Wasdale Head

Nether Wasdale

Route: Nether Wasdale

Area: Southern Lake District

Date of walk: 10th October 2020

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly

Distance: 4.8 miles

Ascent: 300 feet

Weather: Mostly cloudy, a few patches of sun and some light rain

Wasdale is home to England’s highest mountain and its deepest lake. The head of the valley is a springboard to some of the finest fell walks in the Lake District. However the fells enclose the valley head to such an extent that low level walking opportunities there are very limited. Nether Wasdale, at the foot of Wastwater, is a better choice for a low level walk, and offers wonderful views towards some of the finest landscape in the country

We’ve followed this walk, or variations of it, on several occasions and parked as usual in the car park at Cinderdale Bridge, at a triangle of roads just beyond Nether Wasdale. After turning right out of the car park we crossed the River Irt, and then joined the track leading to Easthwaite. The path formerly passed directly through the farm, but has now been diverted around it. Beyond the farm, confusion may arise when a path to Lund Bridge, clearly marked on the OS maps as a public footpath, bears a sign ‘PRIVATE – no public right of way’. Either the OS map is wrong or the landowner has created a diversion in order to keep walkers away from his field. It’s not an issue, as the extra distance is not significant and the surrounding scenery is so good 

We joined the path beside the River Irt and crossed Lund Bridge to enter into Low Wood, a good place to see bluebells in season. We followed a path through Low Wood and arrived at the foot of Wastwater. The view from here is one of the finest mountain landscapes in the Lake District, and didn’t disappoint today

We continued along the lakeshore path and just beyond Wasdale Hall climbed up to the road which we followed for a short distance before turning off at High Birkhow. The track beside the wood, and through the open countryside at Ashness How, is always a boggy affair and today was no exception. There are many good retrospective views to Wasdale Head along the way. We left the path to cross Scale Bridge and then followed the pleasant path through Mill Place back to the start of the 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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