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Route Seathwaite - Scafell Pike County Cumbria Difficulty Hard Distance 15km (9.3 miles) Typical time Six hours OS grid reference NY235121, OL4 The English Lakes: NW area Starting point Park on the wide grass verge on the left as you approach the farm at Seathwaite.

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Blister rating: 5/5 View rating: 5/5

Why I love this walk

The Sherpas have Chomolungma. The Quechua have Huascaran. We have Scafell Pike. Which, as it turns out, is a great honour, for it is doubtful that anywhere in the world has a nation found so much that is genuinely rugged on such a modest lump of granite, and looked after it so well.

The great tub-like cairn on top of Scafell Pike greets you wreathed in fog or with extraordinary views to Skiddaw and the Isle of Man, depending on the whim of the prevailing westerlies. This is the summit of England.

Any closer to the M6, and it would be permanently overrun. But Scafell Pike sits in the middle of a real hub-and-spoke system of mountains. It’s a slog from anywhere, but always worth it and sometimes, quite suddenly, quite scary.

This route is a day-long epic in miniature. It starts in Borrowdale, in tea-room territory, and then takes in waterfalls and the green ramps of the Corridor Route to sub-Arctic uplands.

If you make it to the top by lunchtime, consider a longer return via Langstrath. On hot days the rocks under Langstrath Beck warm its water along its shallower sections, creating a series of swimmable pools.

The route

1 Go right into the farmyard and right on to the footpath through the covered barn. Go 200m down to the river and cross the bridge.

2 Immediately after the bridge, take the gate on the left and the footpath along the bank of the river. The path climbs from the river towards a wooded gully.

3 Bear right into the gully towards Taylor Gill Force. After 100m go through a small gate. The path seems to go round the steep slope but is blocked by a large boulder. This is not the way: backtrack a few metres and climb the sloping cleft on your right. The route climbs then traverses on to rocky ground. Carry on, keeping the stream on your left.

4 A little farther on you may find it easier to cross the stream and join the main track beside Styhead Gill.

5 Recross the gill on the footbridge and climb the valley to the tarn. Pass the tarn on your left and continue for 150m or so.

6 Look out for the indistinct path on your left that cuts across towards Great End. Follow it across the track at Sty Head.

7 Cross straight over on to the Corridor Route. After traversing, the track climbs towards Scafell Pike.

8 Watch out for the steps on your left. Follow them up to a rocky bowl, then bear left towards some scree and an obvious col. At the bottom of the scree, look for a cairn; this marks the starting point of the easiest route up. The scree is loose, so tread carefully and think of the people below.

9 At the col, go right and head up the ridge towards the summit of Scafell Pike and the round dry-stone enclosure.

10 Head back down the ridge you just came up to reach the col again.

11 Now climb the ridge on the other side of the col. The route is rocky most of the way and is sometimes a little indistinct, though there are some small cairns to guide the way. Most of the way it keeps to the right of the rocks on the crest of the ridge.

12 Follow the ridge as it drops down and up again and bears left towards Great End. On the last col before Great End, bear right on to the path that drops down to Esk Hause.

13 At Esk Hause, look for the path on the left that drops down under the cliffs of Great End. Follow it down; after a short while you will see Sprinkling Tarn in front of you.

14 Join the main path towards Sprinkling Tarn.

15 About 300m before the tarn, turn right on to a path. It crosses a small stream and descends quickly down the valley, following Grains Gill. Keep following it to Stockley Bridge.

16 Cross the bridge and follow the track back to Seathwaite. If you have made good time you can have a cup of tea and some cake at the farm.

Source: walkingworld.com

Contributor: David and Chris Stewart. Walk: No 277

Things to see: The highest point in England, with views to Skiddaw and the Isle of Man. Beware of bad weather.

Pub rating: 3/5

Pub: Newfield Inn, Seathwaite
A 17th-century free house with a beer garden and open fire. Admire the slate floor, with the characterstic dark and light banding, from the Coniston slate quarries.

Where to stay

The Cottage in the Wood
A former 17th century coaching inn in the heart of the Whinlatter Forest, it has been turned into an award-winning restaurant with nine rooms.

Thrang Cottage
A remote rustic cottage at the head of the Duddon Valley with views of the Seathwaite Fells.

The Angel Inn
A five-minute amble from England’s largest lake, Windermere, with its own gardens and grounds and fantastic views.

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