The approximate route is shown by a blue line.
Use your mouse to drag the map to the area of interest and
zoom in/out using the controls on the left hand side of the map.
Please use my map to find the route on your own large scale
walking map such as the OS Explorer series at 1:25000.
If you have time if you do this walk please let me know how you get on.
That would be very helpful to me to keep my information accurate and up to date.
Please note that I provide this free service to you as a fellow walker on the
understanding that you walk
the route entirely at your own risk and that the information is not used for
any commercial purpose.
Map: OS Explorer OL31 North Pennines at 1:25000
General Directions
The walk starts in the village of Blencarn at map ref. NY 639 311. Blencarn is about 6km by road off the A66 from Kirby Thore. At the eastern end of the village there is room to park on the wide grass verges away from most of the houses. At th eastern end of the village the road ends and becomes a farm track. Here the area of open access land comes right to the end of the road and there is a public bridleway heading north east from the end of the road. The route follows this bridleway through a narrow neck of open access land full of gorse bushes and past Wythwaite farm.
From Wythwaite farm the bridleway continues up Littledale, with Grumply Hill on the right and climbs up through Wildboar Scar. It's a long climb up Wildboar Scar continuing for about 2km beyond the scar to meet the Pennine Way route at map ref. NY 696 339 above Tees Head to the north of the ridge and Crowdundle Head to the south of the ridge. At the Pennine Way turn left to follow the Pennine Way for about 1km to the trig point at the summit of Cross Fell (map ref. NY 687 343 at an elevation of 893m (just 6m lower than Great Gable in the Lake District).
From the summit of Cross Fell continue along the Pennine Way route for another kilometer passing the spring called Crossfell Well to meet the route called "A Pennine Journey" at map ref. NY 683 352. Here the Pennine Way turns right to follow the same route as the Pennine Journey, but our route turns left to follow the Pennine Journey route for about 4.5km descending from the high Pennine ridge down to Kirkland Hall at map ref. NY 650 325 on the edge of the village of Kirkland.
Follow the lane past Kirkland Hall and through the village. Continue around the left hand bend at the western end of the village (about 700m beyond Kirkland Hall). About 300m along the road from this bend there is a public footpath off to the left of the road. There is a wooden finger post marking the path which goes through an iron field gate. Follow this footpath across the fields and around the reservoir, back to the road in Blencarn village. At the road turn left and follow the road back to the starting point and the end of the walk.