Walk The Ennerdale Horseshoe
Strenuous, high level route worth every step - if you have the energy!
This 18¾ mile, Grade 9 (Very Hard), easy-to-follow, hand-crafted walk, complete with GPS Waypoints, starts at Bowness Knott Car Park Ennerdale in the Lake District & will take you about 14¾ hrs to complete.
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Detailed walk route map PDF | |
Vital Statistics: | ||
| Walk No.: | c120 | |
| Length: | 18¾ miles (30km) | |
| Ascent: | 7309 ft (2408m) | |
| Time: | 14¾ hours | |
| Grade: |  | |
| Walk Type: | High Mountains | |
| Gear Needed: | Full mountain gear including boots, warm layers, waterproofs, food & water, and good weather | |
Route outline for this walk:
Bowness Knott Car Park Ennerdale - Low Gillerthwaite Field Centre - High Gillerthwaite Yourth Hostel - Red Pike (Buttermere) - High Stile - High Crag (Buttermere) - Seat (Buttermere) - Scarth Gap - Hay Stacks (Haystacks) - Innominate Tarn - Blackbeck Tarn - Black Beck - Green Crag (Buttermere) - Great Round How - Brandreth - Gillercomb Head - Green Gable - Windy Gap - Great Gable - Westmorland Cairn - Beck Head - Beckhead Tarn - Kirk Fell (East Top) - Kirk Fell - Black Sail Pass - Looking Stead (Pillar) - High Level Route - Robinson's Cairn - Pillar - Wind Gap - Black Crag (Pillar) - High Beck - Low Beck - Ennerdale.
Peaks, Summits and Tops reached on this walk:
 10 English Mountains |
 9 Wainwrights |
 11 English Nuttalls |
 3 English Deweys |
 0 Wainwright Outlying Fells |
 4 Marilyns |
 0 Bridgets |
Peak Bagging Statistics for this walk:
The highest point of this walk is Great Gable at 899m (2951ft). Great Gable is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (9th highest in England, 25th highest in England & Wales) and a Wainwright (No. 7).
Great Gable is also known as an English Nuttall (11th highest in England, 28th highest in England & Wales) and an English Marilyn (4th highest in England, 238th highest in the UK).
Completing this walk will also take you to the top of Pillar at 892m (2928ft). Pillar is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (11th highest in England, 29th highest in England & Wales) and a Wainwright (No. 8).
Pillar is also known as an English Nuttall (13th highest in England, 33rd highest in England & Wales) and an English Marilyn (6th highest in England, 249th highest in the UK).
The summit of Pillar is marked by an Ordnance Survey Trig Point.
You will also reach the summit of Black Crag (Pillar) at 828m (2717ft). Black Crag (Pillar) is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (31st highest in England, 60th highest in England & Wales)
Black Crag (Pillar) is also known as an English Nuttall (37th highest in England, 69th highest in England & Wales).
Along the way you will also bag and tick-off:
- High Stile at 807m (2646ft). High Stile is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (38th England, 71st highest in England & Wales), a Wainwright (No. 29), an English Nuttall (45th highest in England, 86th highest in England & Wales) and an English Marilyn (13th England, 378th highest in the UK).
- Kirk Fell at 802m (2631ft). Kirk Fell is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (42nd England, 77th highest in England & Wales), a Wainwright (No. 33), an English Nuttall (49th highest in England, 92nd highest in England & Wales) and an English Marilyn (15th England, 391st highest in the UK).
- Green Gable at 801m (2629ft). Green Gable is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (43rd highest in England, 78th highest in England & Wales), a Wainwright (No. 34) and an English Nuttall (50th highest in England, 93rd highest in England & Wales).
- Kirk Fell (East Top) at 787m (2583ft). Kirk Fell (East Top) is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (50th England, 89th Eng & Wal) and an English Nuttall (59th highest in England, 108th highest in England & Wales).
- Red Pike (Buttermere) at 755m (2478ft). Red Pike (Buttermere) is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (67th highest in England, 116th highest in England & Wales), a Wainwright (No. 62) and an English Nuttall (83rd highest in England, 142nd highest in England & Wales).
- High Crag (Buttermere) at 744m (2442ft). High Crag (Buttermere) is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (72nd highest in England, 126th highest in England & Wales), a Wainwright (No. 65) and an English Nuttall (89th highest in England, 154th highest in England & Wales).
- Brandreth at 715m (2346ft). Brandreth is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (89th highest in England, 152nd highest in England & Wales), a Wainwright (No. 81) and an English Nuttall (112th highest in England, 191st highest in England & Wales).
- Looking Stead (Pillar) at 627m (2058ft). Looking Stead (Pillar) is known as an English Nuttall (220th highest in England, 383rd highest in England & Wales).
- Hay Stacks (Haystacks) at 597m (1959ft). Hay Stacks (Haystacks) is classified as a Wainwright (No. 131) and an English Dewey (13th highest in England, 29th highest in England & Wales)
- Seat (Buttermere) at 561m (1841ft). Seat (Buttermere) is classified as an English Dewey (53rd highest in England, 122nd highest in England & Wales).
- Green Crag (Buttermere) at 528m (1732ft). Green Crag (Buttermere) is classified as an English Dewey (117th highest in England, 274th highest in England & Wales).
Be Adventure Smart
If walking in the Lake District (and anywhere else) please be adventure smart.
Ask yourself 5 questions before you set off:
- Am I confident I have the KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS for the day?
- Do I know what the WEATHER will be like?
- Do I have the right GEAR for the day?
- Do I have enough FOOD & DRINK for the day?
- Do I have all the ESSENTIAL ITEMS for the day?
Note that there is no mobile phone or WiFi coverage in many parts of the Lake District
A dedicated GPS Device can be a good navigational aid, but only if you know how to use it properly. See The Myths and Truths about GPS for Walking and Hiking
You can find this walk and other nearby walks on these unique Interactive Walk Planning Maps:
(worth a look if you're new to go4awalk.com & have never seen one of these before.)
1:25,000 scale OS Explorer Map (orange/yellow covers):
1:50,000 scale OS Landranger Map (pink/magenta covers):
Some Photos and Pictures from Walk The Ennerdale Horseshoe
In no particular order . . .
Snow on Scafell Pike and the Scafell Massif from a very frozen Innominate Tarn
Gatesgarth and Fleetwith Pike (with Robinson and Dale Head (Newlands) beyond) from High Stile
Red Pike (Buttermere) summit from Lingcomb Edge with Pillar prominent across Ennerdale
Buttermere from the North West shore featuring Fleetwith Pike (just right of centre)
Buttermere Lake - with the lower slopes of High Stile (left), Hen Comb (centre) and Mellbreak (right)
Beck Head and Beckhead Tarn with Kirk Fell beyond from below Westmorland Cairn, Great Gable
. . . load all 229 pictures & photos from this walk
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