Brown Knoll Stone Igloo Walk | 9 Miles

January 5, 2023 CIRCULAR WALKS, MEDIUM WALKS 4-9 MILES, PEAK DISTRICT WALKS

This 8.5 mile walk explores the moors to the south of Kinder Scout including the Brown Knoll stone igloo, Brown Knoll trig point and Kinder Low trig point before heading back into Barber Booth via Jacobs Ladder. This is a challenging moorland walk best saved for a dry day!

The stone igloo near Brown Knoll is a fabulous little shelter on the moors near the Cowburn Tunnel air shaft (which looks like a little castle). There are no proper paths to get to the igloo and the moors can be really wet.

Our walk starts in the Barber Booth car park and we followed the road and farm track to Dalehead Bunkhouse, the site of a handy shelter. From here we headed across the field and then started the steep climb up near Whitemoor Clough. The climb levels out and we joined Chapel Gate, a track which leads to a crossroads with the path to Brown Knoll.

You know it’ll be a wet walk when Kinder Scout looks like this when you set off!

We took a detour from this path to pick up the line of a broken down dry stone wall. This is a really handy way to find the stone igloo near Brown Knoll as the igloo is basically on the line of the wall. There are faint paths where people have walked this way but the moors can be very wet.

I’m not sure why the igloo exists, but it’s a fabulous thing to find out on the moors. It’s very small though, with a doorway you have to crouch to get through, and a stone bench inside. The roof leaks, so it’s not an especially dry place!

From the igloo we set off to Brown Knoll. Our plan was to cut across the moor and pick up the Brown Knoll paved path but the moors were so wet, it was really rainy and visibility was terrible so we quickly abandoned that idea and headed back along the line of the stone wall, back to the crossroads to pick up the path. Better safe than sorry on the peat moors!

From here we followed the path to the Brown Knoll trig point, took a few wet photos and then carried on the path until we reached the stile to climb up Swines Back.

We headed to the cairn and then walked north up to Edale Rocks and Kinder Low trig point, dodging bogs and soaking wet paths on the way. We were the only people at the trig point, surprisingly!

After a few more very wet photos we set off back down Swines Back past Edale Rocks and walked east down Jacob’s Ladder. From here we walked through Orchard Farm, past the Upper Booth camp site and back to the car park at Barber Booth.

The rain didn’t relent as we walked back to the car and we were absolutely drenched! I was very grateful for a change of clothes in the car so I didn’t have to drive home soaking wet.

This was a great walk though, and I’m glad we managed to find the “secret stone igloo” on Brown Knoll! I just wish it hadn’t been as wet…!