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Image reproduced with permission from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service
Walks: The Fairfield Horseshoe
Description This is a classic Lake District walk, a high level circuit of the ring of fells that hem in the valley of Rydal Beck. On a clear day, there are superb views to be enjoyed throughout. Summary Ambleside (Rydal Road Car Park) - Nab Scar - Heron Pike - Great Rigg – Fairfield – Hart Crag – Dove Crag – High Pike – Low Pike – Ambleside Maps The walk crosses two maps: Ordnance Survey Explorer Maps 5 and 7. You will also find it on Ridge Map 1 on our maps page. Distance, Height and Time The walk is approximately 12 miles long and involves 3,300 feet of ascent. In good weather, the walk should take you approximately 6 hours.
Details Beginning at Ambleside’s Rydal Road car park (grid reference NY 376047), follow the A591 north-west out of Ambleside until you cross Scandale Bridge. Almost immediately afterwards, turn right through a set of iron gates (signposted to Rydal Hall). A footpath leads through the grounds the hall and emerges onto the metalled road coming up from Rydal. Cross the wall and follow the path that winds its way up the hill to the summit of Nab Scar. From Nab Scar, follow the path along the ridge to reach Heron Pike where views open up ahead to Dunmail Raise. Continue following the ridge northwards, over a small dip and past a number of rocky outcrops that pretend to be the next summit. The path meanders along the top of the great declivity of Stone Cove — the fellside plunging dramatically down into the valley of Rydal Beck — before you reach your next destination, the large cairn on Great Rigg. Continue over Great Rigg and another small depression and the path soon begins to climb to the summit plateau of Fairfield, marked by a large cairn and a number of windbreaks. The views from Fairfield are spectacular and it is worth spending time exploring the summit; in particular, make sure you see the rock scenery of the great north face which crashes into Deepdale in an explosion of crags and gullies. It is easy to get lost on Fairfield in mist so do be sure that you have a compass and know how to use it. Your route to Hart Crag is found by picking up the line of cairns that lead south-east then east — providing you avoid the mistake of following the several paths that descend from Fairfield into Deepdale, you will not get lost. From the rocky summit of Hart Crag, follow the obvious path along the ridge to Dove Crag, from where the descent into Ambleside now begins, following the track alongside the wall south down the ridge to High Pike. The path continues from here, following the wall all the way, apart from one brief detour to avoid steep ground, over the subsidiary summit of Low Pike before returning to Ambleside via Low Sweden Bridge. You can now reward yourself with a cup of tea and a piece of cake in The Apple Pie Café and Bakery, thereby restoring all those calories that you’ve just burnt off on the walk. |
