Walk Pendle Hill by Barley – Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, England

Famous dog friendly circular walk to do Pendle Hill summit from Barley village.

 

Pendle Hill walk information:

  • Distance: 7.3 km
  • Duration: 2-3h
  • Ascent: 379m
  • Car park: Barley Car Park, Burnley BB12 9JX, £1 for the day
  • Dog friendly: Yes – on lead when crossing fields with livestock.

Last year we went to visit Lancaster and went for a short road trip in the Forest of Bowland. The Forest of Bowland is classified as Area of ​​Oustanding Naural Beauty, which is an appellation given to some natural parks in the United Kingdom. The Forest of Bowland is separated in two by the Ribble River. Because the last time we did not have time for a hike, we wanted to go back to enjoy the beauty of this place.

Read about our visit of Lancaster here.

Lakes

For this hike, we decided to climb the famous Pendle Hill. Pendle Hill rises 557m above sea and dominates the entire valley of the Forest of Pendle in the southern part of the Forest of Bowland. Pendle Hill is known to have been the seat of three important events. The first one was the trial of the witches of Pendle in 1612. Ten persons were accused of committing acts of sorcery. Then, in 1661, Richard Towneley used the different altitudes of Pendle Hill to experiment with a barometer. While in 1652, George Fox had a vision while going up Pendle Hill, which led him to create the community of Quarkers. Pendle Hill is a place full of history.

We chose to start the hike through the village of Barley and along the lake of Ogden Clough before ascending Pendle Hill. This hiking is well indicated and the hiking trails are well visible. Just the climb to Pendle Hill can be a bit hard for some people but overall this hike is accessible to everyone, young and old.

Here are the steps to do this hike:

  • From the parking, cross Barley Road and Cross lane and take Barley Green. Continue on Barley Green to follow the lakes by the lower path or take the path on the right that leaves across fields to have a better view of the lakes.
  • After arriving at the dam, take the path that goes up towards Pendle Hill. This paved road goes to a farm and then stops and becomes a path. Continued to the top of Pendle Hill.
  • To go down again follow the marked path (opposite to the one you took to climb) that goes down to the village of Barley.

We all loved this hike. The view at the top of Pendle Hill is just beautiful and is the perfect place to picnic with friends or family. 

Do you know this place?

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Dam

Pendle Hill in the background

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Going down Pendle Hill


Find all our adventures in the United Kingdom on this page.

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