Chee Dale 6th September 2025

• 7.26km route
• Rucking with 20kg's
• Route difficulty - Moderate. We have graded this route as moderate because of the technical nature of the path in places. The majority of the route is easy with a well laid path, but there is a 1-2 km section in the middle which was quite tricky underfoot with smooth slippy rocks scattered across the path which was challenging at times with weight on your back.  

We started this route at Chee Dale Layby on the A6, where the route takes you down in to Chee dale gorge. the path down, was well marked and leads you down to a picturesque little bridge and some quant cottages tucked away next to the river Wye.

After you get over the bridge, the path turns right and follows the river as it meanders through the gorge. It takes you under a number of bridges following the twists and turns until you get the to Chee Dale stepping stones which allow you to carry on following the path when the water level is higher. Today the water wasn't too high so some of the stones were only just surrounded with water, but it is still an really interesting place to walk, brushing along the rock face next to you as you follow the route of the stones.

At times the path got quite tricky with large rocks scattered across it which made it quite tricky as they had been rubbed smooth with all the boots that had gone before so you had to really concentrate on where you were putting your feet so not to slip over.

Soon we got to a clearing with a convenient rock step which was perfect for our breakfast stop, sitting next to the river as it trickled past. 

After breakfast and a well earned coffee, the route turns up a hill as we started to head across farm land towards the top of the gorge. It was a nice contrast to the first part of the route where we had been going along the river with lots of trees and water birds, where as now we had open farmland with views for miles. The path up from the river was quite steep and we did question our timing of breakfast as it wasn't ideal to be going up a steep hill straight after eating, but you live and you learn. Maybe we'll take a look ahead in to the route before stopping next time.

We only did a short (ish) route this week after the challenge of Kinder Low last week, and it was nice to take our foot of the gas a bit. We will be heading out further into the peaks next week, so check back to see where we end up.