Walk · Cumbria

The Borger Dalr geology walk from the Bowder Stone

Borrowdale · CA12 5XA

5MILES

3hON FOOT

330mCLIMB

CircularSHAPE

Off-road 90% 10% shares tarmac with cars

Field & moor path 62%Lane & track 28%Road with traffic 10%

Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill. Off-lead information here is what walkers reported or what signage allows — never our advice. Whether and when a dog is off the lead is the owner’s decision and legal responsibility; keep dogs under control near livestock and follow signs on the day.

Starts at

Bowder Stone National Trust car park on the B5289, grid ref NY253168 CA12 5XA

Parking

National Trust pay-and-display on two tiers, free to members, around 50 spaces; it is the car park for the Bowder Stone itself so it fills from mid-morning, and the roadside verges either side are dou

Directions to the start →

Five miles from the Bowder Stone car park through the Jaws of Borrowdale, laid out around the rock rather than the summits. The first section to Grange is barely walked and good for wildlife; from Grange Bridge the route climbs the knoll of Peace Howe, bought for the nation in 1917 as a place of quiet after the First World War, then drops through Hollows Farm to the River Derwent and works south under Castle Crag. Along the way you cross the boundary between the smooth Skiddaw slates and the gnarly Borrowdale volcanics, and pass a series of ice-scoured roches moutonnees. There is river access at several points and a short stretch of the B5289 to cross at Grange.

THE SMALL PRINTThe National Trust marks this trail dog friendly, and its Borrowdale dog guidance asks for a short lead throughout because there are livestock in the fields and on the fells. The route goes through the yard at Hollows Farm and past its camping field.

House rules, decoded

Livestock — leads on

REGION · CUMBRIA

GRID · 54.5409, -3.1561

SOURCE · HTTPS://NATIONALTRUST.ORG.UK/BORROWDALE-AND-DERWENT-WATER/TRAILS/BORGER-DALR-GEOLOGY-WALK-BORROWDALE

The Borger Dalr geology walk from the Bowder Stone

House rules, decoded

Castle Crag and Millican Dalton's cave

Chapel Field

Gillercombe

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