Fellbarrow and Low Fell

TWO Wainwright circular walk: Fellbarrow, Low Fell

Walk Rating:⭐⭐⭐

Time: 2 - 3 hours

Parking: just north of Thackthwaite on the roadside (free)

Fellbarrow and Low Fell from Mellbreak

Arriving in the Vale of Lorton from Cockermouth or Whinlatter, the grassy ridge of Fellbarrow, ending in Low Fell to its south, is an obvious feature.

A walk up to the ridge and then along to the viewpoint at Low Fell, is a good way to spend a few hours, especially if you're looking for some gentler hiking.  

Strava estimates a walking distance of around 8km

1. Take the minor road from Low Lorton that runs underneath Fellbarrow and find a place to park on the side of the road just north of the hamlet of Thackthwaite. Walk up the road and turn right between houses up a stony path that leads to a field lined by trees. Walk up to the left of the trees at first then, via a couple of gates, you'll reach the old drove road curving around the hill in front of you.

Walk up the field beside the trees

2. After the second gate, take the track of the old drove road to the right and head up the side of the valley of a beck flowing down from the ridge. You could carry on further up the track but, to cut off the corner, take a sometimes muddy path through the bracken and head towards the curved brow ahead of you - this is Fellbarrow.

Cutting off the corner through the bracken

3. Above the bracken, you can climb directly up across the grass and between some wind-blown trees, making your way steeply to a fence and the Ordnance Survey column that marks the top of Fellbarrow (1363'). Look back for a view towards Whiteside and Grasmoor.

The view from Fellbarrow

4. Follow the fence down from the top of the hill then take the path that heads to the left below the next rise in the ridge to rejoin the track of the old drove road at a gate. Go through the gate and follow the path south towards Low Fell. It's worth heading up to the small rise that you pass on your left, Watching Crag, to take in the view.

The view from Watching Crag

5. Continue along the undulating ridge until you reach the summit cairn of Low Fell. It's worth going just a little further on, down to a smaller cairn, to find the best viewpoint for looking out over Loweswater, Mellbreak and Crummock Water. 

The views from the top of Low Fell

6. Reverse your steps to head north, back along the ridge. However, when you reach the gate at the top of the old drove road, instead of heading back up to Fellbarrow, you can walk with ease down the zig-zags of the track back towards Thackthwaite.

Worth knowing: If you're heading back through Low Lorton, look out for the yellow AA sign on the wall of a white house to the left of the road, close to the Wheatsheaf Inn. There's another good example I've spotted in Caldbeck, a village to the north of Lakeland. 

These may well be reproductions, rather than the original pre-war signs, but it's good for a Londoner like me to know how far I've moved from home, to the nearest quarter of a mile!