Fairfield
A fine vista, with all the major fell groups well seen, and views down into the abyss of Deepdale only yards away.
Plan Around Fairfield
A good stop is not just something to read about. Once it belongs on the day, move into a saved trip and build the route around it.
Use this detail page to confirm that the stop is worth it, then carry that decision into a trip draft while the park context is still fresh.
Fairfield Details
The summit is a rough stony plateau with the high point at the western end. The top is very flat and there are many cairns, including a pair of large windbreaks near the high point. Be warned that it's easy to get lost in mist and you should beware of precipices to the north and west. Other fells visible at close hand include Helvellyn with its spectacular ar'te Striding Edge, Nethermost Pike, Saint Sunday Crag and Cofa Pike. The view south towards Ambleside and Rydal over Rydal Head is also extensive, with Windermere and Coniston Water in view. There is a marked contrast between the character of the northern and southern flanks of Fairfield. Alfred Wainwright in his influential Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells wrote that, "From the south it appears as a great horseshoe of grassy slopes below a consistently high skyline...but lacking those dramatic qualities that appeal most to the lover of hills. But on the north side the Fairfield range is magnificent: here are dark precipices, long fans of scree...desolate combes and deep valleys." The two southern arms make up the popular walk, the Fairfield Horseshoe, which starts in Ambleside and makes a circuit of the valley of Rydale to the south. On the western side, descending from Fairfield are Great Rigg, Heron Pike and Nab Scar while the eastern ridge bears the tops of Hart Crag, Dove Crag, High Pike and Low Pike. The north-western ridge of Fairfield crosses Deepdale Hause to St Sunday Crag whilst that to the north east is a short rocky spur into Deepdale, dropping over Greenhow End. A fifth line of high ground, less a ridge than a salient in the breast of the fell, runs due west to Seat Sandal across Grisedale Hause. Fairfield can be climbed via Grisedale Hause, either up Tongue Gill from Grasmere, from Dunmail Raise or from Patterdale. The path up from the Hause is a rough zigzag up worsening scree. Grisedale Hause can also be reached as a ridge walk from Seat Sandal, or by cutting across the outlet of Grisedale Tarn from Dollywaggon Pike and the Helvellyns. Grid Reference: NY 35893 11590
Difficulty
Low
Distance
N/A
Estimated time
N/A
Region
N/A
Nearby Parks Around Fairfield
Compare nearby parks around Fairfield when deciding whether to expand the route after this stop.
Nearby Points of Interest Around Fairfield
Use nearby POIs to quickly expand your options beyond Fairfield while the map context is still fresh.
0.6 mi away
Brothers Parting Stone
Just below the outflow into Grisedale Beck is the Brothers Parting Stone.
2.4 mi away
Red Screes
A fell running between Patterdale and Ambleside, the Red Screes get their name from the reddish debris piled on the peak's eastern slope.
2.8 mi away
Grasmere Hikes
The village of Grasmere sits near the center of the Lake District and is the starting point for several popular hikes.
2.9 mi away
Grasmere Sports
The Annual Grasmere Lakeland Sports, now celebrating more than 165 years of existence, has been a regular annual event since 1868, unbroken except for the two periods of the First and Second World Wars.
