The most popular entry point onto the Long Mynd, Carding Mill Valley is a deep, heather-sided cleft that opens above the town and leads up onto the moorland plateau. The valley floor follows a clear stream — Mott's Road runs alongside it — past bracken slopes and boggy grassland, eventually opening onto the broad summit plateau of the Long Mynd. The full walk to the Pole Bank trig point, the highest point on the Long Mynd at 516 metres, takes around two hours from the valley car park.
The National Trust owns and manages the valley and has a small car park, tearoom, and information point near the foot. Weekends in summer can be busy; come early or take one of the parallel valleys instead. story: "The 'carding' in the name refers to the wool-carding mills that once ran along the stream here. The last mill closed in the 19th century, but for a time this quiet valley was a minor industrial site processing fleeces from the surrounding sheep farms."