A difficult route in North Western Fells. Check the GPS track on Outdooractive for full details of the route, waypoints, and terrain.
Starting Point: Hawse End car park, Derwentwater (NY 245 211)
Terrain: Path to ridge, Skelgill Bank, crags, Catbells summit, Mart Bield, open ridge, Bull Crag, Maiden Moor summit, open ridge, Eel Crags, High Spy summit, descent south, Rigghead Quarries, Tongue Gill path, River Derwent path, Castle Crag ascent through woodland and quarry workings, summit, descent, footbridge, Broadslack Gill, Low Hows Wood, Gowder Dub, River Derwent, Cumbria Way, road
A magnificent ridge walk above Borrowdale and Derwentwater combining four Wainwrights of very different character — walked on a day of persistent and unrelenting rain that ensured almost no views were available. The ridge from Catbells to High Spy is one of the finest in the northern Lake District and deserves to be walked in conditions that do it justice; on a clear day the views across Derwentwater to the east and down the Newlands valley to the west would have been outstanding at every step. Castle Crag is a fell of singular character — the smallest Wainwright, the only one below a thousand feet, and one of the most historically layered summits in the Lake District, combining an Iron Age hillfort, a Victorian slate quarry and one of the most moving war memorials in the national park. The descent through Broadslack Gill and Low Hows Wood is a fine finish, the woodland path along the River Derwent a gentle counterpoint to the ridge and crags above. A walk to return to in better weather.