Great Gable from Honister Pass

Great Gable’s pyramid outline, seen end-on from Wasdale, was chosen as the emblem of the Lake District National Park, and at 899m it is one of the higher Western Fells. This round starts from the small National Trust car park by the youth hostel at the top of Honister Pass, the road that drops steeply from Buttermere on one side to Borrowdale on the other, its summit at 356m. The Fell and Rock Climbing Club bought 3,000 acres of land here, including Great Gable, and gave it to the National Trust in memory of members killed in the First World War; a bronze plaque set into the summit rock was dedicated on Whit Sunday 1924 before around 500 people, and a service is still held there every Remembrance Sunday.

From the car park the route follows an old quarry tramway up to the Drum House, then picks up Moses Trod, reputedly a smugglers’ route named for Moses Rigg, contouring around the flanks of Grey Knotts and Brandreth toward the head of Ennerdale to reach Beck Head. From there the path climbs about 200m of rocky, cairned ground onto the summit, graded as easy scrambling rather than a hands-and-feet climb throughout. The descent crosses Green Gable, Brandreth and Grey Knotts back to the Drum House and the car park, taking in four Wainwrights on the one round.

At 11.8km and 727m of ascent, walkingbritain.co.uk grades this a hard 5 hour 40 minute day, and the rocky ground near the summit rules it out for anyone wanting a straightforward hill walk with no scrambling at all. It suits a fit walker with a head for exposed, broken ground who wants a real mountain rather than a stroll; for a shorter, non-scrambling round from the same valley, Buttermere’s lakeshore path covers the water in a fraction of the time and effort.