Ullswater skyline,

Unmissable, uncompromising, upwardly mobile; let’s explore the Lake District’s Ullswatershed.

Lake District

Three big ridgelines, involving three of the Trail 100 summits. Two ancient inns. Twenty-one Wainwright tops, from Hart Side to Hart Crag, from Raise to High Raise. Two hillforts, a stone circle, an uncountable number of sudden views into unexpected side valleys. And one lake – Ullswater.

So take the Ullswater Way – and then go way further. High hills surround England’s wiggliest bit of water. You’ll be above the 600m mark almost all the way, with the lowest point, the 450m Kirkstone Pass, also the site of Lakeland’s highest hotel. You can make the second overnight here, with the first one at Dockray’s Royal Hotel; between them they’ve been offering beds for the night for 986 years. Or you could enjoy the two hot Cumbrian suppers before pressing onwards for a camp or bivvy on Hart Side and then on Caudale Moor.

Ullswater skyline from Loadpot Hill.

ROUTE 10 Pooley Bridge to Dockray ROUTE 11 Helvellyn & Fairfield ROUTE 12 High Street Ridge