A true devotee of Lakeland will know the “other” Fairfield horseshoe: the one that loops around the Deepdale skyline from Arnison Crag to Hartsop-Above-How. Boost your hillwalking cred by name-dropping the even-more-esoteric “other other” horseshoe. Admittedly, it feels slightly less horseshoey than its more famous cousins, but makes a fine outing on its own merits and will almost certainly be quiet. Essentially it makes a circuit of the Tongue Gill drainage basin and will add a couple of outlying Wainwrights to your tally if you’re keeping score of such things.
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metres / Distance
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1
NY3373908632 Head up the road, heroically spurning the hedonistic temptations of the Traveller's Rest. Rest must be earned, right? You've got work to do first.
2
NY3359909164 Turn right at the post box, following the Bridleway fingerpost pointing towards Patterdale. This is the route of Wainwright's coast-to-coast. Don't worry, you won't have to walk as far as Robin Hood's Bay, nor even Patterdale. As soon as you've left behind all human habitation, you'll skirt the top of a fine wooded gorge.
3
NY3374309582 After a few minutes, turn left at a stone barn to gain a broad, grassy ridge. Follow this, curving gracefully right, to the summit of Seat Sandal.
4
NY3438411518 Descend on broken ground to the rocky defile of Grisedale Hause, a place where ambush by orcs is a non-negligible hazard. Then heave up the stony zigzags to the summit of Fairfield. Your walk is likely to become briefly busier, but this will soon pass.5
NY3587511741 Head south from the summit shelter to pick up the loping path down the western arm of the main horseshoe, to the summit of Great Rigg: what Wainwright called "the easiest mile in Lakeland".
6
NY3550910196 Just after Great Rigg's cairn, fork right, heading southwest down another broad grassy ridge to the summit rocks of Stone Arthur, your fourth and final Wainwright of the day.
7
NY3473709220 From the summit rocks, trend left on a southerly bearing.
8
NY3479408613 Prominently zag back down on a shelving line heading broadly west-south-west to drop down to trees and a small community centred around Greenhead Gill.
9
NY3431508476 Drop down the road then turn right to arc back to the A591.
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Difficulty: ModerateDistance: 6.50 miles (10.46 km)
Total ascent: 963m
Time: 4:30 – 5:30 hours (Walking)
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Additional Information
Start/Finish:Grasmere village centre, NY337086
Nearest town:
Grasmere
Terrain:
Largely grassy apart from the stony section between Seat Sandal and Fairfield.
Seasonal variations:
Beware icing in winter either side of Grisedale Hause. The summit of Fairfield has a confusing mass of cairns in mist: take care.
Weather and Hill Conditions: mwis: Lake District – Met Office: Lake District
Public transport:
The 555 bus will get you very close to the start: either The Swan or Winterseeds
Guidebooks:
Wainwright, Eastern Fells
Maps:
OS Explorer OL5 (1:25,000), OS Explorer OL7 (1:25,000), Harvey/BMC Lake District (1:40,000), OS Landranger 90 (1:50,000) Directory Listings:
Find more Listings near this route Tourist info:
Grasmere (015394 35245); Ambleside (015394 32582); Waterhead (015394 32729)
Further Routes
by Norman Hadley
- Bannisdale Horseshoe 6 Apr
- Sallows and Sour Howes 20 Mar
- Kinder Downfall and the Reservoir Round 14 Feb
- Buttermere Horseshoe 3 Jan
- Brock Crags and Angletarn Pikes 12 Dec, 2023
- The Kentmere Frog 27 Nov, 2023
- High Street North 15 Nov, 2023
- Sgùrr a' Chaorachain: a slice of Applecross 17 Sep, 2023
- Wolfhole Crag: A Journey to the Centre of the Earth 5 Sep, 2023
- Wansfell Pike 16 Aug, 2023