Walla Crag and Castlehead

Weather: Mainly sunny, some heavy showers around but only one caught us at the end!
Start & Finish: The Theatre By The Lake NY265229
Terrain: Good paths or stony tracks, just one grassy section
Distance: 6.7 miles
Recommended map: OS Explorer OL4, The English Lakes North-western area

Profile and map of Walla Crag walk

At the back of the car park, there's a path leading through the woods, this soon reaches a branch leading to Borrowdale Road. Directly across the road is Castlehead Wood and another path leads gently uphill through the trees. Search out the rocky outcrop off to the right of the path where the fence ends - this opens out to a majestic panorama down the full length of Derwentwater towards Borrowdale with Catbells and the mountains of Borrowdale framing the view perfectly.

Panoramic view from Castlehead

Retracing steps to the fence, the original path continues through the woods and soon reaches Springs Road. Turning right, the road soon becomes a bridleway and heads past a farm into Springs Wood. The path now climbs steadily but not uncomfortably alongside Brockle Beck. Eventually the path leads out onto open country, a wall guiding the way up what is the steepest part of the walk. Here though the views back across Keswick to Skiddaw and Bassenthwaite Lake beyond invite a number of pauses to recover.

The final half mile to the top of Walla Crag is much easier going and once on top, the reason for the effort is plain to see. The landscape spreading out below is truly magnificent. A reasonably sized cairn marks the true top, but this is set back from the rocky ledge which presents the very best views. Walla Crag is popular though, so don't expect solitude on the summit.

The best way down isn't the obvious path past Lady's Rake and down Cat Gill as it's particularly steep, although it is the quickest way back if the weather turns. Instead, a better option is to head briefly towards Bleaberry Fell, then follow the clear path over Falcon Crag which gradually descends to another iconic viewpoint at Ashness Bridge. From here there are numerous paths down to the main road, or there's the road from the bridge itself.

After a stretch of roadside walking, a small gap can be found in the wall on the left, and this leads to a tranquil bay on the edge of DerwentWater. From here there's a clear route along the lake shore passing the popular Friar's Crag back to the theatre.