Surprise view image

A love of the Lakes

One family's Lakeland Fell Walking blog
by Rob Marsh


"Many are those who have fallen under the spell of Lakeland, and many are they who have been moved to tell of their affection in story, verse and icture"

... A. Wainwright

Whitbarrow

Walk          : Whitbarrow (706ft) from Mill Side just off the A590

Date          : 16th Jan 2025

Weather    : Sunny Clear blue sky @ 12 degrees

Distance    : 6 miles round trip

Difficulty     : 2
(1=easy 5 = hard) 
Terrain Overview

Terrain image

Walk Overview

During our 214 Wainwright Fell bagging expeditions the number of times we have
drove past Whitbarrow on the A590 towards Newby Bridge with out really paying
that much attention to it is countless. This massive upsurge of limestone with a
table top appearance must be one of the largest tops in Lakeland. Once you get
up to the plateau it is some of the most pleasant walking you will encounter. The
route up through the forest at its lower regions requires good navigation as there
are a myriad of paths to chose from, but once through the hand gate at the top, the
open fell side has a good path throughout and takes you along some of the most
unusual and interesting scenery, including the "wind swept" juniper trees

The car park at the start of the walk


Straight off the A590 at the sign post for Mill Side a road with a sizeable layby
provides free parking for a number of cars

Setting off toward the Farm building


From the layby follow the road heading towards Mill Side

Whitbarrow from the road


Whitbarrow from the road

Take the right hand turn in the road


Take the right hand turn in the road

Take the right hand fork towards the house


Take the right hand fork towards the house

Entering the bridleway


The tarmac road pretty quickly gives way to the bridleway

Good walking along the forest track


This is good walking along the forest track. Keep an eye out for a path
branching left that leads into the wooded area proper

Through the fence to take the forest path


Through the fence to take the forest path

Starting off through the forest


The path is fairly easy to follow through the woods. You now need to keep an eye out
for a rising path on the left

The rising path


The rising path. Its crucial to start off on this.

The path rises towards a wall


The path climbs fairly gently towards a hand gate in a stone wall

The hand gate


The hand gate

The path leads to the open fell side


The path leads to the open fell side

On the open fell side


Out of the forest now and the path journeys through some wild limestone scenery

Looking out towards Morecambe Bay


Looking out towards Morecambe Bay

The Howgill Fells


The Howgill Fells from the path

Heading towards the first marker cairn


Heading towards the first marker cairn. You will pass three before arriving at the summit

The first marker cairn


The first marker cairn

Looking at the Langdale Pikes and Bowfell


Looking at the Langdale Pikes and Bowfell from the marker cairn

Approaching the second marker cairn


Approaching the second marker cairn

Approaching the third marker cairn


Approaching the third marker cairn


The summit of Whitbarrow from the third marker cairn


Looking across the wild landscape to the summit of Whitbarrow from the third marker cairn


The wall stile


Not long after the third marker cairn the wall stile is reached


The windswept Juniper


Over the stile and the windswept Juniper on a limestone escarpment

The windswept Juniper in close up


Weird !!!

The path up to the sumit of Whitbarrow


Just past the Juniper tree and the path to the summit of Whitbarrow

Approaching the summit of Whitbarrow


A majestic sight. The summit cairn of Whitbarrow with the Fairfield Horseshoe
providing the back drop

Me and Spud on the summit

The Spud Meister and I on the summit. Click here for a 360 degree view

Extensive views from the summit


Looking across to the Langdales from the summit

A perfect spot for lunch


The limestone ridges make for a really comfortable seat to sit and admire the views

Spud the dog


Spud prepares expectantly for his dinner

The Fairfield Horseshoe from the summit


The Fairfield Horseshoe from the summit