Friday Walk - Baugh Fell (Garsdale Circular): Remote hill in wild countryside with fine views. Some rough and pathless ground. Return via Ure Force (waterfall) [Settle Trip]

Length: 19.8 km (12.3 mi) [shorter walks possible, see below] 

Ascent /Descent: 536m 

Net Walking Time: 6 hours

Toughness: 8 out of 10 (6 out of 10 for length and ascent, but some pathless terrain and rough ground)

Take the 08.50 Carlisle train from Settle (Horton-in-Ribblesdale 8.58, Ribblehead 09.06), arrives Garsdale at 09.21. [This is the 07.48 from Leeds.] 

Return trains: 16.00, 17.28, 19.33, 21.22.

This is a relatively straight forward expedition into some really wild countryside in southeast Cumbria. You walk up to a largely pathless hill and across its broad plateau, then into some wild and lonely valleys, providing for some superlative views (in good weather), plenty of rough ground and a considerable navigational challenge (in bad weather). The route initially provides for some easy navigation though by following roads, then tracks along or close to drystone walls up onto the top plateau of Baugh Fell. You should reach the highest point of the route with its splendid views, in the Tarn Rigg Hill area of Baugh Fell, in about two hours.

Keep along the wall to a trigpoint on the subsidiary top of Knoutberry Haw before eventually turning right (north) away from the wall to cross the wide and substantially featureless plateau of Baugh Fell to West Baugh Fell Tarn some 1.5 kilometres away. The route described makes use of some of the few distinguishable features on the plateau to enhance the chances of getting to the tarn without problems.

From the tarn, descend the north easterly flank of Baugh Fell via a smaller tarn and then pathless through rough pasture for 1.3 kilometres to a bend in the infant Rawthey River (obvious in clear weather, but good compassing work is needed in low clouds or mist). There, you ford the two streams that form the river and scramble up briefly across some steep grass to pick up the A Pennine Journey Long-Distance Path, a mostly good path along the hill flank. It leads into the lonely haunting Grisedale, crossing a few streams and soggy stretches along the way, to pick up a gravel farm track for a while. The descent off Grisedale Common/Turner Hill into the infant Ure Valley again crosses some rough pasture along an intermittent path. A loop across the Ure River and past the pretty Ure Force (waterfall) and The Moorcock Inn (licensed tearoom) finishes this exciting adventure.

Walk Options:  

A more direct route from the road onto the hillside leads pathless across the heathery slopes instead of the (slightly longer) farm track.  

In the afternoon, from East House on Grisedale Common, you can reverse-walk the start of SWC Walk 417 (Wild Boar Fell), first along the road then along footpaths across pastures back to the station rather than descending the long flank of Turner Hill into the Ure Valley and going past the Moorcock Inn; this cuts 2.1 km (map-led).  

A more direct route near the end just after descending from Turner Hill leads along a B road, this cuts 850m but also the charming stretch along the infant River Ure with the very pretty Ure Force (waterfall).  

Bus Line 113 (Gayle – Garsdale) stops opposite The Moorcock Inn at 17.13 & 18.13, 1.4 km from the end of the walk, and terminates near the bottom of Station Road in Garsdale.

 

Lunch: Picnic. 

Tea: The Moorcock Inn A licensed tearoom, open 11.00-17.00 (mood and weather dependent). Located 1.4 km from the end of the walk.

 

For walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here . T=swc.436