(S/E) From the front door of the Snake Pass INN pub, cross the road carefully and turn left, then cross a stile on your right into woodland.
(1) A sometimes vague path leads through the conifers, generally downhill, to a gate and a footbridge over the River Ashop. Once across, turn left and follow the river downstream to its confluence with Fair Brook, the side-stream joining from the right.
(2) Note: the return route descends via the obvious track down the hillside beyond the walled sheepfold ahead of you; before continuing, check that the side-stream is low enough to be forded later and choose another walk if not. Do not cross at this stage; instead, return to the path and follow it away from the River Ashop and up the Fairbrook valley with the stream on your left.
The path continues in similar vein, sometimes close to the stream, sometimes high above it, for a pleasant mile, passing small tree-shaded waterfalls, fording side-streams and negotiating patches of bracken and the occasional rocky spot or damp flush.
Eventually the stream dwindles to a trickle and the final scrambling ascent begins. Towards the top you pass through a gate in a fence.
(3) At the top of the boulder slope, as you reach the Kinder Scout plateau, the way out of the stream valley to your left may not be obvious, as there are several possible routes, most of them indistinct. Don’t be tempted to leave the streambed too early, and look out for any obvious path crossing from right to left.
(4) Ultimately, whichever route you pick, you should end up walking along the edge of the plateau with peat hags and moor grass to your right, and the upper slopes of the valley you’ve just ascended below you on your left. Follow the edge for about 11⁄2 miles, picking your way through the rocky tors of Seal Edge and peaty sections between them, but never straying too far from the plateau edge.
(5) The way off the plateau, towards the end of the wide “bay” of Seal Edge, is easily missed. It begins at a fence stile marked by a taller post, but the fenceline is below the edge and could be overlooked. There’s no obvious landmark, but keep an eye out for a ruined wall heading arrow-straight down the slope below you, aligned with the head of a stream valley further down and a farm on the opposite slope of the Snake Pass beyond.
If you find yourself swinging right (south) towards the head of the next major stream valley (Blackden Brook), then you’ve gone too far.
From the fence stile, head down the slope, zig-zagging steeply through scattered rocky outcrops at first and then following the stunted remains of the wall as the slope eases.
At the top of the stream valley, cross a series of plank bridges over peaty side-streams until you reach the end of an obvious prepared path to the left of the deepening clough.
(6) Follow this rocky track as it swings left, away from the stream, and then heads diagonally down the hillside in the direction of the confluence of Fair Brook and the Ashop. At the bottom, follow the path through a series of gates in the walls of the sheepfold to the stream at the bottom of the Fair Brook valley, which you ford using boulders as stepping stones.
(2) Pick up the path on the other side of Fair Brook, turning right (downstream) and back to the footbridge over the Ashop. Cross the river into the pinewoods, swing left and retrace your earlier steps to the A57 and Snake Pass Inn. (S/E)
