Black Hill Peak District Walk | 23 Miles
This challenging Black Hill Peak District walk is 23 miles and takes in 4 Peak District trig points, including Featherbed Moss, Black Hill, West Nab and Hey Edge. It also takes in the County Top of Black Chew Head and the amazing Laddow Rocks. This is a challenging long distance walk in the Peak District but showcases the absolute best of the Dark Peak.
I’ve signed up to walk the Yorkshire 3 Peaks route again with Joel and some friends, so have been getting in some long walks as part of my training. I love Black Hill – it’s my favourite peak in the Peak District and it’s also a trig point near me so we go quite a bit. I put together a challenging walk in the Dark Peak which included this and 3 other trig points.
Our walk starts at Crowden, at the car park near Crowden Camp Site, and follows the Pennine Way for a short distance before heading off up to Highstone Rocks and Lads Leap, following the moorland paths round to Tintwistle Knarr. This was an area of the outlying Peak District we’d not explored yet, and it’s just as beautiful. There are stunning views down over the reservoirs at Torside. We followed the moorland path around to Robinson Moss and Millstone Rocks. From Tintwistle Knarr it’s a trek over Arnfield Moor to Ogden Brook, which we followed over the bleak moors to Wilderness, then following the path along the ridge above Dovestone Reservoir to Chew Reservoir.
We headed off across the moors to bag our first trig point Featherbed Moss, which involved an energy sapping yomp over the heather. From Featherbed Moss we headed north-east to Black Chew Head, the County Top summit of Manchester marked by a tiny cairn of stones.
After Black Chew Head, we went over the moor to the stunning Laddow Rocks which has spectacular views over Crowden Valley, then followed Crowden Great Brook up to Black Hill (for the first time). From Black Hill we followed the Pennine Way north-east over to West Nab, following Wessenden Head Road, then from West Nab we walked via the Raven Stones and Leyzing Clough down to Wessenden Head Reservoir.
Crossing the main road again, we headed back up the Pennine Way to Black Hill for the second time then over Tooleyshaw Moss, Westend Moss and White Low to Hey Edge trig point. It was surprisingly dry underfoot here, and the trig point didn’t have it’s usual moat (although it was raining heavily during our walk and we were drenched!). From here we went to the Crowden Quarry and took the steep path back to Crowden car park.
This was great preparation for the Yorkshire 3 Peaks, with so much climbing as well as the distance. For more Black Hill walks (I have a few on the blog) you could try
Holme Moss to Black Hill Trig Point
Black Hill, West Nab and Blackpool Bridge
Holme to Black Hill to Crowden Circular Walk
Holme to Black Hill Circular Walk
Black Hill Circular Walk, Holmfirth – Yorkshire Walks
Black Hill via Crowden Little Brook
This walk will bag 4 Peak District trig points and 5 Peak District Ethels, as well as two Peak District County Tops, so it’s a great one to do if you have any walking challenges going on.
Black Hill Walk with 4 Trig Points Map:
Walk Route in OS Maps: Dark Peak 4 Trig Point Walk Map
Black Hill 4 Trig Points Walk:
Parking: Crowden Car Park near Crowden Campsite (SK13 1HZ)
Facilities: Public toilets at the car park
Walk Time: 8-9 hours depending on speed and fitness – it’s an all day walk
Difficulty: ▲▲▲
Distance: 23 miles (37 km)
Trig Points Bagged: Featherbed Moss, Black Hill, West Nab, Hey Edge
Peak District Peaks Bagged: Black Hill, Black Chew Head, Featherbed Moss, White Low, West Nab
Peak District Ethels Bagged: Black Hill, Black Chew Head, Featherbed Moss, White Low, West Nab
For more Peak District trig point walks, check out the Peak District Trig Point Challenge page where there are loads of walks to help you complete the challenge. You might also like Holme Valley Circular Walk for a challenging walk of 23.5 miles with similar ascent. There are also a lot more challenging day hikes in the Peak District here: https://thewanderingwildflower.co.uk/tag/20-mile-walks/
