Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell and High Seat
This is a 5.75 mile walk around the beautiful Lake District fells of Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell and High Seat, starting from the picturesque Ashness Bridge.
We had an unexpected day off due to the teacher’s strike so headed off to the Lake District. Having checked the weather beforehand, the smaller fells of Walla Crag and the like seemed to have the best weather, being less windy and wet, so we set off there. Turns out we were wrong and the weather forecast LIED.
Walla Crag has spectacular views down over Derwentwater and is a popular fell for families and hiking newbies as it’s a relatively short (but steep) walk from the car park. At 379m above sea level, this is a rewarding fell to climb as the views definitely make it worthwhile. Bleaberry Fell is slightly higher, at 590m above sea level, and High Seat is higher still at 608m. High Seat is the highest point for about 5 miles in any direction, despite it being relatively small by Wainwright standards.
According to Wikipedia “The views are extensive due to the central location and a lack of higher neighbours. The Helvellyn range is seen end to end, together with a panorama of high fells on the other side of the ridge from Crinkle Crags in the south to Blencathra in the north”. I’ll have to go back because we didn’t get the views! Standard Robinsons trip to the Lake District… (check out our Old Man of Coniston trip or Catbells, or Scafell Pike).
We parked in the Ashness Bridge car park and walked out onto the road, over the beautiful ancient bridge. There is a footpath leading up the hillside, signposted to Walla Crag. We followed the path up the hillside, which climbs steeply in places, and then levels out. We climbed over the stile and then followed the path to the summit of Walla Crag and it’s spectacular views down over Derwentwater.
Views over Derwentwater to Catbells and Grisedale Pike, part of the Coledale Horseshoe, in the clouds
From Walla Crag we traced our steps back over the stile and then headed south over the moors before winding to the east and climbing Bleaberry Fell, the summit of which has a wind shelter and a number of cairns. It had started raining by this point, so we didn’t hang around!
We carried on over the summit and tot he south over the increasingly boggy paths (and no paths) over to High Seat. We had to do a lot of bog dodging (which is why my map looks like I’ve been in the pub!) as it was very wet underfoot.
We followed the fence line up to the summit of High Seat, which has a trig point on top of a rocky crag. The path then heads north-west, and is a pretty easy path to follow down High Strutta. High Strutta is very steep, and can be slippery in places.
This was a lovely walk, despite the weather(!). If you go, I’d love to see photos of the actual view because as you can see from the photos, we hardly saw anything! Tag me on Instagram @wanderingwildflowerblog and make me jealous!
Parking: Ashness Bridge Car Park, Ashness Bridge, Borrowdale, Keswick CA12 5UN
Facilities: None
Walk Time: 3-4 hours
Difficulty: ▲▲▲
Distance: 5.85 miles (9.5km)
Trig Points Bagged: High Seat
Wainwrights Bagged: Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat
Walla Crag Walk Map:
You can click on the map to download the GPX file from Komoot.
You might also like:
Coledale Horseshoe – A Lake District Classic Walk
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