Castleton with Kids: The Devil’s Arse Cave, Caverns & Winnats Pass Walk

Saturday 20th September 2025. My husband had been invited on a stag do – a hiking stag do – followed by a meal later in the evening! It was taking place from Castleton in the Peak District, so I suggested we all went in the van. This had several advantages for him: if parking was scarce (as it often is in this popular spot), I could drop him off and park elsewhere. It also meant he could enjoy a beer if he fancied, as I’d be driving. And finally, it’s a bit of a trek from ours to this part of the Midlands, so the boys and I decided to take the opportunity to squeeze in a walk in this beautiful area while he was off with his mates. Since the meal would be late, the boys and I had planned to have fish and chips in the van and enjoy our first overnighter there too.

As it turned out, we woke on Saturday morning to torrential rain, and the forecast was a total washout – my app showed rain every single hour, ranging from 3/5 to 5/5 raindrops. But we didn’t let that dampen our spirits. We packed waterproofs, spare clothes, and sleeping bags – with two changes. 1 – The fish and chips were out, and a ration pack dinner was in! 2 – The rain meant it wasn’t fair to bring our little dog, so she stayed at home. We decided we’d drive back after the meal – giving the boys at least a half-night in the van.

Somehow I managed to sell this miserable day as an “adventure.” When I asked the boys if they still wanted to walk or just stay home, they were keen for the walk! They helped pack everything, including some favourite card games for the evening, and before we knew it, we were off.

The walk was due to start at 2pm, and knowing Castleton’s popularity, I was convinced that even on a day like this, parking would be a nightmare. It looked that way at first, but about 20 vans later, the road we’d been asked to meet on was almost deserted! We parked right behind the best man’s (BM) van and got ourselves ready. My plan had been to tackle Winnats Pass today with the boys. We’d already done Mam Tor earlier this year, so wanted to go something new. But on the drive down, my husband had had a message to say they were also doing Winnats Pass, so I thought we’d delay our start and have lunch first in the van to avoid bumping into the guys. I didn’t want to look like some psycho wife keeping tabs on her husband at a stag do 😂.

But in the end, that’s not how it worked out! The best man told us only three of them were going now (including my husband in that number!) and that we were welcome to tag along. I hesitated, but the boys jumped at the idea. So on went the waterproofs and off we went with the stag party. Plans were not actually set in stone, and although BM had suggested Winnats Pass, as soon as someone mentioned the Devil’s Arse, my boys were sold 😂 – so that’s where we headed!

We walked through Castleton and straight past the sign 🙈. You can see how wet we were already – and it had only been ten minutes!

Halfway through the village we turned right, through some pretty streets and then up a rocky path into the countryside. There were caves and caverns dotted all the way up – on a nice day it would be an amazing picnic spot for children to run wild and explore.

The highlight, of course, was the real Devil’s Arse. It was gated, with water rushing somewhere deep inside. It sounded eerie, almost like a monster was lurking in there (or the Devil himself, as my youngest pointed out).

At the top, we were rewarded with a great view of the castle ruins.

I was surprised how many people we passed, even in the pouring rain – families, couples, groups of friends. It was nice to see that despite the inclement weather, families were still getting out! I felt for the ones in jeans. They won’t make that mistake again 😅.

After we’d passed this point however, we didn’t really see anyone else. The rain swung constantly between “that silly light rain that soaks you” and full-on, wind-driven downpours. Once we left the castle area and headed across the fields, things felt bleak. It was so wet I barely took any photos, and this was about the point we realised our gear wasn’t as waterproof as hoped.

Other than our Mountain Warehouse waterproof trousers (which were bought on a whim), the rest of our kit was pretty decent – by this I mean I’d actually done some research and bought high-rated waterproofs. That said, TS (The Stag) and BM had particularly high-end gear, yet they both finished pretty wet too. Maybe the driving rain was just too much for everything! Either way, combined with the sweat from that earlier climb, we were cold and wet – but spirits stayed remarkably high. TS and BM are both ex-military and just seem to have a way to keep morale high!

Eventually we reached the road, where the path gave us a choice: head for the broken road, or drop down Winnats Pass. Earlier the boys had wanted to walk the broken road again, but by now my eldest just said, “Whichever gets us back quickest” 😅. So Winnats Pass it was.

Walking down Winnats Pass gave us the incredible views we got from the car, but on a much slower scale, so we could really take in the breathtaking landscape. It’s just a beautiful place to walk! Finally we spotted a shortcut across the last field to the road we’d parked on, and there was Vangelina – a very welcome sight after such a soaking!

This is where having a van really shines. Space to strip off wet clothes, warm up, and get cosy. We don’t have a diesel heater yet (that will be bliss when we do), but even just shutting out the driving wind helped us warm up. We also haven’t got gas plumbed in either, but we do have a portable gas stove (an investment we’d made due to living in the sticks with frequent powercuts that was turning out to be pretty useful for this van-life malarky!). The boys and I boiled up then tucked into our ration pack dinners, with hot drinks, while my husband wandered to the pub with the lads. We’d been invited, but the boys were too excited about their ration packs – and they loved them! I’m sure any soldier reading this is shaking their head in disbelief 😂.

As I cooked tea, the boys sat in the pop-top playing cards. I overheard them chatting:
S – “This is so cool.”
C – “Yeah, van life is the best!”

I was smiling deeply as I listened to them and their positive comments, despite the earlier wet walk!

Because the stag do was going on late, and well past the boys bedtimes, we’d decided to stay for half a night’s kip in the van. We couldn’t bring the dog as it was too wet, which meant we had to get home rather than stay a full night, but the boys were thrilled at the idea of finally sleeping in the van, even if it was only for a few hours.

The pop-top sleep was short-lived, though. As the wind picked up, S grew paranoid something would blow off, so we pulled it down and shifted them to the rock-and-roll bed. I then settled into the driver’s seat to write this. The boys are now fast asleep. We really do need that diesel heater – it’s freezing now 😂.

Despite the grim weather and soggy clothes, both boys had a blast. The caves and caverns were a lot of fun, but sleeping in the van was probably the winner for them, hands down.

Massive thanks to BM for encouraging us to join them, and also for taking some photos of our walk, many of which I’ve used in this post 🤗