Dog-friendly Edale

The official start of the Pennine Way, in a low-beamed building of 1577 at the top of Grindsbrook Booth. Dogs are listed among the pub's facilities and this is a walkers' bar first and foremost, so wet coats and muddy paws are the norm. Rooms are available, though the bedroom dog policy is not published - ring before you commit to a night.

Stone inn beside Edale station, which makes it the easiest Dark Peak pub to reach by train with a dog. The bar is happy to accommodate pets; the nine bedrooms above are not, and the pub says so plainly. Big garden for the summer and a fire for the other nine months.

Eight and a half miles, 600 metres of climbing and a solid five to six hours on the plateau, with peat, boulders and paved packhorse steps rather than anything resembling a path on top. Start from the pay-and-display car park by Edale station, which is the only proper parking in the valley and full by nine on fine weekends; the train from Sheffield or Manchester takes dogs free and saves the problem entirely. National Trust land throughout, where short leads are asked for all year because of grazing sheep and especially from March to July for ground-nesting birds, and while the cloughs give water low down the plateau itself is bog with nothing safe to drink in a dry spell.

Five and a half miles and about three and a half hours, a sharp 430-metre climb to the tors of Ringing Roger, a short stretch of Kinder's southern edge and a descent by Golden Clough. Park at the Edale station pay-and-display and walk up through Grindsbrook Booth; the Old Nag's Head is at the point where the boots go on. The initial stone staircase is steep and hot work for a heavy-coated dog, sheep graze the enclosures below the edge so short leads are asked for all year on National Trust land, and Grinds Brook and Golden Clough both run clear enough to drink except in high summer.

Four and a quarter easy miles and a little over two hours along the valley floor between the hamlets, with 170 metres of gentle rise and fall and Kinder standing over the whole thing. Start from the Edale station car park and follow the Pennine Way west; the Rambler Inn and the village cafe are both at the start rather than the finish. This is farmland with lambing sheep in the fields from February onwards, so a two-metre lead is needed near stock and the many small stone stiles need a lift for a big dog, but the River Noe is shallow and reachable at both Upper Booth and Barber Booth bridges.

Working farm campsite in the village with a cafe and farm shop attached, directly under Grindsbrook Clough. The farm describes itself as child and dog friendly, and the Kinder paths start a field away. Pitches rather than bedrooms, so plan for a tent or a van.

The Peak's highest ground, reached from Edale by Grindsbrook or Jacob's Ladder, and the moor where the 1932 mass trespass happened. Dogs are welcome across the National Trust land here, but this is open access moorland: a fixed lead no more than two metres long is a legal requirement from 1 March to 31 July to protect ground-nesting lapwing, curlew and golden plover, and at all times near sheep. Facilities are minimal, so carry water for the dog as the plateau has none you would want it drinking.