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Although the Loweswater Fells are quite gentle this walk visits most of the many summits, and involves quite a bit of climbing, and some surprisingly steep slopes. Unusually for the Lake District the top of these fells are crossed by a network of well maintained fences, which our map shows as thin black lines. Ascent: 1,700ft We start from the road side car park close to the phone box at the western end of Loweswater. 1: NY 118 224
The road from Mosser to Loweswater is no longer suitable for vehicles, but it is great for walkers. Turn left onto this track and follow it as it climbs gently around the western side of the high ground.
3: NY 121 236
4: NY 127 234
At the end of the track stiles lead into the field to the left or straight ahead. Take the stile to the left, and head along the right-hand side of this field, heading towards the southern slopes of Fellbarrow. This brings us towards the only awkward moment on the walk - about two-thirds of the way across this field a stile crosses the fence to the right. Paths then continue up along both sides of the fence, but neither lead to an easy way onto the summit. I stayed on the left, which brings us to a blocked gate at the far end of the field - fortunately the fence here isn't very high, so I was able to cross over the fence and continue up the hill. Once over this barrier keep climbing up alongside the fence, now running to our right. Eventually the fence turns to the right and runs away across the hill side. At this point aim for the skyline and keep climbing until you reach the summit of Fellbarrow (beware of many false summits). If you don't want to risk a fence crossing, then cross the stile two-thirds of the way across the first field. Climb up the same slope, but on the opposite side of the fell. At the corner of this field turn right and follow the fence across the hillside to the far corner of the field. Cross a stile to the left and climb up to the summit of Fellbarrow. 5: NY 132 242
A stile takes us across a fence at the bottom of this slope. We then follow the path onto and over the summit of Smithy Fell, crossing a second fence on the far side of the summit. 6: NY 134 235
7: NY 137 233
This brings us to a clear track that climbs up onto the fell from the Vale of Lorton. Turn right and follow this track for a short distance. The OS map shows this track curving away to the right, but the current path continues on in a straight line, heading towards a stile clearly visible on the opposite fence. Cross this stile and follow the path all the way across Low Fell to the cairns at its southern tip, overlooking Loweswater and Crummock Water.
8: NY 135 222
Cross the beck and follow the path as it follows the fence up the steep slopes of Darling Fell. Just before reaching the skyline the path leaves the fence and heads left to reach the summit. 9: NY 129 225
10: NY 124 224
Turn right into this track, and follow it as it climbs up towards Askill Knott. This brings us back to point 2 where we turn back onto our original track and follow it down to the car park.
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