Continue forward bearing left around the trees, following the uneven path up to a further small wooden gate. Follow the grassy path, at first with a wire fence on the right and soon the river will be on the right. Continue along the river valley. As a bridge comes into view, keep left up a grassy bank to then cross a wooden fence stile. Turn right over the bridge, Coldwall Bridge.

Just before the end of the bridge, go through a squeeze stile on the right and walk through a small copse of trees. Emerging from the trees, cross the field, walking parallel to the hedge which is approximately 30 metres to the right. Go through a metal gate and keep on the track beyond. As the track bends left, go right up the grassy bank, heading for a marker post ahead. Keep on over the field, bearing very slightly left and following a series of marker posts. A view of Thorpe Cloud can be seen over on the right. The open field changes to a more dense area of trees and scrub, keep along the path following the various markers. At a split of paths, keep on the lower path and note that this area can be quite boggy after wet weather. The river is down on your right. Continue along the sometimes uneven path until a gate is reached.

Go through the gate. The area now opens up as you cross a field, keeping a line of trees and the river on the right. Go over a wooden footbridge and soon go through a wooden gate. Cross the next field to go over a short slatted bridge and through a gate. Continue over a further field and, just before reaching the end, bear left to take a wooden gate beside a stone bridge. Go up a flight of stone steps to reach the road. Take care here as there is no pavement and the traffic can be busy at times.

Turn right over the bridge. As you reach the Mary Watts-Russell Memorial Cross, cross the road to the left-hand pavement and retrace your outward route back past the church to return to the car park and the end of the walk.