Stanedge Pole - Peak District Walk
Thursday 25th September 2025
A walk that did not go to plan. I planned on doing a route I hadn't done for a few years to get some miles into my legs before we visit the Lake District in October. All was going well until I reached a path I have used before, only to find it was so overgrown it was in places impassable, or at least I wasn't prepared to continue along it especially given I was on my own. With no good alternatives I ended up back tracking.
Since being home I have done a little more digging and whilst yes I took the signed concessionary track that I have used before, the path that most people now use goes through the other gate next to the reservoir to join the one I wanted via a stile on the right after crossing the second stream Fairthorn Clough. As others have said this is not what the map shows. The only problem, I now need to go back and do it because it will irritate me until I do.
Start: Upper Burbage Bridge (SK 2598 8294)
Route: Upper Burbage Bridge - Cowper Stones (TP) - Stanage Edge - Stanedge Pole - Redmires Reservoir - Stanedge Pole - Stanage Edge - Upper Burbage Bridge
Distance: 6.5 miles Ascent: 301 metres Time Taken: 4 hrs 15 mins
Terrain: Mainly good paths, one impassable path
Weather: Sunny with a cool breeze to start
Pub Visited: None Ale Drunk: None
The first target of the day was Cowper Stone.
Having done the short ascent through the rocks onto Cowper Stone I can look back to Burbage Edge and Burbage Rocks, which should have been my route back to the car.
In the opposite direction is Stanage Edge, which I will be walking along today, although not as far as High Neb.
The trig point on Cowper Stone, which appears to go by several names depending upon where you look, if you are doing the Ethel's it is known as White Path Moss.
From next to the trig you get a good view of Over Owler Tor and Millstone Edge.
Looking across to Eyam Moor from the trig.
Having left the trig for others to photograph I stood talking to another photographer for a bit and whilst I was there a large group appeared ahead of me on Stanage Edge.
I tried to dawdle a little so the group could get ahead of me and one way of doing that is to take lots of photos, here looking down the Hope Valley.
Looking across to Win Hill and the Great Ridge.
For much of the walk Stanedge Pole, which was my next target, was lost in shadow. For a brief moment some sunlight brightened the scene up.
I have never known exactly where Robin Hood's Cave was but the group of walkers had settled down close to it and a group of the ladies had gone down to explore it.
Looking down at the cave I noticed how the line of trees below it were starting to turn yellow.
Looking back to Cowper Stone as I get close to the point where I will leave Stanage Edge.
Looking across Bamford Moor to Kinder and Bleaklow.
Eyam and Offerton Moors as I reach the point where I turn for Stanedge Pole.
A short walk along a nice wide track soon brings me to Stanedge Pole.
It is several years since I have been here and I wasn't expecting to see as much of it today as I ended up doing.
Just as I moved to take a few photos of the pole at different angles for my website another couple arrived and whilst they were taking their photos I noticed that the lodge now looks lived in, to my mind it was always derelict.
Looking across to Rud Hill and my planned lunchtime spot.
Redmires Reservoirs come into view but I decide not to take any more shots of them as I think the view will be better once I'm on the path to White Stones.
Between these two shots I have tried two different ways to get to the path to White Stones, both of which I have used before. The first was an impassable path due to the dying bracken and brambles, the other was via a stile that led into a fenced area that had no way out.
When I reached Stanedge Pole for a second time there appeared to be track leading across the moor towards White Stones, so I also explored that route. The track disappeared as it entered the heather in this shot and although I negotiated my way around the heather it then went across an area of tussocks. As I could see this was going on for a while I abandoned my attempt to get to White Stones for today and reached Stanedge Pole for the third time that day.
I sat having lunch back on Stanage Edge looking across Cattis-side Moor to Eyam Moor.
Stanage Edge from my lunchspot. Not a bad view, but not the view I'd planned on seeing.
Heading back to the trig on Cowper Edge.
A final look along the length of Stanage Edge and across to Kinder before I drop down off Cowper Stone and make my way back to the car.
I have since been in communication with someone who did the path I wanted to do to White Stones the day after this walk and they have confirmed that the path I wanted is the one I now think it is. Interestingly they used an app to work their route out, whilst I used a map.
I plan on going back in a few weeks to see if once the bracken has died down a bit more I can see where the path I tried to follow does go, but this time I will be doing it from the route it appears is the one everyone else uses.
I might not have done the route I planned but according to my Fitbit I did cover nearly 8 miles with all my wanderings back and forth, so at least I got to build up the mileage in my legs!
All pictures copyright © Peak Walker 2006-2025