Saturday 18th July — Sca Fell and Slight Side

Date: 18/07/2026

Leader: Miles

Meet time: 9.15am

Start time: 9.30am

Estimated finish time: 3.30pm to 4pm.

Distance: About 9.1 miles (14.65 kilometres).

Ascent: About 3020 feet (920 meters).

Ramblers walk grading: Strenuous (A)

Start point: The phone box with graffiti and stickers close to Jubilee Bridge! There is a gravel track next to it that joins the road.

Google coordinates: https://maps.app.goo.gl/t4qpKMKaaauv35Hg9

Please Register using the form at the bottom of the event page if you intend to join the walk.

Car parking: There are three lay-bys within a few hundred meters of the start point. The ones west of the start point look like wide grassy patches but you can park there.
(Car sharing may be possible – please contact the walk leader to arrange)

It is the responsibility of each walker to make sure they understand where to park. If you are not sure where the car parking/meeting point is, you must contact the walk leader at the latest the day before the walk. You should not rely on mobile phones or postcodes. There is often no mobile reception near walk meeting points and postcodes are for the nearest place nearby but should only serve as a guideline. Please allow plenty of time to find a parking space so that walks can start promptly.

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Description: This is the July instalment of my obscure, unloved and hard-to-get-to Wainwrights series. Sca Fell is probably the most unloved Wainwright of them all, despite being the 2nd highest mountain in England, while Slight Side is definitely an obscure Wainwright but one with a great vantage point. Of all the 3000 footers in the Lake District Sca Fell definitely has the most… Character.

Though this will be a strenuous walk we will go at a steady pace and I do encourage anyone who doesn’t often go to the trickier Wainwrights, those that require more scrambling and more careful footwork, to come along to this hike for the difference between Sca Fell and its sibling Scafell Pike is like the difference between night and day.

We will start from upper Eskdale and enter the plateau that is bound from west, north and east by the Scawfell Pikes and Eskdale Pikes. The plateau is about a 1000 feet high and is easy to walk across.

The true ascent begins by the waterfall and we take the path to Mickledore. About 1500 feet up we then turn left for the route to Foxes Tarn, and then once at the pond-like tarn we go up rather slowly the scree slope to get to Symonds Knott. If the group are feeling it and the weather plays nice we could ascend via Mickledore and Lord’s Rake.

On top of Sca Fell (964 meters) there are wide views of the west and of the Irish Sea, a great view of Great Gable and sweeping views of Eskdale, Dunnerdale and Mitredale.

For the descent we come to the second Wainwright of the walk, Slight Side (762 meters), whose top is marked by two black mounds of rock. After Slight Side it’s a steep 1000 foot of descent before we return to the upper Eskdale plateau and then finally go lower still back to the Eskdale Road.

After the walk we could go to the Woolpack Inn which is a few miles west along the road.

Please fill out the Registration Form to join by 10pm on Friday 17 July if you are coming on this walk. If this doesn’t work then please contact the walk leader, Miles, on 07842 783319 (text or phone, WhatsApp, or message on Facebook (Miles Saunders-Priem)). When you register online, I will reply within 24 hours.

Please check the weather and bring appropriate clothing (waterproofs and spare warm clothing), footwear and enough food and water. The leader reserves the right to turn away any walker not suitably equipped. The leader may cancel the walk or modify the route dependent on conditions.

New members: please note the walk leader may ask for more information about your walking experience. This is to ensure you have the fitness required to complete the walk that is planned safely.