Kinder Scout

1. Leave Edale car park via the main entrance and turn right. After about 10 meters the path will bear to the right heading down Marys Lane, continue to follow it and don't cross the road (see image 1). Head down Marys Lane, continue straight under the railway bridge (see image 2), past The Ramblers Inn on your left (see the Facilities & Hospitality section to see what they offer) and then past the row of stone houses, again on your left. Note: After the pub, the path ends and you will have to walk on the road (this is still Marys Lane), so please be careful. The road will start to bear to the right, continue along it passing the Moorland Centre and then the graveyard, both of which are on your right, and then on past the stunning church further up the road on your left. Keep walking down Marys Lane until you reach the village centre and can see the Old Nags Head pub on the right side of the road (see the Facilities & Hospitality section to see what they offer). Walk past the pub and continue along the road until it narrows and turns into a gravel path which will take you past some lovely houses with large beautiful gardens, and eventually, you will reach a white gate with a wooden sign just to the right of it with the words "Grindsbrook" (see image 3), pointing off into the forest. 

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2. Follow the path through the forest, down the steps, across the wooden bridge, up the stairs and then out of the forest. Once you leave the forest the path will change to beige paving slabs, continue along this paved path for around 700 meters (which will take around 8 minutes at an average walking pace) until you reach a small wooded area where the path changes from paving stones to dirt. Head through the wood following the defined path until you reach a gate, go through it and there will be a small wooden bridge over a river (see image 4). Head over this bridge, up the stone steps to the left and continue along the clearly defined rocky and sandy-coloured dirt path. You're going to be on this path for around 850 meters until you reach the rocky section of Grindsbrook Clough; at a normal walking pace, it will take you between 10 to 15 minutes to complete this section, assuming you don't stop to take photos (see image 5 for an aerial photo which shows the route from the bridge by the woodland to the start of the rocky section of Grindsbrook Clough). If you pass through the gate shown in image 6 on the way to the rocky section, you know you're going the right way. 

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3. As you begin to approach the rocky section of the clough, you'll notice an abundance of boulders scattered along the path. As you continue, the path becomes progressively less defined until you reach a junction where the valley diverges into two separate routes, take the one to the left (as indicated in image 7 and image 8). You will quickly gain elevation until you reach the top of the Kinder plateau which is marked by a prominent cairn (as seen in image 9). If, by chance, you take the wrong path and end up following the one to the right, don't worry. You'll still eventually reach the top of the plateau; if there isn't a cairn there you need to turn left and follow the defined path (see image 10) whilst it hugs the edge of the cliff until you reach the cairn and you can then pick up from step 4. 

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4. There will be a stone-paved path to the left of the cairn, almost directly in front of you when you reach the top of the plateau (see image 11). Follow this path until the stone-paving ends and turns into sandy-coloured gravel, here there will be the option to turn sharp left or continue straight ahead, continue straight ahead here (see image 12). The path will eventually turn back into stone-paving slabs and then back to a rocky trail again. After some distance, you should reach a point where you need to cross a very shallow stream which heads downhill (I say should as in very warm and dry periods I'm guessing it disappears), the stream and crossing are shown in image 13. From when you first start on the path by the cairn at the top of the plateau until you reach the river crossing, the distance is around 1,100 meters which at an average walking pace will take you around 15 minutes. Continue straight across this river, go up the stone steps and follow the path. At points, the path will turn from dirt to gravel to stone-paving but continue to follow it straight until you reach an area filled with lots of large oddly shaped boulders everywhere (see image 14).

5. You have now reached Woolpacks, this stunning part of the plateau is a collection of naturally sculptured boulders which on a misty evening really can feel eerie. Continue through Woolpacks until you reach the other side, the path through it is pretty obvious and easy to follow. Once you reach the other side, the path will turn from dirt and mud to stone paving and back again at various points. Continue to follow this path until you reach another cairn, it's about 1,350 meters from when you leave Woolpacks which will take you around 20 minutes to walk. At this cairn, you are going to take a little detour from the path to reach the trig point and Kinder Low, shows the route from Woolpacks to the cairn. Take the right path at the junction by the cairn and follow it until you reach the white trig point, image 15 shows the route from Woolpacks, to the cairn and then onto the trig point at Kinder Low. Image 16 shows the trig point.

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6. Once you have admired the trig and the view, retrace your steps and head back to the cairn. When you reach it turn right and continue your journey along the same path as if you had never made the detour to the trig point.  Eventually, you'll pass another smaller cairn on your right and then reach a point where the stone paving ends; about 40 meters from here you will be presented with two paths, a smaller and less defined one heading right up a hill, and a larger path heading left and downhill, you want to take the larger path heading left and downhill. After perhaps another 50 meters, you will again be presented with two paths, again choose the left path which heads downhill. Image 17 shows the route from the first cairn (where you turned to reach the trig point) to just after the second path split, making it clear which path you need to take each time. If you keep following this path you will end up on a paved section again; there is a point about 70 meters from the start of this paved section (about 1 minute 30 seconds walk) where it splits off to the right and then becomes a dirt path, you don't want to go that way, stay on the paved path which bends to the left. The paving will eventually end and from here you can turn left or right, turn left and follow the path, which will now consist of dirt and rocks, until you reach the cairn shown in image 18. From where you turn left at the end of the paved path to the cairn is about 500 meters, which will take about 7 minutes to walk. 

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7. Once you reach the cairn, turn left, you are now at the top of the famous Jacobs Ladder. The route heads downhill and will turn from dirt and rocks to paved steps part way down, there will also be a small wooden fence with metal wire to your right. Continue on this easy-to-follow route until you reach the bottom, where you will find yourself in front of The Packhorse Bridge (see image 19). Cross the bridge, head through the wooden gate and follow the well-defined path for around 1 mile (which will take about 25 minutes) until you see a traditional red British phone box (see image 20) where you need to turn left and head into the Upper Booth Farm complex (the route through here is a public right of way). Walk through the yard and through the wooden gate (see image 21 for the route through the farm). Turn left after walking through the wooden gate, walk for about 20 meters and then turn right and go through the rightmost wooden gate (note there are 3 wooden gates in this location, make sure you take the rightmost gate). Follow this route for around 1,800 meters until you reach the gate and sign shown in image 22 (this will take around 25 minutes to walk). You'll be heading through the stunning Edale Valley here, where you can see Mam Tor and Back Tor in the distance. You'll walk through multiple gates on this route, the path is very well-defined and easy to follow, image 23 shows a high-level view of the route you will take from Upper Booth Farm to the gate and sign. 

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8. You're now on the final stretch home, go through the gate, turn right and follow the path until you reach the centre of Edale village. The school will be directly ahead of you, and the Nags Head Inn will be to your left. Turn right and follow Marys Lane all the way back to the railway bridge, which you should pass under. Continue straight to the end of the road and turn left and then left again, you will now be back in the main car park where you started the hike from.