Cat Bells from Skelgill

Difficulty : EasyDuration : 2.5 HrsDistance : 5 Km

Full route description for this walk

The easiest place to start this walk from is the car park or road parking situated below Cat Bells itself at a small hamlet called Skelgill, to get there you must follow a small road through the village of Portinscale which then heads south passing the boat clubs on the shores of Derwent Water before making its way down to Skelgill, the car park itself is on a bend just before Skelgill and is clear and signposted.

You can of course also start the walk from Keswick, although you have to add another four kilometres on the way and on the way back too for this and add around another fourty five minutes. To get the start of the walk from Keswick follow the footpaths signed for the Cumbria Way and Portinscale and then at Hawes End after the path crosses a forest land follow the signs for Cat Bells and you'll end up at the starting point of this route.

From the car park at Skelgill an obvious and sign posted path heads straight up the north ridge of Cat Bells. This is very easy navigation up a rough and steep but also simple path, although beware of the shiny slippery rocks worn down from thousands of walkers boots each year. Once you have done the initial slog up and topped out on the first flat area you will be on top of Skelgill Bank. The views from here should already be opening up over Derwent Water, looking back you'll be able to make out the mighty Skiddaw above Keswick, to the right of that the extraordinary shape of Blencathra with five ridges coming of its main summit, then swooping round the Helvellyn range and then further up the valley at the end of Derwent Water is the beautiful valley of Borrowdale.

From Skelgill Bank continue in the obvious direction south along the ridge towards the summit of Cat Bells. At only 451M height above sea level its one of the Lake District's smallest mountains but by no means the least satisfying, the views open up again and now you should be able to see all the way down the Newlands Valley to the west and make out most of the Derwent Fells that make up the famous horseshoe walks of the Newlands Horseshoe and Coledale Horseshoe, with one peak in particular Causey Pike standing out due to its pyramid shaped peak. As I've already said the views from this mountain in miniature compete with almost any other Lake District summit.

From the summit of Cat Bells continue heading in a southerly direction along the obvious ridge until you come down into the Hause Gate col between Cat Bells and the next mountain on the ridge Maiden Moor. At Hause Gate a path crosses the ridge path from left to right, the left option goes back down towards Derwent Water and the village of Grange in Borrowdale, take the path to the right as it heads down into Yewthwaite Comb and passes to the left of Brunt Crag. There is a lot of scree and quarry spill so take care descending here. The old quarries are a fascinating diversion and the Yewthwaite Gill provides some dramatic waterfalls here too.

Once past the descent into Yewthwaite Gill the path heads towards a very clear track on the right with a stone wall keeping it from the farming fields to the left in the valley, often full of bouncing lambs in the spring time. Follow this track for just over a kilometre as its skirts the right hand side of the Newlands Valley. You will eventually get to the Skelgill Farm with its lush fields full of sheep and cattle and warm camping barn. From Skelgill Farm the car park is a simple half a kilometre walk back up the road just after Gutherscale.

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