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So, we both have a week off in a couple of weeks and thinking of heading up to the Peak District for a few days. Despite doing lots of climbing there I've never been just to walk. Where do you guys recommend? After a decent 6-8 hour walk with hopefully a pub on the way back!
Where will you be staying?
It's an big area and if you want a pint or two you'll need to walk back to your digs.
It's gotta be the trespass route, pub in Hayfield.
You can spend the entire walk imagining how much more fun it would be on a bike. lol & picking lines.
Obvious choice in Kinder, obviously, though I would start in Edale, though you to get there early to secure a space in the car park.
Hayfield's nice for walking. Easy access to Kinder, but also on the other side over to Chinley Churn and a really good choice of pubs. The Sportsman and The Packhorse both good at the moment. If you do go there, don't just stick to the obvious route around the edge past the Downfall, though it is lovely, trek over to the northern edge as well for a more remote feel and ace views over towards the Snake Pass and Bleaklow. A circuit round the entire edge of the plateau is great, but you can truncate it by crossing over above Edale where it's quite narrow from one edge to the other.
As a base, Edale has a more remote feel, but only a couple of pubs and limited accommodation, though there are a couple of campsites. You can walk Kinder stuff from there but also the Great Ridge - Mam Tor etc. Hope is okay, but a bit of a slog to get onto the nearest hill proper. Castleton is a little bit overwhelmed by tourists in the summer.
Glossop's also not bad choice, though the town itself is less pictureque/twee than the more obvious choices. You get more and better restaurants and pubs, shops etc as a pay-off. From there you can go straight up onto Bleaklow from the back of town, but also do stuff on the Longdendale side too, over Laddow Rocks to Black Hill is lovely on a good day.
ps: Vertebrate Publishing, the mountain bike-orientated, Sheffield guys, do an okay book of Peak District day-walks if you want some inspiration. I think there's a scrambles guide too though it's limited. Yellowslacks on Bleaklow can be good value on the right day. Ditto Kinder Downfall, though that's best deep frozen.
Thanks guys! We don't have anywhere to stay just yet, planned on finding somewhere with what we wanted and then book somewhere so very flexible at the moment.
All the walks above are in the Dark Peak but there are also some lovely walks in the White Peak. The landscape is very different but the pubs/km ratio is probably higher
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I did a lovely walk at Christmas: Hope village, up Losehill, along the great ridge, up Mam Tor, across to Cavedale, Castleton, then back to Hope. A bit shorter than you're planning (10 miles? Not too sure) but plenty of possibilities for extending it. Two villages (Hope and Castleton) for drinking and eating.
As said, the White Peak area gets overlooked. The Roaches, Hen's Cloud, Lud's Church & the Hanging Stone makes for a fabulous walk. I thoroughly recommend The Ship Inn in the village of Wincle together with the nearby Wincle Brewery. I'm amazed that Lud's Church isn't more well known as it's magical.
@bavariangaz - if you are going soon then it's worth noting the different terrain.
The Dark Peak can be difficult bog-hopping at this time of year if the ground is not frozen. 6hrs of sloshing around on wet peat gets dull after a while.
The White Peak is better drained (limestone) and the paths tend to be easier going at this time of year.
It really depends on what you prefer, do you want peat moorland walking or the more gentle but prettier dales?
The Dark Peak can be difficult bog-hopping at this time of year if the ground is not frozen. 6hrs of sloshing around on wet peat gets dull after a while.
In classic STW fashion, I'd query that. The edges of Kinder are pretty solid year round, there's a bit of slop on stuff like William Clough, but things are nothing like they used to be. Even the interior of the Kinder plateau is now actually pretty good thanks to the work that Moors for the Future has done there. Bits of Bleaklow are still sloppy alright, but most of the main paths in the area are either naturally well drained or have been extensively flagged or otherwise reinforced. I think there's actually more scope for proper mud further south fwiw, though it's also a lovely area.
You can find slop if you really want to, but mostly you'd have to go off piste in a quite determined way these days ime. If you stick to the more obvious, popular paths, it's not really an issue.
Chrome Hill near Longnor is pretty cool, sorry I can't offer any more route advice but could possibly do the Roaches / Lud's Church and that in one day.
Some parts of Kinder can be peaty, the Woolpacks for instance and then parts of the Northern Edge can be bad, but mostly its Ok.
I think wherever you go in a couple of weeks you will encounter lots of mud, flooded paths and slimy grass banks, so be prepared for that. The kinder route is laid with large rectangular millstones though.
