Walk Talkin Head and Simmerson Hill – Cumbria, England

Great walk starting from Talkin to the cairns of Talkin Head and Simmerson Hill. Easy dog-friendly walk with amazing view over the North Pennines.

Talkin Head and Simmerson Hill walk Information:

  • Distance: 10km
  • Duration: 3h
  • Level: Easy
  • Car park: Talkin, Brampton CA8 1LE, free parking spaces by the church.
  • Dog-friendly: Yes, however some fields might have livestocks.
Talkin, Cumbria

Middle of November, by a sunny Saturday morning, we decided to do the walk passing by the cairns at the summit of Talkin Head. I had found this walk in the Country Walking magazine. This walk is located in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty park between the Cumbria and North Yorkshire borders.

Talkin, Cumbria

We started the walk from the village of Talkin. It is a quiet village with a lovely church and a pub (if you wish to stop for a drink after your walk). Starting from the church, we followed the main road for a little while before turning right in the direction of a farm and cottages. The concrete road stops at the cottages.

Talkin Head, Cumbria
Cairns at the top of Talkin Head

The rest of the walk is off-road allowing Skye to run free. After the cottages, the wall enclosed path slightly goes up before entering a wood. At the end of the wood, the view open on the moors. Still following the path slowly going up, we arrive at the top of Talkin Head and the cairns.

Talkin, Cumbria

The view from the summit is absolutely amazing. We stopped there for a quick lunch as the wind was strong and to chat with another walker. We found out that the man was a walk guide books writer and that I have one of his books at home.

Talkin Head, Cumbria

Retracing our steps, we went in the direction of Simmerson Hill. We followed the edge of that hill, before going down in the direction of the farm. Passing the farm, we took the path going towards the wood. After crossing the wood, we retraced our steps back to the car park.

Talkin, Cumbria

This is a great walk, not too hard and with amazing views.

Have you done this walk?


29 thoughts on “Walk Talkin Head and Simmerson Hill – Cumbria, England

  1. Many years ago some friends and I did Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Walk, in relay (doing alternate sections in pairs). I missed the ‘leg’ which did 9 Standards Rigg, but my 2 mates told me that it was an arduous series of bogs. Your beautiful pictures and description tell a different story. So either they were kidding me (which is always likely) or the terrain has changed over the years. Did you see any bogs, or are they further on, across the moor? I’m also interested to know who the author was that you met..?

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      1. Many thanks for your reply Mélodie. We have several Cicerone books (I just counted 12 in one bookcase), but none are by him, though ours are for North Wales, Scotland and mainland Europe. I suggested to Cicerone that they should have a book about the Val d’Hérens in Switzerland (where we used to live) but they thought it might detract from Kev Reynold’s “Walking in the Valais”. Instead, they suggested I did an article for them and, for info, here it is: https://www.cicerone.co.uk/walking-in-the-val-dherens
        It’s a beautiful part of the world should you ever wish to visit. 😊

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