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.

Black Hill trig point
Black Hill trig point

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.

View from Laddow Rocks over Crowden Valley
View from Laddow Rocks over Crowden Valley

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.

Lads Leap, a steeply sided gully in the Peak District
Lads Leap – whoever the lad was, he must have had long legs as it’s quite a leap over there!
The Devils Bridge at Ogden Brook
The Devils Bridge at Ogden Brook
Views down the valley over Dove Stone Reservoir
Views down the valley over Dove Stone 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.

Featherbed Moss trig point in the winter heather
Featherbed Moss trig point
A stone cairn marking the summit of Black Chew Head, the County Top of Greater Manchester
The summit of Black Chew Head in all it’s glory!

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.

West Nab trig point surrounded by rocky outcrops
West Nab trig point
The Druid's Stone at West Nab, a large gritstone boulder with three hollows
The Druid’s Stone at West Nab
West Nab as seen from the Raven Stones near Wessenden Head
West Nab as seen from the Raven Stones

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.

Hey Edge trig point, looking very bleak in the wet mist
Hey Edge trig point
View from the passenger side of a car of rain and mist
Holme Moss is out there. Apparently!

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

10 Reservoirs Walk

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/

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