Castle Crag from Seatoller

The walk starts from the National Trust car park at Seatoller. A track climbs north out of the hamlet to a path that keeps high along the fellside, crossing Tongue Gill by a footbridge, to the foot of Castle Crag. A zigzag path over old quarry spoil leads to the top, where a memorial stone stands. The descent goes down through the woods to the River Derwent, then south along the riverside path past the turning for Millican Dalton's cave and through Longthwaite back to Seatoller.

It is 8.4 km with 278 m of ascent; allow about 2¾ hours. The grade is Easy: one short, steep climb.

The path over the spoil heap is loose underfoot. On the riverside path there is one very short rocky step with a fixed chain. Castle Crag was given to the National Trust as a war memorial by the family of 2nd Lieutenant John Hamer, killed in 1918, and the men of Borrowdale. Millican Dalton, the self-styled Professor of Adventure, spent his summers in a cave below the crag for nearly 50 years.

The Seatoller car park charges non-members of the National Trust and has toilets and a stop for the 78 and, from April to October, the 77A bus.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.