Gunnerside Gill and its lead mines

The walk starts in Gunnerside and makes a circuit of Gunnerside Gill. A path follows the beck upstream through woods and meadows, then climbs along the east side of the narrowing gill to the Bunton mine, with its ruined buildings and its hushes, great gullies torn in the hillside by miners who dammed water and let it go to strip the soil. It continues to the ruined Blakethwaite smelt mill, where two becks meet. The route crosses the beck there, climbs the west side and follows a broad miners' track south, high above the gill, before dropping back to Gunnerside.

It is 9.4 km with 390 m of ascent; allow about 3½ hours. The grade is Moderate: a steady climb on rough paths to the head of the gill and an easy track back.

The path up the gill is narrow and stony in places, and the beck is crossed on stones at the smelt mill, which can be awkward after heavy rain. The mine buildings are fragile and the old levels are dangerous: look, but stay out. The upper gill is remote and has no shelter. Keep dogs on a lead; sheep graze throughout.

Parking is in the middle of the village, by the bridge, with a box for donations; it is small and fills at weekends. There is no station nearby.

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.