Kinder Scout from Edale via Grindsbrook Clough

Kinder Scout is the highest point of the Peak District National Park in England, and the circuit from Edale via Grindsbrook Clough is its best-known walk. Edale is reached by Northern train from Manchester Piccadilly in about 45 minutes, and the station sits a few minutes from the village centre and the official start of the Pennine Way. Drivers use the pay-and-display car park in Edale village, which fills early on fine weekends. No permit is needed. The route covers about 14 km with roughly 600 m of ascent and is graded hard because of its length, its peat terrain and the lack of waymarking on the plateau. From the village the path follows Grindsbrook Clough, a steep-sided gritstone valley where the stream is crossed several times and a short, easy scramble over boulders is needed near the top. Surfaces are a mix of stone steps, loose rock, wet gritstone and, once on the plateau at about 636 m, groughs of black peat and exposed gritstone edges with no shade. The plateau is a featureless moorland where cloud can reduce visibility within minutes, so a map and compass or a phone with a downloaded OS map is essential. Key landmarks are Grindsbrook Clough itself, the edge path along the southern rim of Kinder, the rock formations around Kinder Low and Kinder Downfall, the waterfall on the western edge that can blow upward in strong westerly winds, and the descent by the Pennine Way past Jacob's Ladder and Edale Cross back towards the valley. Walkers short of time or in poor weather can turn back at the top of Grindsbrook Clough and return the same way. Water can be taken from the streams but is best treated; there are no huts or shelters on the plateau, and the only refreshments are the pubs and cafes in Edale at the start and end of the day. Kinder Scout also has a place in access history, as the site of the 1932 mass trespass that helped lead to national parks in Britain.