Walk: Helvellyn and Striding Edge, Cumbria

By Vivienne Crow

Published: Friday, 09 December 2022 at 12:00 am

After edging your way along an exposed ridge, clinging to bare rock and clambering breathlessly up a scree-covered trail, the 950m summit is won and 
your spirits soar as a line of craggy peaks suddenly fills the horizon.

Welcome to Helvellyn, England’s third highest mountain. Carved by ancient glaciers and still home to rare flora that has survived since the ice sheets retreated, this gnarly landscape presents adventurous walkers with exhilarating scrambles and a day that will never be forgotten.

Striding Edge and Swirral Edge are best tackled in dry, calm conditions and only by those with a head for heights. Mountaineering gear and experience are essential in winter conditions.

Discover more Lake District walks

Of all the national parks in Britain, the Lake District in North England is arguably the most celebrated – discover the area’s fells, rivers, waters and towns with our guide to the best hikes in the Lake District National Park.

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Helvellyn and Striding Edge walk

7.7 miles/12.4km | 828m accent | 5–6 hours | challenging

1. Beside the beck

Leave Glenridding’s main car park, turn right along the A592 and immediately right again. Fork right beside the beck. At a minor road, go left, soon joining a gravel path to the right. Keep left at a path junction near a gate and bear right at a fork.

2. Up and up

After the next gate, turn left. So begins the climb! It’s a slog at first, but then you are greeted by the uplifting sight of the pyramid-like Catstye Cam and Helvellyn’s fearsome cliffs.

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Walkers make their way along Striding Edge to “the dark brow of mighty Helvellyn”, as Sir Walter Scott describes the mountain 
in his poem, ‘Helvellyn’ /Getty

3. Over the edge

Soon after passing – and ignoring – a ladder stile in the wall, join a path from the left, making its way to Striding Edge. Either keep to the exciting, rocky apex, scrambling easily over one or two small dips, or use the more straightforward path to the right.

The biggest difficulty comes in the form of 
a rock tower, which has to be down-climbed with care. Face into the rock here. Having negotiated this, take a breather before the final, lung-bursting pull to Helvellyn’s extensive summit area – big enough to land a plane on as two airmen proved in 1926.

Three more nearby walks

"Aira

4. Lakeland views

At the top, bear right along 
the plateau’s edge, passing 
the memorial to Charles Gough, whose dog guarded 
her master’s dead body for three months after he fell 
from the mountain – an incident immortalised by William Wordsworth, Sir Walter Scott and Sir Edwin Landseer.

Pass the summit shelter on the way to the trig pillar, from where 
the far-reaching outlook takes in all of Lakeland as well as 
the North Pennines and 
some Scottish hills.

5. Swirral descent

Keep to the fell edge to find the sprawling cairn marking the path on to Swirral Edge. Carefully descend right to negotiate this rocky ridge.

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The Striding Edge ridge leads to Helvellyn/Getty

6. Tantalising tarn

About 500m after leaving Helvellyn’s plateau, fork right. Descend towards the dramatically located Red Tarn and then fork left to drop into the valley of Glenridding Beck, crossing two tributary bridges on the way.

7. Final stretch

Bear left to cross a bridge over Glenridding Beck and turn right along a track near Greenside’s converted mine buildings. Back in Glenridding, turn right after the Fairlight Guesthouse to re-enter the car park.

Helvellyn and Striding Edge map

Helvellyn and Striding Edge walking route and map

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