Difficulty: Moderate – Difficult (Depending on length of walk)
Wainwright Guide: Book Six – The North-Western Fells
Fells: Grisedale Pike, Hopegill Head, Eel Crag, Sail, Outerside, Scar Crags, Causey Pike, Barrow
For those of you that endeavour to tick off all of the Wainwrights, the best method is to conquer more than one in a day. That’s where a horseshoe walk comes in. As the name suggests the route will take you around in the shape of a horseshoe. You finish pretty much where you started so no need to co-ordinate multiple cars or catch public transport!
The Grisedale Horseshoe is nestled at the Southern end of Bassenthwaite Lake, just West of Keswick. It’s a particularly great horseshoe walk because you can tailor it according to your fitness or available time. Not to mention that the views are pretty incredible too.
The day I made this hike I was with a couple of my friends from University, Char and Kay. Now we’re all adults in the real world it’s hard to find time to see each other. Luckily, Kay doesn’t live too far away from the Lake District so it was the perfect reunion weekend for us!
We started our Grisedale Horseshoe hike from the free car park on the B5292. If the car park is full there are plenty of places to park on the surrounding roads and in lay bys further up the hill. The path is pretty easy to spot from the car park, heading up the hill via some steps.
Once above the tree line you immediately come across some fantastic views of Bassenthwaite and the Northern Fells behind. It’s a pretty great photo opportunity. This is one of those walks where it’s hard not to stop and admire the view behind.
The path up to the summit of Grisedale Pike is straight forward and pretty easy to follow. In terms of gradient it tends to wax and wane a little but it’s nothing too strenuous. Kay practically ran to the summit with her trusty sidekick Nel (although I’m sure her makeshift CannyCross had a part to play ;P). Meanwhile Char and I were left pondering how we had become so unfit since returning from Asia!
We eventually caught up to our very own mountain gazelle at the summit and were rewarded with amazing views and a glimpse of the walk to come.
From Grisedale Pike you can either continue on to Hopegill Head or towards Eel Crag and some of the other North Western Fells. Either way you start off by following a straight path alongside a stone wall. The path will fork pretty quickly and to continue to Hopegill Head you need to head straight on.
From here you can continue to head straight on towards Whiteside or you can double back for a few metres and take the path the to right to eventually rejoin the route heading towards Eel Crag.
The path is again, pretty easy to follow. It runs alongside a small stream until it reaches a cross roads. The path to the left is the one you want. It takes you up in a straight line past some cairns towards the summit of Eel Crag. The path to the right takes you towards the summit of Grasmoor and straight ahead will take you on to more of the North-Western Fells.
Although it is one of the tallest of the 214 Wainwright Fells it is fairly easy to reach the summit Cairn. 360 degree views of some of the most beautiful scenery in Britain await those who make it to the top. Haystacks and Fleetwith Pike are visible to the South, Keswick and Derwent Water to the East and Whinlatter Forest to the North. This easily ranks in my top 5 summit views.
Following on from Eel Crag and Sail just happens to be on the path. You’ll find the summit Cairn just off of the main path, next to a very small tarn.
Carrying on and the path begins to zigzag down towards another crossroads. Feeling pretty exhausted at this point and beginning to lose the light we took the path to the left. Heading straight on would have taken us onto Scar Craggs and Causey Pike before finishing the walk in the Southern end of Braithwaite.
Our path headed towards Barrow, however we decided to take a detour onto Outerside via a lesser travelled path through the heather. We then proceeded to descend from here into Braithwaite onto a residential street.
Following the road leads you past a house where you can take fresh apples in exchange for donations towards Keswick Mountain Rescue, and then on towards the Coledale Inn. You can also get here easily if you descend from Causey Pike. Just head left along the road and then take the first left.
Once you’re feeling refreshed and rejuvinated enough, it’s pretty easy to get back to the car park. Just follow the road along, across a stream and turn left onto the B592 heading up the hill. The car park will appear shortly on your left.
Although it can be a fairly long walk the Grisedale Horseshoe is very rewarding. The various options and flexibility in the walk make it suitable for most ramblers and gives you access to some of the best views in Lakeland!
Have you done the Grisedale Horseshoe yet? What variation did you do? I would love to hear about it in the comments below!
