Wild Camp Off the Snake Pass

Oh, yes, it's another in the forum's long line of 'Where can I wild camp' threads!!

Going on a recce in the Peak District tomorrow - along the Snake Pass/road - and was wondering if anyone knew of any good wild camping spots in that particlar area.

Please don't remind me of the laws in this country - I know I shouldn't be camping anywhere, strictly speaking, but if the hikers of yesteryear had taken the same attitude and stayed at home instead of deciding to roam where they knew they shouldn't, then... well, you get my point, I hope.

It will only be for a couple of days, but if it's at all possible, I'd like to avoid peat - the PD can't all be peat, can it? My last experience WC in the PD was a disaster. Mind you, I was using a play tent, but peat makes for very bumby ground, not to mention sodden!

On the off chance that any of you do know of a spot, but are reluctant to post details on an open forum, then I'd be very grateful if you'd pop said details into my PM box.

Any other help/advice/locations very much appreciated.

Try along some of the edges - I have bivvied under The Edge (Sth of Black Ashop Moor) a few times when climbing...there was even grass (another story )...

Thanks, ed.

[Edit] Just got back, ed. I've sent you a PM - I could do with some more info, please.

Hi Billy,

How far do you plan to walk from Snake Pass? Are you looking for a day out with a camp at the end, or somewhere close to the road?

In that area, I've mostly camped along Derwent edge:

At the Horse Stone (10 mile walk from A57)

Behind the Rocking Stones (9 mile walk from A57)

Below Dovestone Tor (3 mile walk from the A57)

I find that most of the edges have well drained grassy spots beneath them.

I've come across people wild camping around the Ashop Clough area before now.

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OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

I once camped on a lovely tuft of grass near the Shelf Stones... but I can't guarantee it's still there.

The bottom line, I think, is that there are plenty of potential sites with level ground and easy access to water, also plenty of places with some shelter if you need it. The Peak District's not all peat, no, some of it is gritstone

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OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

Quite right... and some of the gritstone has interesting hollows worn into it, and if you search long enough, you can find a really comfortably shaped one and just pop your sleeping bag into it. Now, this is quite a hike from the Snake Pass, but years ago I tucked me and my sleeping bag into a cosy hollow on Blackstone Edge and slept all night long. In the morning, some lads were passing on the Pennine Way, and I was woken by one of them shouting - "Look, a dead body!" I sat up, and the look of disappointment on that guy's face was a picture - "Oh no," he said, "Still alive!"

Sorry to be replying so late, people.

benman, I don't mind a fair hike, just so long as I can set-up camp before nightfall. An early start, I think, if I'm going to be doing 10 miles. I'm going to check google earth for the places you mentioned, see them for real, so to speak. I'll have a much better idea then. Thanks.

Paddy, ditto, re Shelf Stones!

Jon, thanks for the encouragment and confirmation that I can escape the dreaded peat!.

Wierd isn't it the old fashioned obsession with water? I wonder how much this is a mantra left over from scouting for boys?  If you are moving on next day as long as you have enough for as many brews as you want, why would you need to be near water?   I like the sound of it near me for example by a stream but find that in winter it means the spot is more likely to be colder and the tent more covered in dew in the morning.  My ideal as it gets colder is to be out of the mist and above any possible cloud inversion.  It's a nicer start to the morning.

As for where, somewhere up by the edges with a view but as discreet as possible works for me.

Steve,

I have sometimes stopped to have my dinner, cook up & brew beside water, then fill a thermos & move on to a more desirable (i.e. discrete) place to bivvy. Hot tea in the morning from the thermos and on you go...

And as for Peak district camping, you can always go semi-wild; that is to say, ask the land owner if you can pitch in a field or hang a tarp in a copse for example. A lot can be achieved if you ask nicely!

John

Snake Pass Wild Camps.

Sorry I didnt catch your message in time for your trip. Plenty of wild camp spots 

about River Westend {Top End}, and over to Grains In Water around GR SK109-950.

Water Shelter Solitude. Also good walking over from the Snake.

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Paddy Dillon wrote (see)

I once camped on a lovely tuft of grass near the Shelf Stones...

Blimey with all those UFO's?

Might be my doorstep, but don't seem to have the bottle to camp in that area.

I went looking for a regular campsite/bunkhouse in the Snake Pass area last weekend and failed. My rather old map showed a camping barn at the Snake Pass Inn; they have now upgraded to a minimum of £40/night. The old campsite at Hagg Farm is now an LEA centre. I ended up sleeping in the front of the car; the back was full of a lathe stand and a bulkhead.

Looking on the web, it seems that there is no camping around Glossop and that the nearest sites are at Crowden or at Swallow Holme Bamford, which seems to be up for sale. Is that right? Is Crowden now the only established site around the north of Kinder?
Thanks,
Denis.

I GO CAMPING UP THE SNAKES PASS ALL THE TIME ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE FOREST IS BEST READY FOR UP AND AWAY IN THE MORNING AFTER A GOOD COFFEE BY THE REMAINS OF THE FIRE THAT IS. PLENTY OF GREAT PLACES TO CAMP UP THERE JUST STAY CLEAR OF THE ROAD AND THE INN AND FARMHOUSE AND YOU COULD LIVE UP THERE FOR DAYS. RECCOMMEND ANYONE TO STAY UP THERE WITH THE FRESH BREATHABLE AIR AND AMAZING VIEWS, JUST ASLONG AS YOU TAKE WITH YOU WHAT YOU BROUGHT. KEEPING OTHERS AND NATURE IN MIND, THERES NO WAY IM SITTING AT HOME BECAUSE THE LAW SAYS I CANT SPEND A FEW NIGHTS AWAY FROM THE CRIME RIDDEN DRUNKEN STREETS OF MANCHESTER.

Pm'd you Billy.

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Include a little history in your walks. Pecsaetan - Ancient Derbyshire, Staffordshire and South Yorkshire - http://pecsaetan.weebly.com/

nice postings -I'm working up the courage and energy to do the same - I have spotted a lot of sites on my day trips in the area above Glossop and Greenfield [or is it greenford] via the reservoirs and between Glossop via doctors Gate and then kinder downfall -some nice grassy patches spotted below the main paths going towards Edale. Maybe just day trips in the winter? Any advice on midwinter overnights? I have been up in the Castleton/ Edale area in some fantastic wild snowstorms and thick snowfalls in the past two years.

oh...and stuff the "landowners".

The landowner is the National Trust you can stuff them if you like. The farmers are the ones who have to clear up after you. I would like to go inner city camping so can I have your addresses please to camp in your back gardens.

Oh...and stuff the "townies".

Terry Tibs wrote (see)

The landowner is the National Trust you can stuff them if you like. The farmers are the ones who have to clear up after you. I would like to go inner city camping so can I have your addresses please to camp in your back gardens.

Oh...and stuff the "townies".

Troll alert.

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Include a little history in your walks. Pecsaetan - Ancient Derbyshire, Staffordshire and South Yorkshire - http://pecsaetan.weebly.com/

Terry Tibs wrote (see)

...I would like to go inner city camping ..

I've heard that St Paul's Cathedral is a good spot - but take rock pegs