Edale to Grindslow Knoll Circular Walk | 4 Miles
This 4 mile Grindslow Knoll circular walk starts in the pretty village of Edale, the start of the Pennine Way, and takes you scrambling up the stunning Grindsbrook Clough. Grindslow Knoll is one of the highest peaks in the Peak District and is definitely worth a visit.
This hike is quite challenging, as the climb up Grindsbrook Clough is quite tough going in places. Grindslow Knoll is 601m above sea level and is part of the Kinder Scout Plateau. The summit has incredible views on a clear day across to Mam Tor and The Great Ridge as well as over to Kinder Scout in the opposite direction.
Our walk starts from Edale car park on the outskirts of the village of Edale. We walked into the pretty village centre and took the footpath through the woods to Grindsbrook Booth.
The footpath follows the base of The Nab and Ringing Roger.
Grindsbrook Clough is a beautiful valley to walk through, full of waterfalls and scenic views. You follow the Clough as it winds through the valley.
The terrain gets more and more challenging as you move through the valley and up the Clough to the summit – you’ll have to scramble up the last 100m or so and it’s really steep. If you zoom in you can see some people climbing up after us.
At the summit it’s a comparatively gentle walk along the top of the Clough giving amazing views down the valley. Grindslow Knoll itself has a cairn on it’s summit and is surrounded by really interesting rock formations, some of which were really necessary when we went as it was so windy!
Heading down the hillside, the steep track will take you into farmland which has amazing views over to Lose Hill and The Great Ridge. You’ll pass by a caravan site and head back into Edale.
We went The Old Nags Head Inn for some lunch and it was delicious. We sat by the open fire and enjoyed our well earned pint and glass of wine!
This is a challenging walk – the photos don’t do the scramble up the Clough justice! It’s really steep and goes on for about 100m. Holly loved it through and has said this is one of her favourite walks. We’re on the lookout for more scrambles like this one and I think we can get up Kinder Scout by a similar method so we shall see!
Grindslow Knoll Circular Route Map: (click the map from Komoot to download the gpx file for your device)
Parking: Edale Car and Coach Park S33 7ZQ
Facilities: There is a cafe and toilets in the car park, and pubs and a village store in the village of Edale.
Walk Time: 1.5-2 hours depending on how fast you can climb Grindsbrook Clough.
Difficulty: ▲▲▲
Distance: 4 miles
Trig Points Bagged: None
Peak District Peaks Bagged: Grinslow Knoll
Peak District Ethels Bagged: Grindslow Knoll
You could extend this walk to include the Edale Moor trig point near Ringing Roger or head over to Kinder Low. As we had Holly with us I wasn’t sure how her little legs would cope with this walk but she did amazing – we went up Whernside (14km circular) a couple of days later then walked from High Neb to Higger Tor along Stanedge Edge (11.5km circular) the day after that! We saw a few families up there so it is definitely a great Peak District walk for kids.
There’s also an alternative walk up Grindslow Knoll including a trip to the true summit of Kinder Scout, and another Grindsbrook Scramble walk to try.
For more amazing walks in the Peak District, check out the blog archives or the Peak District Ethels List, Peak District Peak Bagging Challenge or Peak District Trig Point List.
You might also like 5 Epic Peak District Scramble Walks if you enjoy a scramble in the Peak District.
