Transport was a very important part of the everyday life of the lead mine. Footpaths, packhorse routes and more substantial cart tracks were needed to bring men and materials to the mines as well to take ore to the dressing floors and smelt mills. Once smelted the lead needed to be transported to the customers, usually lead merchants who could be as far away as London or Rotterdam.

As many mines are in remote locations they will often have well made cart tracks to them with substantial bridges where needed. However as many of the remote moorland sites are now used for grouse shooting it can be difficult to distinguish an original mine road from one taken over and extended for shooting. Occasionally there may be clues such as horse troughs beside the tracks that indicate its former importance for horse drawn vehicles.