There are some Lakeland walks which fall without a doubt into the category of ‘classic Lake District walks’. We were very kindly gifted Cicerone’s Lake District: 30 High Level and Fell Walks and this little book is full to bursting with said classic routes. It includes many of the best known and best loved ridge walks, including the Fairfield Horseshoe, the Coledale Horseshoe and the Kentmere Round (which all coincidentally are excellent choices for anyone looking to bag a few Wainwrights in one go). I’ve been absolutely desperate for a good enough weather day to spend all day out on the fells to tick off some more Wainwrights, and this guide has plenty of routes choc-full of summits we’ve not yet bagged. After much perusal, we got our opportunity on a sunny Thursday and decided on the Newlands Round: there are some routes which are so well loved, it’s better to do them during the week if possible to maximise your chances of getting parked near the start if you’re arriving after 8am!
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The Newlands Round, as described in our Cicerone guide, is a 10 mile circular starting from the free parking area at Skelgill, right next to the track which climbs up Catbells. Navigation is pretty easy: from the car, take the signed path up Catbells, and from here stick to the well defined path all the way to High Spy via Maiden Moor, before dropping down to Dale Head Tarn to then climb all the way back up Dale Head. From here, it’s a relatively short stroll to Hindscarth to complete your quota of Wainwrights for the day (5 in total), and then a fairly long trek back down to the car – at least it felt like a long way to our tired legs!
While navigation is pretty straightforward, this walk definitely falls onto the more strenuous end of the scale. We were both down to our T-Shirts by the time we’d reached the summit of Catbells (steep with some easy scrambles, but with gentler sections in between), and enjoyed the easier ridge stroll along to Maiden Moor and High Spy. However, by the time we started the climb up Dale Head my legs were definitely feeling it and Sam had to wait at the top for me to catch up for quite a while! If you don’t fancy dragging yourself back up to the top of the ridge after descending to Dale Head Tarn, the Cicerone guide includes an opt-out route where you can return to the start along the valley floor. We persevered and were rewarded with the absolutely stunning vista of the Newlands Valley opening up before us from the summit of Dale Head: it definitely won the award for ‘view of the day’.
It didn’t take long at all to reach Hindscarth from Dale Head, and the views on this part of the walk are the best of the route: the Newlands Valley on your right, Buttermere and Fleetwith Pike on your left. All too soon we reached the top of our fifth and final Wainwright of the day. The descent from Hindscarth was more challenging than the ascent (which was very gradual): steep in places with a fair few sections of exposed rock which you need to shimmy your way down. Nothing that should pose any problems for anyone used to easy scrambles, but it is hard work on tired legs!
After an hour or so spent descending, we hit the valley floor and began the final trek back to the car. Although we were both fairly knackered by this point (in total the walk took us 6 3/4 hours, bang on the predicted time in the Cicerone guide), this has to go down as one of my all time favourite Lake District walks. The views are non-stop, a series of constantly changing but consistently beautiful panoramas opening up in every direction. I need a few weeks to recover but this has definitely re-ignited my love of the Lake District and I can’t wait to get back out there and tackle another walk from the guide book.
Dog friendly rating – 2.5/5. This is an absolute cracker of a dog walk, but your dog will need to be fit and to be able to cope with easy scrambles in order to get around. There are no stiles but water is limited to a stream in between High Spy and Dale Head, Dale Head Tarn and a second stream after you’ve descended Hindscarth. While these all offer excellent paddling opportunities, there are long stretches where you will need to be able to provide extra water for your dog, especially on a hot day. We took 5 litres for the dogs and came home with half a litre left. You can also expect to find livestock at any time on this walk, so be prepared to need to keep leads on all the way around – if you have a dog like Merry who pulls like a train and makes long walks a misery, you could try investing in a canicross harness – I have one from DogFit and the bungee lead has definitely helped to lessen the shoulder-jarring lunges he is prone to when he picks up an exciting smell!
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