England's highest ground at 978 metres, a proper mountain rather than a big hill, and treated that way by anyone sensible
Open accesson open access land, where the right to roam applies
Being the highest point in England buys Scafell Pike a lot of company it might not otherwise get. Plenty of the people on its summit on any given weekend aren’t hillwalkers by habit at all — they’re doing the peak as one leg of a three-peaks challenge, or ticking it off a list, and that’s fine, the mountain doesn’t mind, but it does mean the popularity can lull people into treating it more casually than the terrain deserves. At 978 metres it’s a genuine mountain with 912 metres of drop below the summit, sitting among the Lake District’s Southern Fells not far from its near neighbours Broad Crag and Ill Crag.
The summit itself is a boulder field, cairn in the middle, views out over the rest of the Lake District on a clear day and nothing at all when the cloud’s down, which it often is. That’s the part worth taking seriously — mist rolls in fast up here, the boulders all start looking the same, and the ground around the top has claimed more than a few confused walkers who wandered off in the wrong direction convinced they were still on path. A map, compass and the knowledge of how to use them matter more here than on most English hills, phone signal being unreliable at best.
Wasdale, past Wasdale Campsite on the valley floor, gives the steepest, shortest route up and is the classic approach, while Borrowdale and Eskdale offer longer, gentler alternatives depending on which side of the mountain the day starts from. Worth noting, since it trips people up regularly: neighbouring Sca Fell is a different summit entirely, slightly lower, and not the same walk at all. Proper boots, full waterproofs and a start early enough to be off the top before weather turns are not optional extras here.
More at hill-bagging.co.uk
