Chinley lies in the Blackbrook Valley. To the north is Cracken Edge, a once-quarried promontory of Chinley Churn, a large, prominent hill with a pass followed by the A624 named Chinley Head. Brown Knoll commands the skyline on the eastern border of the civil parish, with South Head and Mount Famine to the north-east. An old winding engine can still be seen atop an incline on the north-eastern face of Cracken Edge. Immediately south of the village, brook and parish border is Eccles Pike, an almost-conical hill, partly owned by the National Trust.