Walk Fairy Steps from Sandside Village – Cumbria, England

Published on by Mélodie

An easy dog friendly walk to see the famous fairy steps rock formation. This walk offers a bit of seaside, forest, and countryside.

Une randonnée facile pour voir les fameuses formations rocheuses “Fairy steps”. Cette randonnée offre un peu de côte, forêt et campagne anglaise.

shore of Morecambe bay
Shore of Morecambe bay, start of the walk

Information to do the Fairy Steps from Sandside walk:

  • Distance: 7km
  • Duration: 3h
  • Ascent: 270m
  • Level: Easy
  • Car Park: Along the main road of Sandside village (Park road B5282) (nearby postcode LA11 6RG)
  • Dog Friendly: Several stiles or gaps in dry stone walls to cross. Livestock in some fields. No water and a bit of shadow in the forest.
Download PDF and GPX of the Walk
Telecharger le PDF et GPX de la Randonnée
Heading towards Hazelslack

Beginning of June, we met our friends Ella and Julian in Sandside for a walk to the Fairy Steps near Beetham in the south of Cumbria. The last time we met them for a walk it was to do the Hest Bank to Carnforth walk.

Début Juin, nous avons rejoint nos amis Ella et Julian pour faire la randonnée des “Fairy Steps” depuis le village de Sandside qui se situe proche de Beetham dans le sud du département de Cumbria. La dernière fois que nous les avions rejoint pour une randonnée c’était pour faire celle de Hest Bank jusqu’à Carnforth.

Find our walk from Hest Bank to Carnforth here.

I had found this walk in the Walking country magazine and had kept it on the side for the right occasion. Well the right time was that day of June, the weather was perfect and we wanted a small easy walk before going to the pub.

J’avais trouvé cette randonnée dans le magazine Walking Country et je l’avais mise de côté pour le moment venu. Et ce fût ce jour de Juin; le temps était parfait et nous voulions faire une petite randonnée facile avant d’aller au pub.

Hazelslack tower

This walk starts from the village of Sandside and follows the shore of the Morecambe bay before heading inland towards Hazelslack and the Fairy steps. The fairy steps are little stone steps naturally dividing a limestone rock formation. A legend says that if you can climb or descend them without touching the walls then your wish will be granted. However, the gap between both stair walls are very narrow and it is impossible to not touch them. It is even a bit tricky to squeeze towards the end of the stairs. But not for Skye, who surely enjoyed going up and down them several times.

Cette randonnée commence du village de Sandside et suit le rivage de la baie de Morecambe avant de partir dans les terres en direction d’Hazelslack et des “Fairy steps”. Les Fairy steps sont des marches naturellement formées dans une formation de roche calcaire. La légende dit que si vous pouvez monter ou descendre les marches sans toucher les parois alors votre voeux sera exaucé. Il faut dire que l’ouverture entre les deux parois est très étroit et il est impossible de ne pas les toucher. C’est même assez délicat de passer faire la fin des marches. Mais pas pour Skye qui a adoré et les a monté et descendu plusieurs fois.

Matt trying to climb the Fairy steps

After enjoying the view from the top of the limestone rock formation, we headed towards Beetham feel to walk through Longtail wood and Storth before rejoining the village of Sandside. We finished the day by a late lunch at the Albion pub in Arnside, which was very busy.

Après avoir profité de la vue en haut de la formation rocheuse, nous sommes partis en direction de Beetham feel pour traverser Longtail wood et Storth avant de rejoindre le village de Sandside. Nous avons fini la journée par un tardif déjeuner au pub Albion à Arnside. Il y avait beaucoup de monde à Arnside et au pub.

Read our walk around Arnside and Silverdale here.

View from the top of the Fairy Steps

It was a lovely day exploring south of Cumbria and we all enjoyed it.

Ce fût une très belle journée passé à explorer le sud de Cumbria que nous avons tous apprécié.

Have you been to the Fairy Steps?

Avez vous déjà été au Fairy Steps?

PS: What do you think of having both languages side by side instead of having them one below the other?

PS: Que pensez vous d’avoir les deux langues côte à côte plutôt que l’une en dessous de l’autre?

Find all our walks in Cumbria on this page. For activities to do it is here.

30 thoughts on “Walk Fairy Steps from Sandside Village – Cumbria, England”

  8. That’s a nice little walk that. The views across the estuary to the Lake District mountains are superb on a good day. I’ve only been up the fairy steps once. I didn’t get stuck, glad to say, but no wish☹️ I had to take my rucksack off to quitting that narrow gap!

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  10. What a beautiful walk! The fairy steps look so narrow, you’d have to be very tiny to squeeze through that gap without touching the sides. I really like having the French and English side by side. I’m learning French, so I like that I can read the French then read the English to check I’ve understood it correctly.

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