Pendle Hill from Barley

The route

Start from Barley and climb Pendle Hill, looping over the summit and back through the moorland cloughs to close a 16.2km circuit with around 558m of climbing. The direct climb to the trig point is steep and lung-bursting; the return through Ogden Clough is gentler and quieter. The trackpoints run right over the 557m summit, so this is a genuine peak day despite the modest distance.

The summit

Pendle Hill is not part of a range but a single great whaleback, which is exactly why the view from the top is so vast: the Lancashire plain, the Bowland fells, the Yorkshire Dales and, on a clear day, the sea and the Lakeland skyline. The summit plateau is broad and exposed, marked by the trig point and a shelter. The hill is steeped in the story of the Pendle witches, tried in 1612, and the villages around it trade on that history, but on the top it is the wind and the space that dominate.

Why it works

This is the local classic and a rite of passage for runners across east Lancashire. The ground is a mix of stone-pitched path, open moor and boggy clough, honest underfoot and steep on the main climb. Navigation is straightforward on the popular lines but needs care on the plateau and in the cloughs when cloud is down, so carry a map. Barley is the natural base, with a car park, cafe, toilets and pub, and the loop links into the wider Pendle Way if you want more. Save the summit for a clear day to get the view, and expect wet feet on the moor whatever the forecast. Get it on a clear evening and the run off the summit as the plain lights up below is one to remember.