Bampton Fell

The walk, stage by stage

1. 1

   Start → Bampton Fell (Bampton Common) (4.2 km, 279 m)

   Descent of about 46 m, then a climb of about 279 m, over 4.2 km.

   Leave the valley bottom—starting from the verge parking below the Haweswater dam—and begin the steady, drawn-out ascent onto the vast, open expanse of Bampton Common. The gradient is relatively forgiving but persistent, winding up through bracken-clad lower slopes before crossing the intake walls and emerging onto a wide, rolling, and largely pathless moorland plateau that makes up the summit area of Bampton Fell.

   Waypoints

   Haweswater dam/Burnbanks approach, lower intake walls, Bampton Common plateau, Bampton Fell summit area.

   Decision point

   The drystone intake walls provide a solid, reliable guide on the lower slopes. Once you break out onto the open fell, navigation relies heavily on maintaining a steady compass bearing, as the rounded, featureless topography of the common offers very few distinct landmarks in thick clag.

   Easy to get wrong

   The primary challenge here is the sheer trackless nature of the upper common. The grass is notoriously tussocky and conceals sudden, deep bogs, particularly after the autumn rains. While the physical ascent is only moderate, the lack of defined trails means your ankles will take a beating on the uneven, yielding moorland, and summer bracken on the lower slopes can obscure old sheep trods.

   If you need to get off

   No way off the common has been checked for this guide; the way back is the way you came. Do not drift aggressively south, as you will eventually encounter the steep, craggy drops overlooking the Haweswater shoreline.

2. Bampton Fell (Bampton Common) → Finish (7.0 km, 176 m)

   Descent of about 233 m, with about 176 m of climbing, over 7.0 km.

   From the summit, follow the track west across the common, dropping gently to about 450 m, then take the path that climbs west onto the southern shoulder of Low Kop. The high point, about 546 m, is below and short of Low Kop's own top, which this route does not visit. Turn there and come back down the same path for about half a kilometre, past the point where you joined it, and stay on it as it drops south-east towards Measand Beck; this is the steepest ground on the route, about 25% near the 6.5 km mark. Carry on down beside the beck, past the waterfalls of The Forces, and cross it by the footbridge just above the reservoir. Bear left on the public footpath along the shore and follow it east with Haweswater on your right, past Colby and the site of the old Haweswater copper mine, as far as the dam. A track then drops east towards Burnbanks, where you rejoin the way you came in: across Haweswater Beck and about 0.9 km of lane back west to the start.

   Waypoints

   Bampton Fell summit, the high point on Low Kop's southern shoulder (about 546 m), Measand Beck and The Forces, the footbridge and the Haweswater shore path, Colby, Haweswater dam, Burnbanks, the lane back to the start.

   Decision point

   Below the turn on Low Kop's shoulder, the path follows Measand Beck down to the reservoir, and the shore path keeps Haweswater on your right as far as the dam.

   Easy to get wrong

   The first part of the return crosses the upper common, which can feel uniform and disorienting in mist. The hollows hold standing water, and a direct compass line often leads straight into peat bog; route-picking is essential. The path down to Measand Beck is the steepest ground on the route, about 25%. On the shore path you cross three small streams at fords between about 8.0 and 8.6 km.

   If you need to get off

   No way off the common has been checked for this guide; the way back is the way you came. Once you are down at the reservoir, follow the route's own line to the finish.