Hartsop Dodd

From Hartsop village the fell looks like a separate, bell shaped peak standing over the rooftops. From anywhere else you can see that it is the end of a broad grassy ridge coming down from Caudale Moor, with a stone wall along the crest. The ridge narrows partway down and ends in a small grassy dome, where a timber post by the wall marks the highest point.

Park at the rough car park at the end of the road through Hartsop, reached through a tight gap between buildings. There is a donations box at the gate. The path up the north ridge starts almost at once and climbs steeply the whole way, mostly in a well worn groove. Apart from the gradient there are no difficulties.

The Brotherswater Inn at Sykeside is the other start. Walk Lakes describes a round that climbs the steep ridge beside Caudale to Stony Cove Pike and comes back over Hartsop Dodd. The descent uses an easy grassy track down the west flank, soft underfoot, straight back to the inn. It is about 8 km with 655 m of ascent.

From the top you look down the Patterdale valley to Ullswater, and across to the fells above Dovedale. Caudale lies on the west side of the ridge and Pasture Bottom on the east. Many walkers carry on south up the gentle ridge to Stony Cove Pike and make a round of it with Gray Crag or Thornthwaite Crag.

On the nose of the ridge above the village you can still see the workings of Low Hartsop Mine, also called Myers Head Mine. It was dug for lead between 1867 and 1870 and closed when it failed to pay.