Part of the West Pennine Moors, it is a popular walking area, and has been the site of mining activity, aeroplane disasters and a murder.

Its prominent position made it the ideal site for the Winter Hill TV Mast, transmitting to a large part of North West England.

In clear weather conditions, locations such as Blackpool Tower, the Dream in Sutton, St Helens, Jodrell Bank Observatory, Snaefell in the Isle of Man, the Cumbrian mountains, Snowdonia in North Wales, Liverpool, Southport, the Irish Sea, the Pennines and much of the North West of England, can be seen.

On 24 March 1957, two men discovered "curved lines of stones" sticking out of the peat forming a two feet high wall which surrounded a raised area in the middle.

The site was excavated in August 1958 by the Bolton & District Archaeological Society, revealing two lines of stones and human remains.

[8] On 9 November 1838 George Henderson, a Scottish merchant walking over the hill from Horwich to Blackburn, was murdered by gunshot.

A monument was erected in 1912 to replace an earlier bush planted at the spot, sited at the side of the road opposite the television station.

[15] It has affected local wildlife, killing both flora and fauna in an "internationally important ecosystem" as described by the Woodland Trust.

[16] Concerns were raised in 2011 to Natural England regarding moorland management with warnings of increased fire risk due to policy of United Utilities to reduce grazing, whilst not using other land management measures including cutting or controlled burning to reduce fire risks.

In 1950, a witness described a "dark flat iron shaped object hovering close to the ground" and an encounter with a being that returned to a craft before disappearing.

[25] The farmer reported that he was warned by officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food but has not been traced since the incident, and the current owner has not spoken about it.

[24] The UK government released previously classified information on UFO sightings in May 2006; one picture appeared to show an unidentified object over Winter Hill.

[26][27] The song "Winter Hill" on A Certain Ratio's 1981 album To Each..., consists of drumming, whistling and a low-pitched drone alternating between two notes a tone apart for its entire length.

On a visit to Winter Hill in 1988, a piece of electronic equipment was found which made a high-pitched drone and alternated between two notes a tone apart.