Recommended Map - Ordnance Survey Maps - Outdoor Leisure Map 7 - South Eastern Area (1:25,000) and Outdoor Leisure Map 4 - NorthWestern Area (1:25,000)
Start and End Point – Broadgate Car Park, Grasmere
Distance 13.4 kilometres (8.33 miles)
Distance including gradient 14.8 kilometres (9.18 miles)
Time - Approx 5 hours
Maximum Height Achieved - 553 metres, (1814 feet)
Total Ascent - 689 metres (2260 feet)
Accommodation – various hotels, pubs, camping and private accomodation in the area. See the accomodation section in the links page
Grasmere, the starting point for this walk lies in the very heart of the Lake District. It is smothered in Wordsworth history, with Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount nearby. Also, St. Oswalds church in the centre of Grasmere is where William Wordsworth is buried. Grasmere is picturesque and attracts thousands of visitors during the year. It's a great base for some good mountain walking as well as some less challenging but similiarly beautiful low-level walking around Grasmere and Rydal water. To the north lies the very distinctive Helm Crag. Its unmistakable summit is often referred to as 'The Lion and the Lamb' due to the appearance of the summit crags. From a distance you can see the resemblance of a lazing lion with a lamb at its feet.
The walk described below is a wonderful short walk. It's ideally suited to those winter days. At the top, towards Calf Crag and between Calf Crag and Dead Pike, it can get boggy in places. With this in mind it's much easier in summer or when the weather is icy cold. The latter applied on Sunday 20th November. Starting out, it looked like the weather could go either way. In reality, the clouds and sunshine provided some spectacular photographs. Paul Belsten joined me on the walk and we managed the distance in slightly under 4 hours, although I'd recommend a good 5 hours depending on your ability.
At Calf Crag there are lots of options. We chose the route back via Dead Pike, simply to ensure we were finished before it became dark. However, in summer an alternative could be to head in the opposite direction to Sergeant Man or even High Raise, before returning via Codale and Easdale Tarns.
This walk starts off from Broadgate car park at the north of Grasmere.
Leave the car park via the main entrance and turn left along the B5287. After a couple of hundred metres, turn right up Easdale Road. It's a tarmac road that takes you up into Easdale. It's very straightforward at this stage - just keep heading straight. Ignore the right turn at Goody Bridge, keeping straight on and again keep going straight when you see the second sign for Thorny How Youth Hostel. The road bends naturally right and Helm Crag is clearly in view (see first photograph). The path to Helm Crag is clearly signed at this stage. The tarmac road comes to an end and is signposted clearly for you to turn right past a cottage (pictured in the 2nd photograph above). Follow the signs for Helm Crag, through the gates and the path begins in earnest. Its well marked and stepped in the early stages. It's a short sharp shock as the path gains height very quickly, hence my preference to ascend this part. Up and up and up - or so it seems before levelling out as you arrive at White Crag.
From here it's up again. Gradually the path opens out and becomes grassy underfoot. In no time at all, you swing left at High Raven Crag with great views of the valley on your right. Below we could see the Travellers Rest, where we would enjoy a nice pint of Cumberland later!
A quick sprint sees you at the summit of Helm Crag and 'The Lion and the Lamb' are directly in front.
Above gives you a good perspective of 'The Lion and the Lamb'. It's not too big a deal to bag the Lion's head. For some reason I didn't take any photo's of the 'Howitzer' just a little further along. This is another sharp jut of rock, that unfortunately neither of us bagged, despite trying. It's a lot more exposed that the Lion's head.
As you can see from the photograph above, you lose some height as you descend from Helm Crag to Bracken Hause, before climbing again to Gibson Knott. The path here is nice and easy to follow and good underfoot.
As the morning turned into afternoon, the clouds above became much more prominent. The upside was that it provided amazing lighting effects. As Gibson Knott is left behind and Moment Crag approaches, the ground underfoot could become boggy and require you to occasionally make the odd detour. Today with the freezing overnight temperatures, it was easy to walk directly across without any problems. The ascent to Calf Crag is so gentle it's hardly noticed and pretty soon you are at its summit.
Calf Crag marks the decision point. As mentioned earlier, we chose the route back via Dead Pike, simply because of the shorter daylight hours. It's an easy route back and very straightforward from Calf's Crag to Dead Pike. From the summit of Calf Crag, head north-east. It may be difficult to follow the path in misty conditions so you will need a compass. The valley of Greenburn Bottom stays way below to your right as you arc east around Rough Crag towards the small tarns. You will find occasional metal posts all along the route to Dead Pike, before being accompanied by first a wall then a fence to your left. Gradually climbing, Dead Pike is achieved. Looking north along Steel Fell, you can see Thirlmere. With the clouds and sunshine battling for authority, again the skies offered some incredible views, as you can see in the far right photograph above.
The route down to Grasmere is as straightforward as it gets. It's a wonderful descent and easy on the knees. Coming down, it is confirmation that the walk was tackled in the right direction. The path winds a little at the top of Contra Breast, losing height relatively quickly, before opening out into a grassy path. Eventually the path arrives at Helmside and joins a narrow tarmac road. Head down to Low Mill Bridge where you turn right heading towards Thorny How Youth Hostel, all the time flanking Helm Crag on your right.
You pass the Youth Hostel on your right before rejoining Easedale Road. Turn left along it towards the main Grasmere B5287 road. turn left, past the shops on your right and the car-park is on your right. There are quite a few places for a drink and bite to eat in Grasmere, but we chose the short drive to the Travellers Rest on the A591 (leave Keswick via the north, turn left along the A591 towards Keswick and after around 600 metres, the unmistakable Traveller's Rest is on your right). With the wonderful Jennings beer on tap, we enjoyed a great pint of Cumberland!
This walk and pictures are protected by copyright©. Reproduction in whole or in part by any means is prohibited without the prior permission of the author. If you wish to use this document, then contact me. I would also like to hear your comments and thoughts. If you use this document for your walk please give me feedback (good or bad). If you have very good quality photographs and a good narrative and want them on these pages, contact me also.
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Author - Antony Towers – 20th November 2005. I hope you enjoy this walk either virtually or in reality as much as I did but please remember that your safety is your responsibility. Always use a map, compass and be equipped for the conditions. Conditions can change very quickly, even at low levels. Check the weather conditions before setting off and always be prepared for Mother Nature.
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