![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/22\/2014\/04\/GettyImages-123528128-534b087.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Crook Peak walk<\/h2>\n
4.5 miles\/7.2km | 252m accent | 3 hours | moderate<\/em><\/p>\n 1. Among the ancients<\/strong><\/p>\n Start out at King\u2019s Wood (an ancient woodland now managed by the National Trust) and follow the blue arrow signs for the long distance footpath, The West Mendip Way.<\/p>\n Walk beneath the canopy of huge oak, ash and sweet chestnut trees, using their wide-spreading roots like steps as the rocky path climbs upwards.<\/p>\n The rumble of the A38 fades away as you emerge from the dappled shade of the woods on to Cross Plain, where the landscape opens up dramatically before you.<\/p>\n The shrubs and stunted hawthorns on the lower side\u00a0of this heathland provide cover for migrating birds in spring and early autumn. Follow the higher course and a dry stone wall, and keep an eye out for all-year-round resident skylarks, meadow pipits and excitable stonechats calling from the tops of gorse bushes.<\/p>\n Discover more wonderful walks:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> 2. Top of the Down<\/strong><\/p>\n Hill Farm soon appears to your right. Exmoor ponies, that graze the upper grassland and stop scrub encroachment, can often be seen gathered together under the branches of the impressive beeches and sycamores. From here, take the rough track up to the trig point directly ahead. This marks the pinnacle of Wavering Down and is slightly higher than Crook Peak, now visible for the first time, to the west.<\/p>\n Keeping to the left of the boundary wall, follow the route along the narrow ridge. The grassy slopes are richly carpeted in colourful wildflowers, such as bird\u2019s-foot-trefoil, red clover and wild thyme. In September, the pink and purple hues of flowering heather and heath mix with the buttery blooms of Western gorse. Thickets of thistle, bramble and bracken attract an abundance of butterflies.<\/p>\n In mid-summer, striking dark green and small pearl-bordered fritillaries can be seen. But plenty of species \u2013 meadow browns, small tortoiseshells and small heaths \u2013 will still be flying later in the season.<\/p>\n 3. Valley village<\/strong><\/p>\n The trail drops on a steep descent, before curving round to the south-west, with the village of Compton Bishop nestled in the valley below you.<\/p>\n Then it\u2019s uphill again to the rough-hewn crown of Crook Peak itself. Although the origins of the hill\u2019s name are unclear, the far-reaching views from its summit are anything but.<\/p>\n 4. Summit views<\/strong><\/p>\n From the 191m (627ft) peak, the Somerset countryside is laid out beneath you in all its splendour. Sit on the topmost rocks and savour the scene. Patchwork fields<\/p>\n With mewling buzzards and cronking ravens soaring above, look east, back along the humpbacked hills of the West Mendips, to Cheddar reservoir glistening on a sunny day below you. Westwards, the rises of Bleadon Hill and Brean Down give way to the Bristol Channel and the coast of South Wales, with the Black Mountains beyond, can also be spotted\u00a0on a clear day.<\/p>\n And the Somerset levels spread away to the south\u2013\u00a0see if you can spot the mystical outline of Glastonbury Tor some 13 miles away.<\/p>\n Before retracing your steps, pause for a moment and look down at those poor souls slugging along the motorway\u00a0far below you and smile with\u00a0a sense of self satisfaction.<\/p>\n Aren\u2019t you glad you took this dramatic diversion?<\/p>\n Crook Peak walking route and map<\/a><\/p>\n HOW TO GET THERE<\/strong><\/p>\n By road, King\u2019s Wood is just off the A38, about a mile south of Winscombe and the junction with the A371. Turn off Bridgwater Road (A38) on to Winscombe Hill for the National Trust carpark.<\/p>\n By bus, the 126 Weston-super-Mare to Wells service stops at Winscombe Hill. By train and bike: The Strawberry Line starts at Yatton railway station (which is just a 15 minute hop from Bristol Temple Meads) and runs very close to King\u2019s Wood.<\/p>\n www.sustrans.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n FIND OUT MORE<\/strong><\/p>\n Visitor information<\/p>\n Get a Mendip Hills visitor guide<\/p>\n www.mendiphillsaonb.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n 01761 462 338<\/p>\n EAT<\/strong><\/p>\n The Crown Inn<\/p>\n Award-winning unspoilt country pub serving local ales and hearty home-cooked food.<\/p>\n The Batch, Skinners Lane, Churchill BS25 5PP![\""Burrow\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/22\/2014\/04\/GettyImages-522833963-d80c682.jpg?quality=45&resize=556,556"\" "\\"\"Burrow\\"\/")
<\/div><\/div> <\/div> <\/section>Crook Peak map<\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div><\/a><\/p>\nUseful Information about Crook Peak<\/h2>\n