From the Coast to Coast path at Gold Hill, sweeping your gaze to the south west will fix your gaze on Scugdale in the background and the sparsely wooded south east valley side of Rakes Wood where it falls to Snotterdale. Yet unseen on the south ridge top of Whorlton Moor, where it hangs above Scugdale, is Barker's Crags while in the valley below is the now converted site of Scugdale Hall.

Barker's Crags are a ridge top outcropping on the north valley side of Scugdale. They stretch just within the valley entrance to Snotterdale to an area known as Rakes Intake, and can accodingly just be made out when looking from Live Moor.

The best way to access Snotterdale from the moor tops is to cut across Holey Moor from Carlton Moor and to head towards Bilsdale West Moor on a very pronounced path. Before long the path turns further south east and begins to funnel into the head of Thackdale, which leads into the Snotterdale Plantation and then into Snotterdale.

Holey Moor is a very small section of moorland between Carlton Moor and Whorlton Moor. It is bisected by the track to Snotterdale as it climbs back uphill. The track twists and turns as it heads downhill and crosses the Snotterdale Gill. It then heads up and around the north valley wall of Thackdale. Access to the Snotterdale Plantation is from the north track near the west end of the Plantation.

Holey Moor is north of the path that traverses Whorlton Moor from Bilsdale West Moor to Live Moor. At the west end of a V shaped turn in the path is Thackdale Head where there is an imposing view down the throat of Thackdale into the Snotterdale Plantation. To the east is a small ravine containg a jet cave and small waterfall.

Upper Snotterdale Plantation is too dense to walk through. There is a track within the wood but it is accessed much further along. The Dale can also be accessed from Fog Close near Sparrow Hall in Scugdale.

Coast to Coast Trail Guide

"Hiking the Coast to Coast" is a digitally enhanced eBook available from Apple Books for all people who have either a Mac, an iPhone or an iPad, and is designed to accompany you on your walk of the Coast to Coast path. The trail guide contains Ordnance Survey maps and other advanced mapping features, step by step directions, hundreds of colour photographs, details of the route, its conditions in different weather and research snippets relating to places of interest along the way.