A panoramic 7.5 mile circuit round and up the Fell. Start at the Forest Picnic site north of Birks and cross the Duddon by the bridge. Either turn L on the Bridleway to Birks, or carry on the track to above Birks. The “path” connecting the two on the map is very overgrown, for adventurers only. Above Birks, some sort of outdoor House, a signed Bridleway leads up the Fell, keep straight on at the fork, the L branch is for your return. No horses could do this: it’s steep, boggy in a couple of places, and a scree path in others. After the obvious gate it relents. The summit is the middle of the three rocky excrescences, best ascended from the NE. The view is splendid, as outlined below, but here including the sea SE, and Pillar. Descend the definite path down the north ridge, which Wainwright says is a soggy mess and not worth it, well it is soggy in places, but has a lovely view of Crinkle Crags, Bowfell , Esk Pike and the Scafell massif all the way, and the rocky side of Hardknott Fell. Through a gate near the end follow it round L to the road and descend till the first steep hairpin (where we once pushed a hired van up, it having blocked the road for over an hour!), where take another (initially) boggy path round and down to Hardknott Roman Camp for some exploration. Carry on down, crossing a stile to finish on a path not on the OS maps, then L through a gate to the start of the Hardknott climb. Cross the Gill on a packhorse bridge and curve round the Fell, ascending gradually, with a great view of lovely Eskdale. Over the pass and into the plantation, take the first track left, and then a signed Bridleway L at a corner, which comes back to the fork mentioned above on your ascent. An interesting walk, with 2600ft of ascent to keep you honest.
Looking down the steep ascent to Birks. The end part of the ascent. View SW from the summit. Looking down the north ridge. Scafell massif from the north ridge. The Roman fort from the end of the N ridge. Scafell behind Hardnott Fort.
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