Distance: 1.2 miles Time: 40 mins Difficulty: Beginner Ascent: 477 ft
Description: If you’ve never walked up to a trig point (triangulation station) then this walk provides an easy and scenic way to break your duck. It starts just outside Stanhope. Perfect for a short stroll and picnic on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The air vibrates in spring to the calls of skylarks and curlews. No dogs please as this is an important area for ground nesting birds. The return is by the same route.
Click on the image for larger picture
Start: Take the Alston road from Stanhope and about 400 yards after the left turn to Middleton and just after the large Greenfoot Holiday Home Park sign take the small road to the right, at the blue “Rookhope 3 miles” cycling route sign. Climb for a mile crossing a cattle grid and eventually the gradient eases. Immediately the road flattens out your parking area is to your right – a large, flat circular pad of grass.
Directions:
1. Walk up the road towards Rookhope for 100 yards to take a green farm track to the right.
2. The grassy track winds up the hillside with sweeping turns to the right and left around Black Hill. Ignore a turn to the left and keep on the main track to a track crossroads where you continue straight ahead. A col between two flat hills soon comes into view and shortly thereafter the trig point to the right. Walk up to the trig point.
3. From the trig point first head back towards the four wooden posts surrounding an old shaft and then to the track crossroads. Keep ahead and follow the main track back to the parking area. There are track offshoots on the return which were not obvious on the way up so if you become confused as to which is the main track keep bearing left round Black Hill hill which is immediately in front of you and the parking area will soon come into view.
 |
You can download the .GPX file of the walk for your GPS – (as a .zip file) Please Click HERE to download |
Pictures:
Click on the image for larger picture
