Fairfield

Fairfield is usually climbed as the high point of the Fairfield Horseshoe, a round of the Rydal valley. Walkers tend to start from the large pay and display car park on Rydal Road in Ambleside. The 555 bus between Kendal and Keswick stops in Ambleside, at Rydal and in Grasmere.

There is no agreed direction. The western arm goes up Nab Scar above Rydal, then over Heron Pike and Great Rigg, mostly on grass. The eastern arm comes back over Hart Crag, Dove Crag, High Pike and Low Pike, following a stone wall for much of the way. That side is rougher, with boggy stretches between High Pike and Low Pike. It is a long day, with several ladder stiles to cross.

From Grasmere the direct way goes up Tongue Gill to Grisedale Hause, then climbs a rough zigzag of worsening scree to the summit. From Patterdale you can come over Saint Sunday Crag, cross the narrow col at Deepdale Hause and climb over the small rocky top of Cofa Pike. None of these routes needs scrambling, but the last pull from Grisedale Hause is loose.

The summit

The top is a broad, stony plateau with many cairns and some large stone windbreaks, and it is easy to get wrong in mist. The ridge down to Great Rigg runs roughly south on a gentle slope, but the cliffs on the north side are close. On a clear day you can see down to Windermere and across to the Helvellyn range.

The best view is north, into the head of Deepdale, where Hutaple Crag and Scrubby Crag frame the corries of Link Cove and Cawk Cove. A harder route climbs out of Deepdale through Link Cove and past Greenhow End, for walkers who know rough ground.