This guide describes ascents of 35 Lake District fells that can be climbed from Patterdale, Ambleside and the Grasmere, Thirlmere and Ullswater valleys. The area is home to some of Lakeland's most celebrated peaks - including the mighty Helvellyn, commanding over the classic arête scrambles of Striding Edge and Swirral Edge - with many summits connected by airy ridges affording great views and highly pleasurable walking.
Unlike other guidebooks which describe a single or limited number of routes to a particular destination, the aim of the Walking the Lake District Fells series is to offer all the options. These are presented as numbered sections which can be combined to create infinite possibilities - from simple ascents to longer ridge routes. You'll find the classics and popular routes alongside less traditional alternatives perfect for the wandering spirit. The series gives you both the freedom to devise your own routes and the information to make informed decisions, thanks to the clear descriptions of the routes, terrain, hazards, interesting features and safe descent paths should the weather close in. Also included are a handful of classic ridge routes for longer fell days.

Mark Richards' inimitable text is complemented by HARVEY mapping and the author's own beautiful sketch topos and panoramas. Perfect for keen hillwalkers and peak-baggers alike and ideal both for pre-planning and use on the hill, Walking the Lake District Fells is the new incarnation of the Fellranger series, which sees the volumes updated and trimmed to a more practical size. These true connoisseurs' guides are sure to inspire you to get out and explore the beautiful fells of Lakeland.
For those collecting fell summits, a 'Fellrangers' hill list register can be found on the Long Distance Walkers Association website.

Mark Richards' transition from full-time farmer to full-time outdoor writer has been a gradual one. In 1973, with the direct encouragement of Alfred Wainwright, he wrote his first walking guide to the Cotswold Way. Since then he has indulged his pleasure in exploring rural Britain by creating a range of walking guides.

In 1980 he began his three-part guide to the Peak District for Cicerone Press, and in 1987, with Chris Wright, wrote a guide to walking around the former county of Westmorland. This book sowed the seeds of a dream, to be fulfilled some 14 years later, when he and his wife moved to Cumbria. Here he developed a passion for the finest of all walking landscapes, held within and around this marvellous county. Mark has written a Cicerone guide to Great Mountain Days in the Lake District and, after many years of dedicated research, completed his Lakeland Fellranger series of eight guides covering the entire region in 2013.

Now living in what was once the Barony of Gilsland, Mark is also close to Hadrian's Wall, enabling him to renew a fascination first kindled when he prepared a guide to walking the Wall in 1993. He has also published a guide to the Wall for Cicerone.

Map keys
Area covered by this guide
Author preface
Starting points

Introduction
Valley bases
Fix the Fells
Using this guide
Safety and access
Additional online resources

Fells
1 Arnison Crag
2 Birkhouse Moor
3 Birks
4 Catstycam
5 Clough Head
6 Dollywaggon Pike
7 Dove Crag
8 Fairfield
9 Glenridding Dodd
10 Gowbarrow Fell
11 Great Dodd
12 Great Mell Fell
13 Great Rigg
14 Hart Crag
15 Hart Side
16 Hartsop above How
17 Helvellyn
18 Heron Pike
19 High Hartsop Dodd
20 High Pike
21 Little Hart Crag
22 Little Mell Fell
23 Low Pike
24 Middle Dodd
25 Nab Scar
26 Nethermost Pike
27 Raise
28 Red Screes
29 Seat Sandal
30 Sheffield Pike
31 St Sunday Crag
32 Stone Arthur
33 Stybarrow Dodd
34 Watson's Dodd
35 White Side

Ridge routes
1 The Fairfield Horseshoe
2 The Helvellyn Ridge
3 The Dodds (through-route)
4 The Deepdale Round

More to explore
Useful contacts
A fellranger's glossary
The Lake District fells