Best Places to Visit Near Stoke-on-Trent
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The best places to visit near Stoke-on-Trent are Ford Green Hall, The Roaches, Hanging Stone, Blake Mere Mermaid Pool, Lud's Church, Thors Cave, Three Shires Head and Slitting Mill Waterfall.
Stoke-on-Trent, the Potteries city in north Staffordshire, sits within easy reach of some of the wildest and most storied country in the Peak District, along with quieter corners closer to home. Start on the city's own northern edge at Smallthorne, where Ford Green Hall keeps the feel of a 17th-century farmhouse.
From there the land rises east and north into the Staffordshire moorlands, where the gritstone edge of The Roaches, the overhanging Hanging Stone near Danebridge and the eerie Blake Mere Mermaid Pool on Morridge reward a proper day out. Deeper in the woods lies the mossy chasm of Lud's Church, while Thor's Cave gapes above the Manifold Valley to the east.
Push further up onto Axe Edge Moor and you reach Three Shires Head, where three counties meet at a packhorse bridge. South of the city, toward Rugeley, Slitting Mill Waterfall slips quietly through a village on the edge of Cannock Chase.
Halls, caves, waterfalls, wild swims and windswept ridges all lie within a short drive. Here are eight places to visit near Stoke-on-Trent.
Ford Green Hall
Photo: Brian Deegan via Geograph.org.uk
Explore Ford Green Hall Just north of the city at Smallthorne, this timber-framed former farmhouse now works as a museum furnished as a 17th-century yeoman's home. Its black-and-white timbered range, with close-set studwork and a gabled porch, was built for the Ford family, traditionally in 1624, with a brick wing added in the early 1700s and an old dovecote in the grounds.
Rooms are laid out with period and reproduction furniture, textiles and ceramics from a collection rated as outstanding. A cafe serves visitors, and volunteers run the place, opening on set afternoons.
It sits close to Stoke-on-Trent for an easy afternoon out.
The Roaches
Photo: Steve Partridge via Geograph.org.uk
Walk The Roaches A drive out toward Leek brings you to this dramatic ridge of gritstone in the Staffordshire Peak District, its name taken from the French for rocks. A line of weathered crags runs along the top, rising to about 505 metres, with wide views over the Cheshire plain and surrounding hills.
It ranks among the country's classic spots for rock climbing and bouldering, and makes a fine edge walk, taking in a small dark pool tied to folklore and the neighbouring crags of Hen Cloud and Ramshaw Rocks. The mossy chasm of Lud's Church lies in the woods a little way north.
Hanging Stone
Photo: Dave Croker via Geograph.org.uk
Find the Hanging Stone Also worth the drive into the Staffordshire moorlands, near Danebridge just north of the Roaches, the Hanging Stone is a jutting outcrop of gritstone on the ridge of Back Forest. The rock overhangs a hillside that looks out over the old Swythamley estate, and it stands out prominently from the country around.
Two memorial plaques are set into it, one to a mastiff buried beneath the rock in the 1870s and one to a member of the local Brocklehurst family. A walk along the ridge brings you to it, a good goal for anyone happy to stretch their legs.
Blake Mere Mermaid Pool
Photo: John H Darch via Geograph.org.uk
Seek out Blake Mere Mermaid Pool High on the moorland ridge of Morridge above Leek, this small dark pool is often called the Mermaid Pool, a day-trip well worth the drive. It is a lonely, roughly circular sheet of peat-stained water in bleak, boggy ground near an old moorland inn, with wide views over the hills.
For its size it carries a long thread of legend: said to be haunted by a mermaid, tied to a tale of a drowned woman, and once believed bottomless, though it proved quite shallow. The water is said never to freeze or dry up.
Sheep graze the rough grass around this windswept, slightly eerie spot.
Lud's Church
Photo: Graham Hogg via Geograph.org.uk
Descend into Lud's Church Tucked in the woods near Gradbach on the edge of the Roaches, Lud's Church is a deep, narrow chasm and a rewarding drive into the Staffordshire Moorlands. It was formed by a great mass of gritstone slipping toward the valley, leaving a cleft over a hundred metres long and about eighteen metres deep, its walls green with moss and fern and noticeably cooler and damper than the moor above.
Steps and a walkway lead down, and the footing is muddy. Tradition links it to the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as the Green Chapel, and to the Lollards, though both are legend rather than proven fact.
Thors Cave
Photo: Gary Rogers via Geograph.org.uk
Thors Cave People have sheltered here for thousands of years, and Victorian and later digs pulled human burials, tools and pottery from the floor. The cave itself is a natural one, its great arched mouth some ten metres high set into a limestone crag over the Manifold Valley, in the Staffordshire part of the Peak District.
Getting up means a steep climb on steps and a short rocky scramble, repaid with a fine view out over the valley from the entrance. It is a well-walked route from the Manifold trail below and draws walkers and climbers alike, though you will find no facilities at the cave.
Three Shires Head
Photo: Graham Hogg via Geograph.org.uk
Reach Three Shires Head Worth the longer drive up onto Axe Edge Moor, Three Shires Head is where the old boundaries of Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire meet on the upper River Dane. An old stone packhorse bridge crosses the river above a run of pools and small waterfalls, the largest known as Panniers Pool, a well-loved wild swimming spot in cold moorland water.
No road reaches it: you walk in along old packhorse tracks, often from a lay-by a mile or two away. It is a wild, remote meeting of ways with no facilities, but a memorable one for anyone happy to make the trip.
Slitting Mill Waterfall
Photo: Lynn Jackson via Geograph.org.uk
Visit Slitting Mill Waterfall Furthest afield, down toward Rugeley on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase, this small cascade runs on the Rising Brook through the village of Slitting Mill. The brook drops over a weir-like step as it passes through, a modest, pretty feature rather than a great fall.
The village takes its name from a seventeenth-century ironworks, a slitting mill that cut iron bars into rods, which once stood on the brook here. It makes a quiet stop and a gateway into the walks and forest of Cannock Chase, though there are no facilities at the fall itself.
A good excuse for a southern day-trip.
FAQs
How far are The Roaches from Stoke-on-Trent?
The Roaches lie about 22 kilometres east of Stoke-on-Trent, near Leek, an easy drive of well under an hour into the Staffordshire part of the Peak District.
Which places near Stoke-on-Trent are good for wild swimming?
Three Shires Head, with its Panniers Pool on the River Dane, is the pick for wild swimming near Stoke-on-Trent, while Blake Mere on Morridge is more for its eerie setting than a dip.
Can you visit Thor's Cave with children?
Thor's Cave can be reached from the Manifold trail near Stoke-on-Trent, though the climb up steps and a short rocky scramble means it suits older, sure-footed children rather than toddlers.
Conclusion
From a timber-framed hall on the city's doorstep to remote moorland pools reached only on foot, the country around Stoke-on-Trent packs in a notable variety. The Staffordshire moorlands and Peak District deliver the drama, with The Roaches, Hanging Stone, Lud's Church and Thor's Cave rewarding anyone who enjoys crags, chasms and caves.
For water, Blake Mere and Three Shires Head offer legend and cold wild swimming in equal measure, while Slitting Mill Waterfall and Ford Green Hall make gentler, closer stops. Whether you fancy a short afternoon out or a full day roaming the high tops, there is something here for walkers, families and curious wanderers alike.
Pack decent boots, check the weather on the moor, and take your time: these are the places to visit near Stoke-on-Trent.
