Blencathra

The shapely Blencathra

Height: 868m (2,848ft)

Prominence: 461m (1,512ft)

Region: Northern Fells

Classifications: Nuttall, Hewitt, Wainwright, Marilyn, Birkett

Summit feature: Stone ring

Times climbed: 4

Related trip reports:
Best of Blencathra - Hall's Fell Ridge & Sharp Edge - 08/04/2018
Blencathra via Sharp Edge - 09/07/2017
Blencathra via Sharp Edge - 22/10/2016

Blencathra via Hall's Fell Ridge - 16/07/2016

A small ring sits on the summit

What Wainwright said:

"Blencathra is one of the grandest objects in Lakeland. And one of the best known. Seen from the southwest, the popular aspect, the mountain rises steeply and in isolation above the broad green fields of Thelkeld, a feature being the great sweeping curve leaping out of the depths to a lofty summit ridge".

Blencathra is one of the most northerly mountains in the Lake District and has six separate fell tops, the highest of which is 868m.

For many years, Ordnance Survey listed Blencathra under the alternative name of Saddleback, which was coined in reference to the shape of the mountain when seen from the east. The guidebook author Alfred Wainwright popularised the use of the older Cumbric name, which is now used almost exclusively. Ordnance Survey currently marks the summit as "Saddleback or Blencathra".

Between Tarn Crag and Foule Crag is Sharp Edge, an aptly named arête which provides one of the most famous scrambles in the area.

The highest point is directly above the Hallsfell spur, marked by a trig point. The view is very extensive, enhanced in every direction by the sharp fall of the slopes from the summit.

Return to Lake District – Northern Fells