Yoadcastle, Whitfell, Buck Barrow
1 SD196929 There’s roadside parking just before the road bridge over the River Duddon at Ulpha. Cross the bridge and take a small gate after the phone box. Turn right alongside a wall, cross a ladder stile and go right into a wood. At the next gate turn left at the lane and walk steeply uphill, though woods, to take the first path on the left, through a gate. Head across rough ground, with plenty of tussocks, and look for a small footbridge with step stile. Walk to the right of the farm, go through a gate and walk straight over to a small gate and a walled track rising uphill to open fell. Fork right over grass to the right-hand gate and join a rough track up to a stile by a gate and wall, with an old copper mine on left. Continue up to the top of The Pike – the summit is next to a fence - with great views down into the valley.
2 SD186934 Now keep a wall on your left and follow this, northwards and downhill, to a ladder stile at a fence (this isn’t shown on OS maps). Keep ahead across open ground and walk up to a tall step stile in a wall. There are no paths – keep more or less straight ahead to reach the featureless plateau of Hesk, where the summit is marked by a solitary grey stone.
3 SD176946 Turn west from the top and drop down to a broad col. This can be boggy in places but keep an eye out for a small ruin (again, not marked on the map) which is an ideal place for a bite and a brew. Pick a route up to Yoadcastle through a scattering of rocky outcrops.
5 SD158929 Leave the piles of stones by walking south-west down to the dip between Whitfell and Burn Moor. A path, indistinct in places, contours along the east side of Burn
Moor for approx 1km before turning south to cross another dip and the start of the climb to Buck Barrow. The summit crags are surprisingly impressive and enclose a couple of shallow valleys.
6 SD152910 There are several ways to leave Buck Barrow, with more outcrops and small cliffs to explore, but head east and downhill to cross wiry grass on the way to pudding-shaped Plough Fell. This is another featureless hill, with no established paths, but it drops sharply to the east. Descend to cross an old wall/fence and veer left to cross another old wall. Deep tussocks lead down to a stone bridge over Logan Beck, where a gate opens onto a track. Go through another gate, pass the farm at Folds, go through a second gate and join
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7 SD180912 Turn left on the lane and, just before the first house on the left, go right on a footpath at a stone stile with steps. Walk diagonally left to another step stile and go left to cross a small footbridge, leading on to another two step stiles in the next two walls. Continue ahead to cross a stream and a ladder stile and reach a gate at a lane. Turn right and follow this downhill (past a former bobbin mill with a tall chimney) to a junction. Turn right for 200m to return to the start.