Great Shunner Fell from Hardraw

Great Shunner Fell is the third highest summit in the Yorkshire Dales, at 716m according to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, and the Pennine Way crosses its top between Hawes and Keld. The park authority is candid that it is “a big lumbering hill” without the distinctive shape of Ingleborough or Wild Boar Fell, and argues that the view makes up for it: north into the North Pennines, west to the Lake District, south to the Three Peaks. The trail is Britain’s first National Trail, opened on 24 April 1965 according to the National Trails website.

The usual way up follows the Pennine Way from Hawes past Hardraw and its waterfall, Hardraw Force, a short step off the line of the path. Mud and Routes describes the path entering Hardraw from the west and climbing the Hearne Coal Road, an enclosed track between high walls that reflects the mining history of the fell. The park authority records that coal was dug here until the 1880s, when the railway to Hawes brought in cheaper supplies, and that small pieces can still be found around the summit. Beyond Hearne Top the moor turns to peat hags, and Wikipedia notes that walkers had worn a strip 70m wide through the vegetation before a flagstone path was laid from 1996. Mud and Routes calls the flagged line to the summit surprisingly good, and Wikipedia records millstone grit cropping out over the fell.

Mud and Routes gives 18km with 522m of ascent for the out-and-back from Hardraw, and the park authority says the normal return is to retrace the climb; starting in Hawes adds 1.5km each way. Walkers who want a through route can drop on the Pennine Way to Thwaite in Swaledale, 15km from Hawes according to Get Lost Mountaineering, and continue to Keld for Kisdon Force. This is a long moorland day rather than a technical one, and it suits a walker who wants a Dales summit without any scrambling. The wrong choice is anyone who wants a defined top or a short day, or who plans to leave the flags, because Mud and Routes describes the ground beyond Hearne Top as boggy. For a compact summit with a clear shape, Pen-y-ghent is the better choice.