Low Rigg walk - Castlerigg Stone Circle walk

Route: Low Rigg and Castlerigg Stone Circle

Area: Central Lake District

Date of walk: 30th November 2017

Walkers: Andrew

Distance: 5.2 miles

Ascent: 800 feet

Weather: Sunny then gradually clouding over, icy cold

I parked in one of the roadside spaces by Castlerigg Stone Circle and after spending a few minutes wandering around this atmospheric place returned to the lane, leaving it at Goosewell Farm to follow a path through the fields to Naddle Bridge. The views across the valley to Blencathra were tremendous and I was accompanied on this section of the walk by the plaintive cries of a family of buzzards circling overhead

After a short but quiet road section I headed across the field towards Low Rigg, passing by jewel-like Tewet Tarn along the way. There were some lovely views as I gained height. The path passed by the highest point of Low Rigg but I didn’t bother with the 5 minute detour to the top and carried on until I reached the tiny church of St John’s in the Vale

I turned right at the church to follow the lane, leaving it after a few minutes to walk across the fields to Low Nest and High Nest. The path would normally have been muddy and squelchy but thanks to the frozen ground I was able to keep my boots clean. After High Nest there followed a simple climb back up to the stone circle

During the course of this enjoyable walk I’d covered 5 miles of beautiful and unspoilt countryside and in all that time only passed two other walkers

For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box

Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)