If you are an active, outdoorsy type, or have kids that desperately need wearing out with a good brisk walk scrambling up and down hills and rocks, then Rowter Farm deserves a visit. A short walk from the site takes you past Windy Knoll Cave, where prehistoric bones from wolves, bison, bears, hares and reindeer were discovered, to the summit of Mam Tor (or Mother Hill), once the home to ancient Celtic tribes.
To give you some idea of the wonderful sense of space here, site owner Sarah Mark grew up on Rowter Farm and finds the wideopen landscapes of nearby Edale a bit ‘claustrophobic’! The farm sits at the head of the Hope Valley, some 230 metres above sea level, and just above the spectacularly steep-sided Winnats Pass.
The site has unmarked pitches and can take up to five caravans and about 40 tents, although it only gets really busy here on Bank Holiday weekends. The facilities are quite basic, but nobody seems to mind; they’re all too busy enjoying the space.
The best time for families to visit the farm is during the early summer, when the children can enjoy some country sights and sounds – sheep being rounded up for shearing, lambs frolicking in nearby fields and swallows swooping in and out of the farm buildings. The chickens scratching around the farmyard and goats and cows in the fields can be seen all season.
Given the ups and downs of camping, Rowter Farm should be high on anyone’s list.