Barrow

Barrow and Outerside

North Western Lake District

Route: Barrow and Outerside

Area: North Western Lake District

Date of walk: 2nd December 2016

Walkers: Andrew

Distance: 5.3 miles

Weather: Cloudy with some bright patches

Barrow and Outerside lie in the north west Lake District overlooking Keswick, and the two fells are often combined in a single walk due to their proximity to each other

I parked in the attractive village of Braithwaite which was devastated in the December 2015 floods but has now made a full recovery. I walked out of the village in the direction of Newlands Valley, before turning off along the farm road to Braithwaite Lodge

After passing through the farm I joined the path which leads up the facing ridge to the top of Barrow. It’s a straighforward climb and it would be impossible to go astray. I kept looking back to admire the views of the Skiddaw fells, which were seen in good light as the morning sun occasionally peeped out from behind the clouds

From the summit of Barrow I made my way down to Barrow Door. The next fell on the itinerary was Outerside, which looks nearby on the map but on the ground always seems to be a considerable distance away. I followed a path around the flanks of Stile End and Outerside and gained the summit via the back door

From here is was a long but easy descent back to Braithwaite via Long Moss and Stile End, with wonderful views of the Skiddaw fells ahead all the way down, a great finale to a great walk

For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box

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)

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