Edale

Why base here

Edale sits at the head of its own small valley, with Kinder Scout’s plateau filling the skyline to the north and the Great Ridge closing off the view to the south. It is barely a hamlet: a scatter of stone houses, two pubs, a church and a station, strung along a lane that stops being useful to cars well before it stops being useful to walkers. What Edale has instead of size is position. It marks the southern end of the Pennine Way, and the Old Nags Head, a former smithy dating to 1577, claims the honour of being the official start.

On foot versus by car

Everything that matters here starts from the village itself. Grindsbrook Clough, the original line of the Pennine Way onto the Kinder plateau, begins a short walk from the green. Jacob’s Ladder and the packhorse route toward Edale Cross leave from Upper Booth, a short walk further up the valley. Mam Tor and the Great Ridge are reachable on foot too, via Hollins Cross, though most visitors drive round to the Mam Nick car park and shorten the approach considerably. A car adds little here beyond convenience: this is a place built around arriving by train and walking out in every direction.

Practicalities

Edale’s own station, on the Hope Valley line between Sheffield and Manchester, sits close enough to the centre that a car is optional rather than necessary. The Moorland Centre at Fieldhead, run jointly by the National Trust and the Peak District National Park Authority, closed in 2025, so do not rely on a staffed visitor centre being open. Two pubs and a small shop cover food and a pint; there is nothing on the plateau once you leave the valley, so carry what the day’s walk needs before you set off.