Last updated 16:33, Tuesday, 08 July 2008

It's the time of years when you need to find the quieter routes. Weekend Walk with Vivienne Crow

Map: OS Explorer map OL4.

Parking: In Rosthwaite (GR NY257158).

Public transport: Bus 79 and 77/77A (telephone 0871 200 2233).

Refreshments: Royal Oak Hotel, Scafell Hotel and Flock-In tearoom, all in Rosthwaite; café at Honister Slate Mine.

Distance: 7 miles

Total ascent: 2,582ft

Time: 4.5 - 5 hours

Grade: Intermediate/hard

Overview: Part of the Newlands Round, Dale Head (2,470ft) is a popular summit, but this route on to it avoids the crowds for most of the way. Climbing from Rosthwaite, it visits the fascinating Rigghead Quarries en route and then crosses pathless, boggy ground before gaining the summit, and its magnificent views, via the busier trail from Dalehead Tarn. Dropping down the easy, southern ridge to Honister Pass, the route then visits High Doat (928ft) before returning to Borrowdale.

The Walk: From the car park, turn right along the lane to pass the tearoom and then follow the farm track as it swings right alongside the River Derwent. Having crossed the river via a hump-back bridge, turn left to head back upstream for a few yards. Cross the first bridge you come to and then, before the next one, turn right to climb the step stile (0.5 miles from the start).

Follow the small beck on your right upstream. Go through a kissing-gate and then continue alongside the beck and across a footbridge, followed quickly by another stile. Having crossed the stile, there is no obvious path on the ground, but if you look to your left, you will see two or three paths heading up the grassy slope. Ignoring the very faint one – almost invisible from this angle – beside the wall, take either of the other two. They both eventually unite to become a stony track leading to a gate (one mile from the start).

Beyond the gate, continue ahead, crossing straight over a clear path after a few strides and then walking with a fence on your right as you head up Tongue Gill. The climb isn’t especially steep at first, but it is relentless. Having crossed one stile along the way, you find yourself among the immense spoil heaps and fascinating quarry workings that litter this fellside – and it’s now that the ascent steepens.

Eventually, the harsh clatter of slate under your boots disappears as you climb on grass to a large cairn a few yards back from a fence. Bear left here, along the clearer of the two paths. Suddenly, as you reach a stile in the fence (1.7 miles from the start), the nature of the walk shifts dramatically. The ground ahead opens out and Dale Head suddenly appears.

A clear path veers left beyond the stile but soon disappears into a boggy mess. Small pools of stagnant water lurk unseen among the grassy tussocks, waiting to snare unwary walkers. Head west across this pathless ground away from the fence and towards the eastern slopes of Dale Head. Your next target is Dalehead Tarn, at the base of these slopes, but it is hidden from view until you are practically standing next to it. Even once you have found and crossed the beck that passes 50 yards to the east of it, it may not be easy to spot.

When you do finally stumble upon it, make your way to the northern edge of the water, past a small walled enclosure (two miles from the start).

The route on to Dale Head is steep. As you reach the top of the constructed path, you get a great view down the U-shaped dale with Skiddaw perfectly framed at the end. The climb continues, bearing left for the final pull up to the summit cairn (2.55 miles from the start) and one of the best view from a northern Lake District felltop.

From the summit, turn left (S), following a line of cairns down the fellside. This path will eventually drop down to Honister Pass. It’s a relatively easy descent, picking up the line of a fence after a while. Keep to the left of the fence.

When you reach the pass, turn left along the road (3.7 miles from the start). After 400 yards, turn left along an old track. This cuts a few corners, but eventually rejoins the road. When it does so, bear left and, in another 120 yards, turn left again along another wide track.

Leave the track when you see a well-walked but narrow path off to the left (4.8 miles from the start). A wooden sign to the right of the main track indicates this is the bridleway to Grange. Climb up to and through a small gate. Continue with the wall on your immediate right until you reach a ladder stile (5 miles from the start). Once over this, you will see two indistinct paths heading downhill. Head in the general direction of a small group of trees at the bottom of the crags. After crossing a tiny beck, swing left up the grassy fellside (ENE). Don’t be tempted by a path heading downhill.

Cross a step stile in the wall at the top and continue on to the summit area of High Doat. The path heads in a roughly SE direction between the rocky outcrops that make up the summit and then swings more to the E as it drops down the other side. Ignore any paths off to the left and swing right (S) when you reach a cairn near the bottom of the slope. When the path forks, bear left (SSW) to drop down to and through gap in a wall, beyond which you walk with a fence on your left.

Follow the fence until you reach a gate (5.7 miles from the start). Turn left, through the gate, and follow the quiet track through Johnny Wood. Don’t be tempted by another path heading up to the left as the main track begins to drop, but make sure you do swing left – away from the line of the mossy, tumbledown wall on your right – when you reach a waymarker.

The route drops to a gap in a wall, beyond which it descends more steeply. Go through a small gate in a fence and then turn right. This path brings you out near the youth hostel. Follow the wall round to the left and then turn left along the driveway (6.3 miles from the start). Don’t cross the bridge; instead walk along the path on the river’s west bank for a third-of-a-mile. If the water level allows, cross via the stepping stones next to the ford and then head straight along the track back into Rosthwaite. Alternatively, continue to the humpback bridge that you crossed at the start, and then retrace your steps to the village.

Points of interest: The Rigghead Quarries, once owned by the Layton family, produced slate from levels cut deep into the mountainside. As you climb among the spoil heaps, you will see that several adits are still open, although they are dangerous and should not be explored. A copper trail was also driven here in the early 18th century.