Easter Gate, March Haigh and Black Moss Reservoirs
You string together three reservoirs and a stretch of the Pennine Way on quiet moor tracks, with the whole of Marsden Moor opening out around you and almost nobody else about.
A 16.8km moorland loop above Marsden linking March Haigh and Black Moss reservoirs by way of the old packhorse track over Easter Gate. Open Pennine moor, big skies and reservoir water throughout.
You string together three reservoirs and a stretch of the Pennine Way on quiet moor tracks, with the whole of Marsden Moor opening out around you and almost nobody else about.
The route
From Marsden, climb west out of the Colne valley onto the open moor and pick up the line of the old Easter Gate packhorse route, an ancient crossing marked by a surviving guide stoop. The track leads you out to March Haigh Reservoir, tucked into its fold of moor, before the route swings south across high, wide ground to meet Black Moss Reservoir on the Pennine Way. From there it is a long, runnable return on moor tracks back down to Marsden, 16.8km in all with 349m of climbing spread gently through it rather than in one pull.
The moor
Marsden Moor is National Trust land, a huge sweep of heather, cotton grass and blanket bog crossed by old routes and reservoir tracks. The reservoirs - March Haigh, Black Moss and the Wessenden chain nearby - were built to feed the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the mills below, and they give the run its shape and its water. It is open, exposed country that feels far bigger than its modest height.
Why it works
This is a run for big skies and solitude rather than a summit. The tracks are mostly good underfoot, so it moves well, but the moor is boggy off-line and bleak in poor weather. Marsden's station on the Manchester to Leeds line makes it one of the easiest big moor runs in the north to reach without a car.
Good to know
Marsden's station on the Manchester to Leeds line makes this an unusually easy big moor run to reach, so you can run it car-free from the platform. Off the main tracks the ground is wet blanket bog for much of the year, and the tops give little away in cloud, so carry map and compass and treat GPS as a backup. The National Trust manages the estate, so check for shoot days and respect the ground-nesting bird season from March to July by keeping to the tracks and your dog on the lead.
Open blanket bog off the main tracks, wet for much of the year, and fully exposed to weather with no shelter on the tops. Navigation needs care in cloud. Ground-nesting birds from March, and grouse shooting on parts of the moor from August to December.
Safety on this route
- No signal? Text 999 — pre-register first: text register to 999
- Tell someone your route and expected return time before you head out
Leave No Trace
- Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but memories.
- Please respect the countryside and all its inhabitants.
- Dogs on leads near livestock, and around ground-nesting birds from March to July.
- Gates as you find them — open or closed, leave it that way for the farmer and the next runner.
- Take it all home — wrappers, peel, tissue, the lot. It doesn't count as biodegradable if you can still see it.
- Stick to the path where the ground either side is wet, planted, or nesting habitat.
Common questions
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