Circular Walk Around Harden Moss in Holmfirth

August 28, 2021 CIRCULAR WALKS, HOLMFIRTH WALKS, MEDIUM WALKS 4-9 MILES, PEAK DISTRICT WALKS, PEAK DISTRICT WALKS WITH KIDS, YORKSHIRE WALKS

Earlier this week I snuck out of work early and headed up onto the tops with Hols and Mr R. Don’t worry, my boss doesn’t mind. I work for myself! We headed out on a circular walk around Harden Moss in Holmfirth, the home of the famous sheepdog trials. Sadly there were no sheepdogs on our walk today but we did see plenty of sheep!

Peak District National Park boundary marker

I always think late summer is the best time to head onto the moors. The heather is in full bloom and the hillsides turn purple. They look bloody gorgeous. This walk is a lovely series of geocaches starting with GC2P1G5 and taking in the nearby Harden Seek series. These are all relatively straightforward and easy finds for kids.

Black Hill, Holmfirth with a covering of purple heather – one of my favourite places!

We started our walk around Harden Moss at The Huntsman Inn. From here we headed out onto the road, with views over the amazing Black Hill, and walked along the road for a short distance until we came to a public bridleway on the right hand side. This took us beside more stunning purple moorland and gently down the hill.

The moorland is full of grouse, which kept flying out of the heather as we walked past!

Purple heather covering moorland near Holmfirth, with views over to Black Hill

We passed some very friendly horses on the way, always a bonus for Hols.

The bridleway turns into a road at the bottom, and the turning back up the hill is quite sharp. The walk back up is definitely tougher than going down, especially for little legs.

We took a detour from the main track across the fields next to Harden Beck and had a wander through the woodland. The woods were quite muddy in places, and we had to carry Hols over a very muddy patch. They’re a lovely place to be though, with the beck in the bottom.

Star shaped sphagnum moss growing in the woods

We headed out of the woods (after finding a geocache we went in for) and made our way back up the field in the footpath. This is a bit steep going but not too far.

A caterpillar, unfortunately I don’t know the species

The footpath is quite hard to follow, and it looks as though you should just be able to pop out back at the Huntsman but you need to go over a stile and head to the right, away from the pub. You’ll walk past some houses under construction before the footpath brings you to a tarmac lane. Here you turn left before heading back onto the main road and back towards The Huntsman Inn for a well earned glass of wine.

This is a lovely walk to do with kids, but isn’t suitable for prams as the terrain is quite uneven and there are many stiles to go over. The terrain is quite rough and boggy in places, so I’d recommend wearing hiking boots. It’s just over 7.5km long.