Peak District Summits
Kinder Scout
Kinder Scout is the highest point in the Peak District and the home to some of the finest gritstone scenery in the country.
| Height (m) | 636 |
|---|---|
| Height (ft) | 2087 |
| Grid Ref: | SK085875 |
| Classification: | Marilyn, Nuttall, Hewitt, CoUa |
| Trig Point: | Yes |
| No. of Visits | 1, 2 |
Kinder Scout Gallery: Click on the photos below to enlarge.
More about Kinder Scout: Kinder Scout is without doubt one of the most well known mountains in England and was the scene of the famous 'Mass Trespass' in 1932 which was a protest at the lack of access people had at the time to England's hills. Kinder Scout is the highest point in the Peak District and is also the highest point in Derbyshire. It takes the form of a large moorland plateau rimmed with an impressive series of gritstone outcrops including, amongst others, Crowden Tower, Fairbrook Naze, Nether Tor, Upper Tor and the brilliantly named Ringing Roger.
Perhaps the most famous feature of Kinder Scout is Kinder Downfall. This is the point where the modest Kinder River plunges 30 metres over the the plateau edge. It is apparently quite common to witness an 'upfall' where strong winds actually blow the water back up over the edge. Another remarkable natural feature are the Woolpacks, a large collection of boulders standing above the southern edge.
Another feature of Kinder are the numerous steep sided cloughs such as Crowden Clough, Grindsbrook Clough and Jaggers Clough that carve their way dramatically into the plateau. Sitting between the first of these two cloughs is Grindslow Knoll which juts out from the southern edge and is deserving of being regarded as a separate summit. Finally Kinder is also famous as the first stage of the famous Pennine Way as it makes its way from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm in Scotland.
While Kinder's edges are very popular with walkers it is not a mountain that many visitors feel the need to reach the top of. The summit is only a few metres higher than the easily accessible trig point on Kinder Low but can only be reached a pathless trudge over numerous peat hags and groughs, an uninviting prospect in wet weather or low cloud.
On my first visit to Kinder it was on a bright sunny day after a prolonged dry spell. I had a fantastic climb up to Ringing Roger before following the southern edge around over Nether Tor, Upper Tor, Grindslow Knoll and Crowden Tower before striking out for the summit from the Woolpacks. Due to the dry conditions the peat had almost baked dry so I had an easy walk to the summit, a modest cairn with two stakes sticking out of it. While it was not a particularly inspiring place it did have the advantage of being the only time on the walk where there was another person in sight, the edges themselve being quite busy.
In many ways my second visit to Kinder was even better. On this occasion I walked along the northern edges visiting a superb series of gritstone features, perhaps even better than the more frequently visited features above Edale. Indeed the walk along Seal Edge to Fairbrook Naze and continuing along The Edge is one of the finest few miles of walking I've done anywhere.
Follow me on ...
