Get Lost Mountaineering

Moss Eccles Tarn, Wise Een Tarn & Claife Heights from Far Sawrey

Start/Finish

Braithwaite Hall car park in the village of Far Sawrey which holds about 12 cars and is opposite the telephone box above the Cuckoo Brow Inn. Far Sawrey is the first village passed through if you take the ferry across Windermere (it isn't called Lake Windermere!). Coming from Hawkshead, about 3 miles away, as most will do, it is about half a mile after Near Sawrey which can be a very busy at an old farmhouse called Hilltop village owing to the children's author (Peter Rabbit, etc) Beatrix Potter once living there. More about that later! In 2025, the car park cost only £2 per day, honesty box, with further voluntary contributions requested so please be generous. This is how much of the Lake District used to be before money and greed took over.

Distance/Time

9 km  About 4 – 5 hours

Peaks

Claife Heights Trig Point, 269 m, SD 382 973.

OS 96 Barrow-in-Furness & South Lakeland or OS 97 Kendal & Morecambe

OL 7 South Eastern Lakes.

Introduction

If you have driven through Near Sawrey then Far Sawrey will come as a very pleasant and quiet relief. The route is very similar if not identical to Wainwrights in his book “The Outlying Fells of Lakeland”. There is much forestry on Claife Heights and he describes that section as a nightmare soon to become impassable. Fortunately, that is not the case these days as there are now good, well made paths through the forest which make navigation and progress easy apart from at just one point in the forest which will be dealt with in the route. It is a beautiful walk, passing two lovely tarns which aren't real tarns but actually reservoirs. There are excellent views to the Coniston Fells especially Wetherlam, Langdale Pike, Eastern fells and Windermere. The Cuckoo Brow Inn looks lovely though I cannot speak from personal experience, yet! The return path comes out at the telephone box opposite the car park and passes a picnic spot with tables, about 50 m before reaching the road. This could be the most scenic low level walk in the Lake District. It is almost impossible to follow all of this route on old maps. Newer maps might be better and, if you can get one, a forestry map. Experienced walkers though should be able to navigate the route even with an old map and a lot of commonsense!

Route

(1) From the car park, walk downhill, past the Cuckoo Brow Inn to reach a very minor tarmac road forking right and signed for Moss Eccles Tarn and Claife Heights. Follow the tarmac road until it becomes a private road (sign) leading to a large house. Just before the private sign, a rough track forks left so follow that, soon crossing a very small wooden bridge. Further on, meet the track coming up from Near Sawrey and continue gently uphill. There are the remains of a sign at this junction. Further on, pass through a gate and keep following the track until a large bouldery crag appears ahead and slightly to the left with a faint footpath leading to it. The top of this crag, easily reached, over looks Moss Eccles Tarn so is worth the short diversion. Retrace to the track and continue following it past Moss Eccles Tarn.

(2) Continue on the track, which now climbs gently, to soon reach Wise Een Tarn with a dramatic view of the Langdale Pikes well behind it. The most prominent peak to the left is Wetherlam which hides most of Coniston Old Man. You can now argue about which of the two tarns is the most scenic!

(3) Continue after Wise Een Tarn, soon passing a small unnamed tarn on the right. The track soon becomes a path and follows a wall heading for the forest. Enter the forest through a gate and continue on the path which soon becomes a track where forestry workers may have parked their cars. There is a thin line of trees on the right through which another unnamed tarn can be seen. The track soon becomes a proper forestry track and starts to descend. In 2025 there were some stacks of logs which must be kept off as they are dangerous and several children have been killed when the log stack moves whilst being climbed on. There is a path going off to the left which should be ignored so stay on the track here to reach a prominent left hand bend, still descending, where you leave the track.

(4) On the right hand side of this bend is a not very obvious path, not signed, which goes into the forestry. Take this path, which soon becomes more obvious and easier to follow despite the ferns in summer. In places, the path crosses ground rock without any difficulties other than perhaps being slippery after rain. Eventually, the path seems to stop at the start of a large firebreak, with some felled trees, which seems to be doubling back slightly. This is where you need to be careful. Do not go through the firebreak; it is not the route despite looking tempting. Instead, look for a faint path going downhill, roughly south, towards the edge of the forest on the other (left) side of the firebreak; thhe path is roughly in the opposite direction to the firebreak. A sign here would be very useful! The path quickly becomes more obvious and soon crosses a long wooden”bridge” over what would normally be swampy ground. If you don't reach this wooden bridge within a few minutes of leaving the firebreak then return to the firebreak and start again! A few minutes after crossing the bridge, you should see the communication masts off to the left. Eventually the path reaches a track where you may see diggers working. Turn right, signed for Far Sawrey, but soon after, leave it on the left and follow the path, signed for Far Sawrey, which gradually diverges away from the track. In 2025, the ground was quite open after recent felling so there are good views of Windermere. Continue on the obvious path until almost reaching a large crag, the only one around, ahead and to the right. Just before this, there is a faint path going uphill before the crag. Follow this path as it leads to the trig point, now easily accessible, unlike in Wainwright's time, which is highest point on Claife Height, 269 m. There is now a decent view from the trig point which was previously hidden in forestry according to Wainwright. You can also see Three Dubs Tarn which is on private land.

(5) Retrace to the main path and continue, passing below the crag. In 2025, there were two places where fallen trees had to be stepped over or ducked under. By now, there is a wall on your left. Stay with the main path which soon merges with a track* coming in through the wall as a reverse left fork. Continue ahead on the track which winds around and goes up and down as well as passing a small pool on the right which seems to be an old spring. Reach a crossroads of tracks. Go right, through a gate. Follow the track which, further on, merges with a private track, coming in as a reverse right fork, then continues passing near a large house before passing the picnic tables just before emerging onto the road opposite Braithwaite Hall car park.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 19^th August, 2025.

(b) This route is cycleable from Far Sawrey, passing the tarns, to reaching the forestry track. It may be possible to exit the forestry track to the north rather than taking the footpath through the forestry which is definitely unpassable for bicycles. Those just wanting to see Moss Eccles Tarn and Wise Een Tarn could cycle in and out.

(c) It is possible to cycle in on the return track from the telephoen box in Far Sawrey but you won't be able to get much past where the return path merged with a track marked * in the route. From there, you could walk to the trig point.

(d) Hilltop Farmhouse in Near Sawrey is owned by The National Trust. The famous children's author Beatrix Potter lived there for a few years from 1905 before moving to Castle Cottage on marrying William Heelis in 1913 where she lived until she died in 1943. Her body was cremated and her ashes scattered in the locality so she has no grave in a local churchyard. In the 1970s, many Hawkshead locals who would have been children when she was alive did not have fond memories of her and many said that if they went onto her land then she, Beatrix Potter, would set her dogs loose on them! Parking is a nightmare in the summer with very little roadside parking available but some very expensive private parking, not National Trust who have no parking. However, the Mountain Goat Bus/Minibus company run regular buses from Hawkhead and, presumably, the Windermere ferry. The timetable is easily found online.

(e) The Tower Bank Arms is close to Hilltop Cottage and the freehold is owned by the National Trust with the pub being tenanted. It is now a very respectable and high class 4* establishment but in the 1970s, it was a run down, not well looked after public house which was mainly only frequented by locals wanting to drink well beyond closing time (!!!) so well done to the ntaional Trust for overseeing such a remarkable transformation.