direct ascents naturally begin from the village car park.
Catstycam from Green Side
Ascent from Glenridding 25
The gentlest approach, on clear paths, is Route 2 and the most challenging is Route 3, leaving Route 1 as the compromise option – but there’s not too much to choose between them.
Via the east shoulder →6km/3¾ miles ↑740m/2430ft
1 From the car park, follow Greenside Road west along the north side of the Glenridding Beck valley as far as Greenside Mine and cross the footbridge. (You could also reach this point by taking the green path traversing the slopes of Birkhouse Moor from the ladder-stile below Gillside Farm and Rattlebeck Bridge on the south side of the valley.) Follow the green path up the valley (right) towards to a footbridge over Red Tarn Beck where it starts to climb in measured stages. As you approach Red Tarn an initially faint path bears right, becoming clearer as height is gained, to mount directly onto the eastern shoulder of Catstycam and on to the summit.
The deep dark waters of Red Tarn
Via Swirral Edge col →6.5km/4 miles ↑740m/2430ft
2 Follow Route 1 but, when the path branches up right, continue on the main path towards the corrie tarn. Just below the outflow, turn right on the popular path from the Hole-in-the-Wall slanting up to the Swirral Edge col and, at the col, turn right (northeast) with the ridge path to the summit.
Looking down the jagged arete of Swirral Edge
Via the northwest ridge →6km/3¾ miles ↑730m/2395ft
This route – the most challenging of the three – was developed as the main line of ascent for Helvellyn when tourists travelled on ponies with trusted local guides.
3 Start with Route 1 but when you reach the ruins of Greenside Mine, stay with the bridle-track, rather than crossing the bridge, and, a little further on, branch left onto a track signed ‘Brown Cove and Whiteside Bank’, following the line of Glenridding Beck until you reach a concrete dam. Just above this ford the beck to clamber up a bank to a terrace (a former dam-building track). Now slant up the slope to the right, with a scouring of scree intimating the first traces of the path onto the northwest ridge. For all its initial unassailable appearance, the ridge (and path) become(s) more sure as height is gained and the steady climb is duly rewarded with a head-in-the-clouds climax.
The summit
A transitory cairn, as tiny as the summit, confirms the highest point. The fell was so fashioned by nature as to render a man-made pile superfluous. Rock and grass fight for every inch yet afford plenty of scope for sitting, as sit you must to feast your eyes on this the most stirring amphitheatre of the fell domain.
Safe descents
In poor conditions, any move to the N is perilous. For Glenridding choose the shoulder path E (1), tending to the right. For Patterdale, and added security, opt for the ridge path SW (2) down to the col short of Swirral Edge, and there track left to ford Red Tarn Beck and contour to the Hole-in-the-Wall.
Ridge route
Helvellyn →1.6km/1 mile ↓100m/330ft ↑155m/510ft
Head SW down the ridge to the col. The path becomes progressively rockier and tends to keep to the left of the spine, as hands come into play on this wonderfully simple scramble up Swirral Edge. Notice the fine view of both Helvellyn’s shattered east face, Water Crag, to the right, and the excessive amount of hobnail scratching on the rocks proving the popularity of this route throughout the long age of fellwalking. Reaching the cairn on the scarp brink, turn left SE to reach the triangulation column.
5
Clough Head 726m/2386ft
| Start | |
| Climb it from | Threlkeld 1 or Wanthwaite 2 |
| Character | Northernmost sentinel of the range |
| Fell-friendly route | 6 |
| Summit grid ref | NY 334 225 |
| Link it with | Great Dodd |
| Part of | Great Dodd Ridgeway |
The western crags on the arresting prow of Clough Head form one side of the dramatic view of Blencathra from the south through St John’s in the Vale. Paragliders can frequently be seen chasing along this facade having launched themselves from the Old Coach Road.
It is largely as a viewpoint that Clough Head excels but the fell cradles important history too. The Threlkeld British Settlement has survived remarkably intact since its desertion soon after the Romano-British period, and is mercifully now safe from the advances of the quarry below. The adjacent quarry has also been redeveloped by Ian Hartland and his team of enthusiasts into a fascinating exhibition of Lakeland industrial heritage as the Threlkeld Mining Museum.
Clough Head is both the final nail on the 20 mile end-to-end ridge walk from either Ambleside or Kirkstone Pass and the first bag on the popular 20km grassy round of the Dodds, destination Dockray. Arguably the best fell-walking moments focus upon the crags, with Fisher’s Wife’s Rake (5) and the traverse of Buck Castle (7) special delights.
Clough Head from Scales
Ascent from Threlkeld 1
Three routes lead pathlessly up from the Old Coach Road. Mix and match to make any one of three ‘lollipop’ excursions from this well-appointed village.
Via Threlkeld Knotts →4.7km/3 miles ↑610m/2000ft
1 Across from the eastern entry to the village of Threlkeld, across the A66, find a minor road signposted ‘Newsham’. This lane leads over two bridges, crossing respectively
