Esk Pike

Every way onto Esk Pike is a long one. It stands between Bowfell and the Scafells with no road near it, and walkers come from Borrowdale, Great Langdale or Eskdale, or pick it up on a longer round.

From Great Langdale, start at the Old Dungeon Ghyll car park, walk up Mickleden and take the stone-pitched climb up Rossett Gill, then go past Angle Tarn to Esk Hause. From Seathwaite in Borrowdale, walk to Stockley Bridge and climb Grains Gill and Ruddy Gill to the same col, past cascades and a footbridge over a deep gorge. From Esk Hause the north-west ridge goes up over grass and a rocky shelf and finishes in a narrow gully or on open rock, where you need your hands for a moment. That route is about 3.5 miles with 2,590 feet of climbing. From Brotherilkeld in Eskdale, the lines by Ore Gap, Esk Hause and the south ridge are all about 9 km. Many people arrive from Bowfell instead, dropping to Ore Gap and climbing the steps on the far side.

The path up from Esk Hause is rough and eroded. The top is very stony, with pale rock everywhere and a small cairn on the highest outcrop.

The Scafells fill the view, with the Eastern and Northern Fells beyond and glimpses of Derwentwater and Windermere. The south ridge runs down for over 2 miles to the packhorse bridge at Lingcove, past Pike de Bield, which looks straight into the upper Esk. Ore Gap is named after the red haematite in its ground, and compasses can give false readings nearby.