Brown Knoll 19th July 2025

• 11.1km route
• Rucking with 20kg's
• Difficulty - Moderate. We have graded this route due to the ascent that starts at about 2.5m until you hit the 5km mark. This climb is a really good test of your endurance once you have ben rucking with your current weight for a while and want a challenge. there is a section that crosses a large section of peat bog which would be very challenging during the wetter months but was pretty dry today.

The weather forecast for this weekend was heavy rain, so we prepped for a wet one with waterproofs head to toe and a change of cloths in the car for when we had finished. What we ended up having was a really enjoyable ruck in dry weather, until it started spitting about 1km from the end.

We parked the car in a layby on the Sheffield Road at the end of Rushup lane, were we had a pleasant wander downhill for just over 2km to a lovely little brook crossing the path. It was clear that this pretty little brook can get a bit more feisty in the winter months by the footbridge that had been built over it. We were able to paddle across happily today and Rosie enjoyed a little drink as well.  

From here on for the next 4-5 km was a challenging climb, but as with every climb you are always rewarded with a fantastic view when you get to the top. We decided to add a little extra climb up to a peak next to the path to find a great spot for breakfast. 

After breakfast and a well earned coffee we headed across the peatlands towards Brown Knoll which was a pleasant, steady climb but it was clear that it gets pretty muddy in the wetter months with some area's not having any stone slabs laid so would be a boggy challenge then. But thankfully for us, it was nice a dry under foot so no issues.

As we got to the summit, we could see the weather closing in around us, but so far we'd been lucky and stayed dry. It was a lovely view form the top, and the trig was pretty impressive with a large stone standing built around it. We guessed this was due to the peat bogs which were still quiet wet even this time of year so we could only image how muddy it would be after a few weeks of rain.

After we left the trig, we headed out across the open peatlands which extended as far as we could see. It is such a calming feeling to look out across such beautiful scenery with only the sounds of nature around you.  

By the time we got about 1km from the car, the weather started to catch up with is and we had a bit of drizzle for about 20 minutes, so all in all we were really lucky and got back without getting wet, quiet a contrast to what we had expected. this is definitely somewhere we recommend you go if you enjoy a bit of a climb and being surrounded by open peatlands with views for miles.