Near Black Clough Scramble

Scrambling up Near Black Clough in upper Longdendale, near the Woodhead Reservoir. Summary verdict: a pleasant if not particularly challenging woodland scramble.
• Route in: park at Longdendale Trail CP close to old Woodhead Rail Station. Walk along path south of River Etherow, heading east.
• Start point: you can get your feet wet walking up the River Etherow including the small weir, before turning up Black Clough. Likewise, you can walk up the gentle cascades at the start of the clough, but it only really gets interesting from the Near/Middle Black Clough split point around OS ref SK 11577 99158
• Grading: there is one grade 1.5 waterfall and two or three grade 0.5 “cascaderfalls” in the central section of the clough
• End point: once past the two separate scrambleable cascades above the waterfall, at around OS ref SK 11140 98441
• Route out: clamber west out of the clough and walk north down the marked path back into Birchen Bank Wood and then to the CP
• Time: just a couple of minutes from CP to River Etherow but more like 25-30 mins to the split point noted above; roughly an hour to cover the brook section; c.35 mins back to the CP
• Combine with: Middle and Far Black Cloughs
• Gear: dry bag and wetsuit needed; buoyancy vest and helmet probably not
• Verdict: the main waterfall is reasonably challenging for a grade 1, the other cascades are easy, and it’s in a pretty woodland setting
• Score: 6/10

Visit website at: https://grade1scrambler.org/

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Map image/data from OpenStreetMap