Gummer's How

Gummer’s How stands 321m above the eastern shore at the southern end of Windermere, the highest of the foothills there and an outlying fell in Wainwright’s 1974 guide, which called it, by Wikipedia’s account, an old man’s mountain: a last fell for someone past the big days. Simon Jenkins, as Wikipedia reports, ranked the view among the ten best panoramas in England. Windermere runs away to the north below it and the Coniston fells, the Howgills, Ingleborough and Black Combe all show on a clear day, according to Wainwright Routes.

The reason the climb is short is the car park. Forestry England’s free car park sits on Fell Foot Brow, reached from the A592 near Newby Bridge, and is already above 200m, so Wainwright Routes gives half a mile to the top, about 370ft of ascent and 25 minutes. The path goes through a gate and runs level beneath birch and larch, crosses a small stream, then climbs through the trees on the lower slopes. Most walkers take the direct line up the steeper southern slope; a guidepost at the fence marks an easier eastern approach. The upper ground is open moor with Luing cattle grazing, the top carries a trig pillar and cairn, and Wainwright Routes picks the rock outcrop in the foreground as the best place for the Windermere view.

From Windermere this is a drive: the car park is roughly 10km south of the town in a straight line, down the A592 past Bowness to Newby Bridge. Below it, Fell Foot, owned by the National Trust since 1948, has a cafe, and from March to September a passenger ferry crosses to Lakeside, according to Wikipedia.

It suits families and anyone who wants a Windermere view for under an hour on foot, though Wikipedia notes steep sections and some rock scrambling, so it is not a pushchair walk. Anyone without a car, or anyone after a hill day, will find it a poor fit, since the whole climb is half a mile; for a view that starts on foot from the town, Orrest Head leaves from beside Windermere station.