Grey Crag

At the head of Longsleddale the tarmac ends at Sadgill, and that is where walkers start. Take the minor road off the A6 near Kendal signed for Longsleddale and drive to the end. There is informal parking on the east side of the bridge, on the rough track towards Gatescarth Pass, for about six cars.

The Walk Lakes route goes through fields and deep summer bracken, then climbs an easy gully through the crags onto Great Howe. This flat topped spur juts south to form the east wall of the valley. From there it is uphill over open grass to Grey Crag. The summit is at the south west end of a short ridge, marked by a small cairn. Harrop Pike, half a mile to the north east, is only a metre lower and has a much finer cairn, a tall stone column.

North of the summit lies Greycrag Tarn, which is really a string of small pools in a boggy hollow. Peat restoration has levelled some of the deep hags, and Walk Lakes found it easy to cross, though it can be impassable after rain. Tarn Crag is next, with a tall survey pillar near its summit left from the 1930s building of the Haweswater aqueduct. The round comes back down past Cleft Ghyll to the Gatescarth track. It is about 11 km with 550 m of ascent, and very boggy in every season.

From the top you see a long way east and south over moor, and west as far as the Coniston fells and the Scafells. This is the eastern edge of the Lake District. Long moorland ridges run east from here over Bannisdale and Crookdale towards the A6 at Shap.