Chrome Hill & Parkhouse Hill (Dragons Back Summit), is the 4th feature of our Peak District Bucket List and it’s certainly a MUST visit to witness some of the most breathtaking views, that in our opinion are some of the best we’ve seen so far on our walks! These hills avoid huge crowds, which is baffling given the sights and the enjoyment from climbing the hills. Dragon’s Back Summit is a particularly enjoyable short climb due to the technicality of the hill.
We parked on the roadside next to the Quiet Women Pub in Earl Sterndale, Buxton (SK17 0BX), which is a untouched traditional pub in the heart of a quaint Peak District village and headed out on the footpath behind through a number of fields.
We started our first climb up Parkhouse Hill, also commonly referred to as Dragon’s Back. This is a steep climb and decent, but WELL worth for the views when you reach the top of the ridge! Why the nickname Dragon’s Back? The hill features a line of pinnacles said to resemble the “plates” along the spine of a stegosaurus dinosaur; hence the nickname Dragon’s Back.
Heading west on towards Chrome Hill, the descent from Parkhouse Hill is extremely steep so be extremely careful as it is quite dangerous. Once you’ve descended Parkhouse Hill the walk up to Chrome Hill is very steep, but not difficult in terms of getting a good footing.
We were blessed with a beautiful sunset, so couldn’t help but sit and soak up the scenes at the top of Chrome Hill before heading back to the car in Earl Sterndale. All in all the walk is around 5 miles, and takes a good couple of hours which includes stops to take in the panoramic views/have plenty of rest stops! It’s a difficult walk with some steep steep hills but it comes highly recommended from us!
If you would like some further details on this walk do send us an email hannah@hj-visuals.com or james@hj-visuals.com – in the meantime we hope you enjoy some of these snaps!
We also got some more drone footage that turned out to be fantastic given the weather conditions on the day. Check it out below!
Did you check out items number #1, #2 and #3 of our Peak District Bucket List?
