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(S/E) From the front door of The Sportsmann Inn, turn left for a few paces, then cross the road and go through the gap in the wall opposite. Descend to the river and cross the footbridge at the bottom.
(1) Turn left and follow the riverside path. Walk between the river and the campsite. Beyond the campsite entrance go straight on, along the metalled road to the right of the stream; bear right at the confluence of the Sett and Kinder rivers (with views ahead to Bowden packhorse bridge).
(2) The road crosses the river on a bridge below a small weir. At a crossroads, go straight on through the gateposts and follow the track uphill. Follow the road round to the right as it crosses the stream to reach Tunstead House, which the path skirts via a track on your right.
(3) Beyond the buildings, follow a short walled section to reach open fields. Keep along the left-hand wall of the first field, then cross the middle of the next three fields, heading relentlessly uphill from gate to gate.
In the fifth field, as the slope eases off, keep parallel to the right-hand wall to a gateway and then a further gate into open country by the scant remains of a ruined building.
(4) Turn left briefly across rushy ground to the higher of two gates, then turn immediately right, steeply up the spine of Kinderlow End ridge. The steepest central section is pitched with stones.
Beyond the rocky section the gradient eases, but the path continues uphill along the centre of the ridge to a further rocky outcrop.
(5) Pick up the paved path that skirts to the right of Kinderlow Bowl Barrow. Keep left when another paved path joins from the right, following the slabs to the trig point on Kinder Low.
(6) At the trig point, turn left to reach the plateau edge at a cairn. Follow the edge path for a little over a mile to Kinder Downfall, fording Red Brook above its rocky valley about halfway along. At times, particularly in the rockier sections, there is a choice of paths and the way forward is indistinct, but route-finding is generally simple: keep between the peat on your right and the steeper ground dropping away to your left.
(7) Ford the shallow River Kinder above the Downfall and continue along the plateau edge in similar fashion to before, except now heading West-Northwest. After a little under a mile, having climbed to a minor rocky summit followed by a level stretch with sandy sections, the path reaches a projecting spur of land where the edge path turns sharp right.
(8) Turn left here and leave the Kinder Scout plateau, descending fairly steeply down the grassy shoulder. Towards the bottom you ford a small stream, then descend further to cross the footbridge over William Clough, just above the head of the reservoir.
(9) Turn left and follow the path above and along the reservoir wall. At a fork, take the right-hand (upper) path that climbs slightly through the heather, leading away from the reservoir. Rejoin the reservoir wall at a hand-gate and continue along the wall, below open woodland.
(10) After an information board erected to mark the centenary of the reservoir, level with the dam, descend above the waterworks, still following the reservoir wall. The last part of the path is pitched and may be slippery underfoot.
(11) Go through a gate into the reservoir access road and turn right. Follow the road for 400 yards to the sheepwash, then continue for a further half-mile to Bowden Bridge car park.
(12) Beyond the car park, follow Kinder Road for a further third of a mile back to The Sportsmann Inn . (S/E)
Association / Club / Walk leader
Moderate 
Easy 
Visorando Member
