Explore with Amie

The Lake District is fast becoming one of my favourite national parks within England. The immensity of the landscape here is unlike any other national park that I have visited before. Walking in the Lake District has been challenging so far as we have opted to take on some of the highest mountains within the park as well as taking some interesting routes that involve scrambling on rocks. Of course, you are going to find routes of varying difficulty within the Lake District so there is something for everyone. The route I am going to share with you today is a slightly challenging one but, it is still possible for amateur hikers like myself. My sister came along for this one and she hasn’t hiked any mountains for many years.

Honister Slate Mine was our starting point for the walk. This is a tourist spot where you can pay to go down the slate mine, climb it or other adrenalin filled activities. We were here simply for the car park which charged £5 for a full day in Summer 2023 or £15 for overnight parking. We opted for the overnight as we were wild camping during this walk which certainly isn’t necessary with its length but, is a nice addition. I’ll go into more detail on where we camped later. However, this was a great starting point and we bought some extra water from the cafe. You could start your day off with breakfast here too. There is also a YHA right next door if you’re looking for cheap overnight accommodation.

Unfortunately, there is no easing into this walk as we headed straight upwards towards Grey Knotts. The path that begins this walk is definitely not the most popular path from the Slate Mine. On the left hand side of the building (if you’re looking with the road behind you), there is a stile and a path that runs alongside a boundary fence. This was the path we opted for and you begin the climb upwards. I would warn you to be careful on this route during wet weather as the rocks can be quite slippy. We went on a relatively sunny day – though it had rained the day before – and they were still a little slippy then.

The good thing about starting a walk like that is that, by the time you have reached the top of your first hill, you’re already almost 697 metres above sea level as that is height of Grey Knotts. Grey Knotts is the ranked 93rd tallest out of the 214 Wainwright’s which isn’t too shabby for being only 1.5km into the walk. It also counts as a Nuttall – any mountain in the British Isles over 2,000ft. Only a short walk later, you meet the second Wainwright on this walk, Brandreth. This is 714metres above sea level making it the 79th tallest of the Wainwrights. Two down, two more to go. From the vantage point of Brandreth, you can also see your route ahead with the Great Gable in the distance and Green Gable just in front.

We stopped for a very late lunch break at the summit of Green Gable at a height of 801metres above sea level. You are able to get a little bit of shelter from the wind in curved rock structures which quite a few people were using as break points. From here, you can see the path that lays ahead to summit Great Gable. It does look fairly daunting from here but, don’t worry, you’ll get there. Following a short descent to Windy Gap, you being the scramble up Great Gable. There is a little bit of climbing up rocks required to get to the top but, many people were doing it and covering quite a range of ages. This was my first walk that required an element of scrambling and I did find it more difficult but, once you get into the flow it becomes easier.

The route down Great Gable is a little tricker. We did a compass reading from the top of the summit to locate our path however, the cairns (piles of stones) were a good indication of the route. Yet, it didn’t quite go to plan as we appeared to loose our intended path and instead came to a scree slope for the last couple of hundred metres. My top tip here is to keep an eye on the path. That being said, we managed to navigate safety down the mountainside by sliding in a squat (I was on my bum for the majority) to reach the bottom. This wasn’t the most time effective way of getting down but it was the safest with our lack of experience with scree. To put this into perspective though, we did see man running down the scree. Of course, I’m not recommending that as this man was clearly a scree runner by hobby and had had lots of practice. It is all part of the fun of hiking – sometimes things don’t go exactly to plan!

The walk from here back to the start point is really lovely. We decided to wild camp as my sister had never done this before. It certainly isn’t necessary though as the next morning, it was under an hour back to the car park from our camp spot. Another reason why. we wanted to wild camp was to try and stay in a bothy. These are stone huts that you can use as a shelter within the Lake District and Scotland. Unfortunately, the two bothies on this route were occupied but, they’re still very cool to look at. The route takes you directly past Dubs Hut. Our camping spot was still beautiful though and had an incredible view across Buttermere at sunset. There is nothing quite like wild camping.

To have a more in-depth look at the route, click the link HERE. As always, you can also follow the step by step route below.

Start Point: Honister Slate Mine

1. Take the path on the left hand side of the mine buildings towards Grey Knotts. It begins with a stile and steep steps in a straight line upwards.
2. Continue upwards on the left hand side of the fence until there is an opportunity to cross using a stile. Continue upwards on the right hand side.
3. Ignore any further fence crossings on the OS map (the 2015 OL4 suggest you cross again) and stay on the right hand side of the fence around the dog leg.
4. Follow the fence until you reach a gate. Continue straight until you reach the next peak. This is Brandreth. The Great Gable and lesser Green Gable are visible ahead.
5. Take the path directly down, heading towards the smaller Green Gable. The ascent up Green Gable is a clearly marked gravel path.
6. At the summit of the Green Gable, the path bends slightly towards the left and then descends on the right towards Windy Gap, a crossroads.
7. Take the path straight ahead to begin the climb to the Great Gable peak. Some areas of this may involve clambering and minor scrambling.
8. At the summit, if you’re looking towards the lake (Wast Water), the path down is on your right marked out by piles of stones. Begin the descent.
9. The pathway down is not clearly visible at times so be aware and take the most sensible route possible.
10. Once you have reached the bottom, skirt the mountain to the right uphill to a small crag.
11. Moses Trod is visible from the crag, going along the mountainside ahead. Follow this gravel path.
12. Follow the path until it meets a stile. Ignore this stile and follow the path downwards to the gate.
13. Pass through the gate and follow the wall on your left downhill to a crossroads. Head straight over.
14. The wall eventually bends to the left. Continue to follow this for around 10metres and then take the path to the right to the flatter land.
15. Continue on this footpath until it meets a gravel path. Take this to the right and stick right at the next junction.
16. Cross the ford and head upwards towards the quarries. Turn right passing the bothy (Dubs Hut).
17. Follow this path west on the diminished tramway. This path and the track/road that runs parallel to it both take you back to the Slate Mine Car Park.

End Point: Honister Slate Mine

There are so many great things to see on this walk and you’re bagging four wainwrights in one. It is definitely worth the rocky terrain and inclines. Why not try it for yourself?

Amie x