High Cup Nick

High Cup Nick

Eden Valley

Route: High Cup Nick

Area: Eden Valley

Date of walk: 13th September 2016

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly

Distance: 11.0 miles

Ascent: 1,900 feet

Weather: Mostly sunny, though clouded over later. Very warm and very hazy

Today’s walk features one of the most spectacular geological features in England – the classic U-shaped glaciated valley of High Cup Gill seen from its head at High Cup Nick. There are several ways to approach the Nick, and we sourced our route from the excellent guide ‘Walking in Cumbria’s Eden Valley’ by Vivienne Crow, which we’ve used for other walks in this area

We parked in the public car park in the unspoilt village of Dufton and followed a path out of the village which took us along the foot of Dufton Pike. This was easy going, though became a bit rougher later on as we headed up into Great Rundale. When we reached a shooting box near Great Rundale Tarn we turned off the main track and here followed a rough, squelchy, and sometimes pathless trek across rather bleak moorland. The route isn’t shown on the OS maps and the key to navigation here is to follow the course of the outlet stream from the tarn

We arrived at a footbridge leading onto High Cup Plain and from here it was an easy stroll across to High Cup Nick, at which point the ground suddenly falls away and an incredible view appears, and I hope the photos will convey the drama of the situation. It was a thrilling moment – and a good place for our picnic

Eventually it was time to go and we made our way along the edge of the escarpment, and from there descended gently back to Dufton. Sadly the long distance views, which would have been spectacular, were shrouded in a dull haze and this was a real shame. Never mind, the views along High Cup were ample compensation and we’ll never forget them – a classic walk

Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)

Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow

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