Kinder Low, Kinder Downfall & Grindslow Clough loop from Edale — Peak District National Park

A stunning and challenging route as advertised. Very doable if wearing proper hiking waterproof shoes (many boggy areas) and the navigation tool is charged and works offline. Navigation in the peat bogs is the toughest part.

The job said we had a day off in Manchester. A good opportunity to go on a tour in the Peak District National Park again. Maybe the weather will be better this time than last time in November (spoiler: no). When I asked my colleagues about our plans, a colleague had come up with the same plan independently of me and so we set off together. In the morning we took the train to Edale in the Hope Valley and set off from there. First through the cute little town with its beautiful old typical houses. Two cute pubs, a church worth seeing, a general store. Then we slowly climbed up sheep pastures separated by old walls. The weather at this time was perfect English hiking weather. Gray, low-hanging clouds, but not cold. The visibility was accordingly modest, but it was very atmospheric from the start. The actual climb began with Jacob's Ladder, a beautiful natural stone staircase that led almost directly into the clouds. The visibility became less and less and all of our hair became cloud catchers. There were even water droplets sticking to the hairs on my arms. There is a photo of me in the cloud haze on the summit of Swine's Back. We could also only glimpse the Edale Rocks in all their glory, which are certainly worth seeing. The sky briefly threatened to clear and the wind got warmer. I was already rejoicing that we might stay dry except for the cloud haze. Haha. It then clouded over again pretty quickly. We continued via Kinder Low to the Kinder River, where there is a waterfall that we only heard about. We were obviously standing on a cliff there, but since there was no view, we could only imagine what panorama we were missing. The path through the moor on the plateau then became adventurous. It was practically impossible to see and certainly not marked or anything like that. It was more like a very easy-to-see path in the vegetation and every now and then there were footprints in the mud. We were constantly looking for where to go. We had to cross various ditches, often climbing up or down their slopes, which were up to two metres high. Black water, black earth, swampy ground. And it rained. Non-stop. That really cost us time. And was a lot of fun. 😁 Coming out of the moor and back onto a proper hiking trail, we were amazed at the locals who kept coming towards us. We were the only ones wearing hoods. Here people wore running clothes, tank tops or cotton t-shirts. The number of people was definitely remarkable in this weather. And then came the descent. This was actually a scramble down a rocky riverbed. It was quite steep, climbing down from rock to rock. Luckily the stones had a lot of grip. Having mastered the descent, we continued a little further along the watercourse, then over a sweet bridge and through a small forest back towards the town. We arrived back in Edale very wet and with a large pool in our shoes. We had an English tea in the local pub, The Rambler Inn, before the train took us back to Manchester. Even without a clear view, it was an incredibly varied tour. And again, the terrain was easy to underestimate. When I saw the time of five hours for 16 km and 600 m of elevation, I almost smiled. We definitely needed the time. This trip was absolutely a success. 🤩 I will come again.

...but the scramble up Grindsbrook Clough near the start was mint.

Good hike really fun and fast beginning with spectacular views at the top, warning though. After the kinder scout peak, the path goes into a very wet bog with a complete lack of an actual path, fun but could be a dent into someone's day. Furthermore big downclimb scramble right at the end of the circuit basically

Edale, past school and church, Grindsbrook Booth, Up to Grindsbrook Clough(tough), Left to Grindslow Knoll, aimed for Crowden Head,(took a few wrong turns, admiring the wonderful views, Past Kinder Gates, Top of river Kinder(wrong turn again🙄) joined PennineWay, to Kinder Low (should followed path to peak of Kinder scout) Past Swines Back, Down Jacobs Ladder, then followed path bact Edale.

DON'T USE THIS ROUTE!!! The part after the Kinder Low is a swamp with no visible path. We are lucky we survived.

CAUTION - The route can and does disappear along the way, so take a map/compass, and a substantial amount of common sense as each route detailed in this collection included the diversions I've taken due to local conditions or instances where I simply got lost. --- An entertaining hill-walk combining alternative Pennine Way routes. Clambering up a deep clough, the route navigates the maize of peat channels on the Kinder plateau to arrive at Kinder Downfall, before returning via the plateau edge and an old pack-horse route with a stepped path (Jacob’s Ladder). Source: https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/short-routes/walk-way-day-walk-50-kinder-scout-edale/ https://youtu.be/H8m76m8r6Oo

A good walk and would do it in reverse if walked it again as Jacob's ladder is a killer going up. Would miss out Kinder Scout too as that was a boggy mess with disappearing paths. The rest was lovely though. A popular route :)