Clough Head

Clough Head closes the Helvellyn range at its northern end. At 726 m it is the lowest summit on the main ridge. It stands above Threlkeld and the A66, and its west side is the steep east wall of St John's in the Vale.

The easiest way up uses the Old Coach Road, a rough stony track that crosses the fell's northern slopes between Wanthwaite in St John's in the Vale and High Row above Dockray. Park near either end, or take the lane south from Threlkeld towards Newsham. A narrow path leaves the Old Coach Road and climbs steeply to the rocks of White Pike, then on to the top. A more direct line goes up the steep, rough and rocky Red Screes from Threlkeld Knotts, a rounded hill of granite below the north face. The scree is loose and slippery, especially going down.

The west face is all crag and ravine: Buck Castle, Wanthwaite Crags and Bram Crag. Fisher's Wife's Rake climbs through them and is very steep. Sandbed Gill, below the north face, is a scramble for people with rope and climbing experience, not a walkers' route.

The summit has an Ordnance Survey trig column and a wind shelter. Blencathra fills the view north, and on a clear day you can see the Solway Firth and Morecambe Bay. Going south, a long grassy ridge leads past the rocky knoll of Calfhow Pike to Great Dodd.

Threlkeld Knotts has the remains of an Iron Age settlement on its north side, with hut circles, enclosures and around fifty cairns. Threlkeld Quarry, opened in 1870 for railway ballast, is now a museum.