Baugh Fell (Garsdale Circular) walk

19.8 km (12.3 mi), with 536m cumulative ascent/descent. For a shorter walk, see below Walk Options.

8 out of 10 (6 out of 10 for length and ascent, but some pathless terrain and rough ground) with 6 hours walking time.

This is a relatively straight forward expedition into some really wild countryside in southeast Cumbria. You walk up to a largely pathless hill and across its broad plateau, then into some wild and lonely valleys, providing for some superlative views (in good weather), plenty of rough ground and a considerable navigational challenge (in bad weather). The route initially provides for some easy navigation though by following roads, then tracks along or close to drystone walls up onto the top plateau of Baugh Fell. You should reach the highest point of the route with its splendid views, in the Tarn Rigg Hill area of Baugh Fell, in about two hours.

Keep along the wall to a trigpoint on the subsidiary top of Knoutberry Haw before eventually turning right (north) away from the wall to cross the wide and substantially featureless plateau of Baugh Fell to West Baugh Fell Tarn some 1.5 kilometres away. The route described makes use of some of the few distinguishable features on the plateau to enhance the chances of getting to the tarn without problems.

From the tarn, descend the north easterly flank of Baugh Fell via a smaller tarn and then pathless through rough pasture for 1.3 kilometres to a bend in the infant Rawthey River (obvious in clear weather, but good compassing work is needed in low clouds or mist). There, you ford the two streams that form the river and scramble up briefly across some steep grass to pick up the A Pennine Journey Long-Distance Path, a mostly good path along the hill flank. It leads into the lonely haunting Grisedale, crossing a few streams and soggy stretches along the way, to pick up a gravel farm track for a while. The descent off Grisedale Common/Turner Hill into the infant Ure Valley again crosses some rough pasture along an intermittent path. A loop across the Ure River and past the pretty Ure Force (waterfall) and The Moorcock Inn finishes this exciting adventure.

A more direct route from the road onto the hillside leads pathless across the heathery slopes instead of the (slightly longer) farm track.
In the afternoon, from East House on Grisedale Common, you can reverse-walk the start of SWC Walk 417 (Wild Boar Fell), first along the road then along footpaths across pastures back to the station rather than descending the long flank of Turner Hill into the Ure Valley and going past the Moorcock Inn; this cuts 2.1 km (map-led).
A more direct route near the end just after descending from Turner Hill leads along a B road, this cuts 850m but also the charming stretch along the infant River Ure with the very pretty Ure Force (waterfall).
Bus Line 113 (Gayle – Garsdale, with 2 late afternoon/early evening services Mon-Sat) stops opposite The Moorcock Inn, 1.4 km from the end of the walk, and terminates near the bottom of Station Road in Garsdale.

OS Landranger Map: 98 (Wensleydale & Upper Wharfedale)
OS Explorer Map: OL19 (Howooden gateill Fells & Upper Eden Valley)
Harvey British Mountain Map: Yorkshire Dales
Harvey Superwalker XT25 Map: Yorkshire Dales – North West

Garsdale Station, map reference SD 788 918, is 346 km northwest of Charing Cross, 75 km southeast of Carlisle and 343m above sea level and in Cumbria. It is a stop on the Leeds - Settle – Carlisle Line, with eight trains per day Mon-Sat and six on Sundays. Journey time to Garsdale is 69 minutes from Carlisle, 31 from Settle and 90 from Leeds.

Saturday Walkers’ Club: The walk is doable as a daywalk from London with a very early start and late return.

Picnic

The Moorcock Inn Garsdale Head, Sedbergh, Yorkshire, LA10 5PU (01969 667 488). The Moorcock is located 1.4 km from the end of the walk.

Northern Glossary

beck: stream, brook; brig(g): bridge; -by: habitation; cam: bank, slope, ridge; carr: marshy woodland or shrubland; clough: narrow valley, cleft in a hillside, ravine, glen, gorge, cliff, rocky precipice; crag: steep rugged mass of rock projecting upward or outward; currick: cairn, pile of stones, often locations used to keep watch for Scottish raiders; dale: valley; -ey: island, dry area in a marshy place; fell: hill, mountain slope (especially rough moorland); firth/frith: long, narrow inlet of the sea or estuary; force/foss: waterfall, rapids; frith: area of peace, protection, safety, security; garth: small grass enclosure adjacent to a house; gate: way, street; gill/ghyll: small narrow valley or ravine; hagg: part of an area of woodland, especially on a sloping bank; holm(e): island, inland promontory, raised ground in marsh, river-meadow; how(e): barrow, small hill; hush: (Roman era) mine on steep hillside, using dammed up water to wash away topsoil and boulders, revealing the underlying lead or ore veins; ing(s): meadow(s), especially water meadow near a river; keld/kell: spring or well; kirk: church; laithe/leeath: barn, agricultural building; lang: long; ling: heather; lonning/lonnin’: lane or track, something less than a road, more rural than a street, usually short; mell: sand dunes; mire: bog; moss: bog, marsh; ness: headland, promontory; nick: shallow notch, cut or indentation on an edge or a surface; pike: spike, sharp point, peak; rake: slant, incline; rigg: ridge; scar/scaur: cliff, rocky outcrop with a steep face; seat/set(t)/side: summer pasture or dwelling place; seaves: rushes; shaw: hurdle, gate; sike/syke/sitch: small stream or gulley, gutter; stang: pole, shaft, stake, wooden bar; stoop/stowp/stoup: post, gatepost, distance marker (milestone), standing stone; -sty: ascent, ascending lane or path, narrow pathway or course; tarn: lake or pond (especially in an upland location); thorp(e)/t(h)rop: village or small settlement; thwait(e): village or small settlement; toft(s): small farmstead with enclosed land, later applied to a village or small settlement; wath: ford; whinny: gorse, furze, thorny vegetation; -wich/wick: village or settlement.

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National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Aug-24 Thomas G