Dove Crag & Fairfield with Dave Colbert
9½ Miles / 15km with 3.250ft / 990m Total Ascent
The ‘Fairfield Horseshoe’ is one of the Lake District’s classic fell walks and rightly so, and today we will hike around three quarters of it, taking in six of the eight ‘Wainwright’ tops on the round. Starting from the Rydal Road car park just north of Ambleside town centre, we take the lane to Low Sweden Bridge before climbing onto the eastern arm of said horseshoe. Our route is along the broad ridge taking in Low Pike, High Pike, Dove Crag and Hart Crag before reaching Fairfield itself, at 873m/2,865ft the highest point on the walk. We then head for Great Rigg, leaving the horseshoe here to descend to Grasmere, grabbing a bonus ‘Wainwright’ Stone Arthur on the way.
Please note that weather and/or fell conditions on the day may necessitate an alternative, lower-level hike. Various options are available but unless it’s really bad, we will follow a linear route from Brockhole to Grasmere taking in Wansfell’ ridge and Loughrigg Fell. This is similar in terms of both length and the amount of climbing.