Whin Rigg

From its summit, Whin Rigg drops over 450 metres to Wast Water in the Screes, one of the best known scree slopes in Britain. Great Gully, cut into the face, has seventeen near-vertical pitches and the wreckage of an aeroplane inside it.

On the Wasdale side, walkers start at Nether Wasdale or the foot of the lake and climb beside Greathall Gill. The path up the east side of the ravine has become the popular line, though it is badly eroded in places. From Eskdale, start at Eskdale Green, where there is free parking by the public toilets on Smithybrow Lane, or at the Miterdale Forestry car park. A bridleway through the forestry leads to Irton Fell and the west ridge, and the last 230 metres of climbing are on grass beside stone walls.

Most walkers carry on to Illgill Head. A narrow path follows the crag edge between the two, looking down gullies and ribs such as the Broken Rib, with near-vertical drops alongside. A plainer path runs down the middle of the ridge. Between the two summits is a dip with several small tarns. Walk the Wainwrights describes a 17 km loop from Eskdale Green over both tops that returns by Burnmoor Tarn and Miterdale.

A cairn marks the summit. Come for the view down Wast Water, which carries on over the coastal plain and out to the Isle of Man. Greathall Gill, a granite ravine on the south-west side, supports an unusual mix of mosses, ferns and herbs.