Hartside south
Start Hartside summit (A686)
Getting here Parking: Hartside summit (free), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Parking & buses ↓
Hardest part Hard distance: 16.66 km — a long day out. Hard navigation: Care needed in cloud — ~29% featureless high ground, 30 path junctions near the line. Hard – estimated from the map, not checked on the ground
Before you choose
Daylight & turnaround
Daylight is short from October to February — check today’s sunrise and sunset before you set off, and carry a head-torch and spare batteries. On short days, decide your turn-back time before you start.
See also walking in bad weather and today’s conditions.
Route map
1 Fiend's Fell2 Melmerby Fell3 Cuns Fell
Easy 93%Moderate 7%HardSevere
Heights on this chart and its high point are read from the track itself (a terrain model sampled along the line, or a GPS recording), so a top can differ from its listed height, usually reading lower.
Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).
The elevation profile is under the map; the stage notes follow.
The walk, stage by stage
- 1
Start → Fiend's Fell (1.6 km, 69 m)
Climb of about 69 m over 1.6 km (around 4% average).
- 2
Fiend's Fell → Melmerby Fell (3.3 km, 108 m)
Climb of about 108 m over 3.3 km (around 3% average).
- 3
Melmerby Fell → Cuns Fell (1.7 km, 38 m)
From Meg's Cairn the line follows a path shown on the OS 1:25,000 map but not on OpenStreetMap, down past shake holes to Hause Mouth; the last 250 m or so to the top of Cuns Fell is pathless grass. Come back the same way to Meg's Cairn, where the route turns north on the Maiden Way.
Cuns Fell → Finish (10.1 km, 392 m)
Climb of about 392 m over 10.1 km (around 4% average).
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Summits bagged (3)
- 1Fiend's Fell635 m
- 2Melmerby Fell709 m
- 3Cuns Fell539 m
In the order you walk them — the same numbers the elevation profile, the stage notes and the pacing table use.
Conditions and timing
Check live conditions in the “From the fells” panel, on MWIS (opens in new tab) and the Met Office mountain forecast (opens in new tab) before you set off.
Getting there and back
Parking
Positions are approximate.
Vehicles are left at their owner’s risk: we list places people park and cannot vouch for any of them. Take valuables with you and leave nothing on show.
Buses
We don’t know yet. The path network around this start isn’t mapped well enough for us to measure a walk from the nearest stop. That’s a gap in our data, not a sign that no bus comes here.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
No mapped drinking water or shelter on this route — that doesn’t mean there is none, and never drink untreated from a beck. (Facilities data © OpenStreetMap contributors.)
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Planning detail
How each grade on this page is set, and the timings stage by stage.
Difficulty profile
Hard overall — hardest: Length and navigation (estimated from the map, not checked on the ground); terrain not assessed; exposure not assessed on the ground
Five independent axes, not one score. None of them was set on the ground: they are computed from the recorded track and the map, which measures the line rather than surveying the ground.
How we grade: each axis is Easy, Moderate, Hard or Severe, and a route between two bands takes the higher one. Length: under 8 km, 8–14 km, 14–20 km, over 20 km. Steepness, the steepest 500 m of the track: under 15%, 15–25%, 25–35%, over 35%. Terrain, navigation and exposure are judged rather than measured, and each note says why. How we grade.
Pacing
| Summit | Cumulative | Ascent | Time (fast–steady) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Fiend's Fell | 1.6 km | 69 m | 0:26–0:34 |
| 2Melmerby Fell | 4.8 km | 177 m | 1:16–1:41 |
| 3Cuns Fell | 6.5 km | 215 m | 1:40–2:13 |
| Finish | 16.7 km | 607 m | 4:21–5:47 |
A fast–steady range from Naismith’s rule, deliberately on the slow side. Breaks, weather, rough ground and the slowest person in your party all add to it. How we time walks.
Access & barriers
Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route?
- Buggy: No mapped stiles, but the ground underfoot has not been assessed; not a buggy line on what we know.
- Knees: A sustained ~25% descent over 250 m around the 5.7 km mark — a little jarring on tired knees.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: drops and exposed ground (estimated from the map). The steepest stretch is a sustained climb of about 24% around the 7.1 km mark.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Moderate. 1 mapped crag feature(s) near the line — check the airy sections.
- Stiles and gates: Only gates and kissing gates are mapped: no stile a dog can’t get through. That is the barriers alone; check the route’s steep or rocky ground before you bring a dog. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 2026-10-22)
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
- Ways off early: None recorded for this route.
- Livestock, shade and water: Not recorded for this route yet. We never call a stream safe for a dog to drink, so carry enough for both of you. The lead rules, and what to do around cattle, are on dogs on the fells.
On the line: 12 gates
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 2026-10-22. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).