[1] From the car park go out onto the road and turn right. Go uphill under three large bridges that carry quarry traffic. A little beyond, take a bridleway on the left starting at a green gate. The safe way across this industrial area is marked on the ground by white paint. Follow this safe path to another green gate, pass to the right of this and go ahead to more green gates that lead onto a road at a corner. Go straight ahead along this road, follow it until it reaches the top of a hill at a road junction, with a Leicestershire Round Sign post.
(A) The bumpy grassy area just ahead is where Mountsorrel castle once stood. It was built soon after the Norman conquest in 1080 but was destroyed in 1217. It is worth walking forward a short distance across it and climbing up to the fire beacon and war memorial from where there is an extremely good view over the town and beyond. The bumps in the ground are from quarrying rather than castle remains.
[2] Now on the Leicestershire Round, turn right along Cufflins Pit Lane. Keep on the main track and follow it all the way to a road. Turn left and follow the road to a T-Junction.
[3] Turn left along Swithland Lane and then right along Kinchley Lane. The lane soon starts to descend, with views ahead to Bradgate Deer Park on the horizon and Swithland Reservoir below. At the bottom of the slope the road turns sharp right and goes alongside the reservoir, then across the dam to a house. The quality of the tarmac now deteriorates as the lane goes past the house. Immediately after crossing a railway bridge, turn right on a footpath.
(B) The railway is the former Great Central main line from Sheffield to London Marylebone. The Great Central Railway was an ambitious northern railway company who were being held back by having to pay their competitors to use their routes into London, so they decided to build their own, and they finally opened it in 1899. There were ambitious plans to join it to a new channel tunnel, and the line was built to the european loading gauge in anticipation of this.
The line became the biggest, and most controversial victim of the Beeching cuts, and was closed in the late 1960s. Much of it now lies derelict, but this section has been preserved as a heritage railway, and if you are lucky you will spot a steam train passing through.
[4] Go down the right edge of the field then turn left to go past a green water works building and ahead to a gate in a protruding field corner. Go through and follow the path along the right hand side of three more fields to reach a cross track.
[5] Now leaving the Leicestershire Round, turn right along the track, which very quickly becomes a tarmaced lane. Soon after passing a thatched cottage fork right on a tarmac drive which is signed as a bridleway to Quorn. After a sharp left turn the tarmac ends at a large house on the right. Continue straight ahead on a rougher track. 100 metres before a house up ahead turn right along a path to a telegraph pole. Go along the left side of a hedge and pick up a sunken lane. Follow it under the railway and ahead until it reaches the end of a tarmac road. Continue along this road then keep straight ahead along Chaveny Road and on to the main crossroads in the centre of Quorn village.
[6] Turn right along Leicester Road and follow it to a mini roundabout at the edge of the village. Turn right along Wood Lane, which you will follow for some distance. After a while the tarmac path ends. The grass verge onwards is a bit intermittent, so take care when you have to step onto the road. After passing a quarry entrance go uphill a little and find a path starting at a stile on the left.
(C) The walk circumnavigates Mountsorrel Quarry, which is the largest granite quarrying operation in Europe. Happily it is quite well hidden and does not have much of an effect on the walk. Quarrying has been going on here since Roman times, but this major operation started in 1854 and continues to be a major local employer.
[7] Follow the path ahead under electricity wires then down between wire fences. Go through yellow gates across the quarry roads and continue on the path to a road. Follow all the instructions on the signs and from workers when passing the quarry. Keep well clear of dumper trucks. Turn left back under the large bridges and back to the start.