Walk around Sale fell – Lake District, England

Published on by Mélodie

Moderate circular walk around the Wainwright’s summit of Sale fell. Great views on the surrounding valleys and Bassenthwaite lake.

Randonnée de difficulté moyenne autour du fameux sommet de Sale Fell qui fait partie des sommets Wainwright. De magnifiques vues sur les vallées environnantes et sur le lac de Bassenthwaite.

Information to do the walk around Sale Fell summit:

  • Distance: 6 km
  • Duration: 3h
  • Ascent: + 358 m
  • Level: Moderate
  • Car Park: Second little car park on the road to Forestry Commission office, Cockermouth (CA13 9YE). Free parking, Grid ref. NY 201 304
  • Pushchair friendly: No, the path on the side to Sale Fell is too narrow for an outdoor pushchair.
  • Dog friendly: Yes, no stiles but can have sheep in the fields
Download PDF and GPX of the Walk
Telecharger le PDF et GPX de la Randonnée
December 2022

I have actually done this walk three times. The first time was with my friend Stephanie during summer 2022. It is actually Stephanie who showed me this walk. I have then done the walk with Matt in late autumn 2022 and again with Matt’s parents this May 2024.

J’ai en fait fait cette randonnée trois fois. La première fois avec mon amie Stéphanie pendant l’été 2022. C’est d’ailleurs Stéphanie qui m’a montré cette randonnée. Puis je l’ai faite avec Matt en automne 2022 et puis à nouveau avec les parents de Matt en mai 2024.

Read about our walk to Sale Fell and Ling Fell summits here

June 2022 on the left, December 2022 on the right

Whilst walking with my friend I thought that it was a great easy walk to do and that I should come again with Matt. When I did it with Matt, I was 7 months pregnant and Matt asked me several times before leaving home if I was sure it was an easy walk. I told him yes- don’t worry it is easy. Actually doing it again I thought it is not as easy as I remembered it. When Matt’s parents came, we were looking for an easy walk and Matt and I thought let’s do that it is not really hard and I did it while I was pregnant so it must be fine. However, Matt’s parents did find it hard at some points. It is interesting to see how we each perceive the hardness of a walk differently and how our memory tricked us.

Pendant que je marchais avec mon amie je me suis dit que cette randonnée été facile et que je devrais la refaire avec Matt. Quand je l’ai faite avec Matt, j’étais enceinte de 7 mois et Matt me demanda plusieurs fois ce matin là avant de partir de la maison si vraiment c’était une randonnée facile. Je le rassurais plusieurs fois en lui disant que oui pas de soucis. Mais en fait en la faisant une deuxième fois, j’ai pensé que cette randonnée n’était pas aussi facile que dans mes souvenirs. Quand les parents de Matt sont venus, nous cherchions une randonnée facile et Matt et moi avons pensé à cette randonnée que nous ne pensions pas difficile vue que je l’avais faite enceinte. Malheureusement les parents de Matt ont trouvé certaines sections de la randonnée assez difficile. C’est intéressant de voir comment chaque personne perçoit la difficulté différemment et comment notre mémoire peut nous jouer des tours.

Kelswick farm, Sale fell, Lake District, Cumbria
Towards Kelswick farm

This walk starts from the little car park going towards the Forestry Commission office. We always started the walk by walking through the forest to bypass Sale fell summit by the left but there are several small paths in the forest to explore and if you like you can easily walk to the top of Sale Fell.

Cette randonnée commence par le petit parking sur la route allant vers le bureau de Forestry Commission. Nous avons toujours commencé cette randonnée par la forêt pour contourner le sommet de Sale Fell par la gauche mais il y a pleins de petit sentiers pour explorer la forêt et si vous voulez vous pouvez facilement marcher jusqu’en haut de Sale Fell.

Sale fell, Lake District, Cumbria
View on Bassenthwaite lake

After walking through the wood, we entered the valley at the bottom of Sale Fell that we followed until Kelswick Farm. We then continue to walk around Sale Fell where the path offered beautiful on Bassenthwaite Lake. The end of the walk is on the road.

Après avoir marché à travers le bois, nous sommes entrés dans la vallée en bas de Sale Fell que nous avons suivit jusqu’à la ferme de Kelswick. Nous avons continué à marcher autour de Sale Fell où nous avons eu de belles vues sur le lac de Bassenthwaite. La fin de la randonnée est sur la route.

Sale fell, Lake District, Cumbria
December 2022 – around the summit

This walk is short but very nice with great views. It does have some steep sections but overall it is a great sunday morning walk or evening walk. If you still want to explore a bit more you can stop at the Dubwath nature reserve that is nearby. If you fancy eating somewhere the train station at Bassenthwaite or the De brito Craig restaurant at Embleton are lovely.

Cette randonnée est assez courte mais très agréable et avec de belles vues. Il y a quelques portions assez pentues mais en général c’est une belle randonnée pour un dimanche matin ou le soir. Si vous souhaitez explorer un peu plus vous pouvez faire un arrêt par la réserve naturelle de Dubwath. Si vous souhaitez manger quelque part le train à Bassenthwaite ou le restaurant De Brito Craig à Embleton sont super.

Find more information about Dubwath Silver Nature reserve here.

Have you walked around Sale Fell? Any recommendation of walks around summits?

Avez vous déjà marché autour de Sale Fell? Avez vous recommandation de randonnées autour de sommets?

29 thoughts on “Walk around Sale fell – Lake District, England”

    1. Some paths can be very steep if you are not used to fell walking indeed. I have done several walks around the Lake District that I consider hard for me. Sometimes it is because the path is rough or very steep going down/up.

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      1. That would be nice 😊 my walking is restricted at the moment due to a minor procedure on my toe ☹️, but hopefully sometime in the autumn I’ll get up there and it would be good to organise a walk.

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  8. Lovely to see the route in different seasons. Difficulty is, as you say, subjective – we each have our own perspective on it! These days I find steep downhill sections are often worse on my knees than going uphill.

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    1. Some of the walks I like doing them several times during the year to see how nature changes depending on the season. We always discover new things.
      I am the same I struggled now with steep downhill paths.

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  9. Such a beautiful place to go for a walk, move away from the hustle and bustle of the city and surround yourself in nature. I love the views along the way where craggy hills begin to give way to rolling countryside. Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx

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  11. We were up on Sale Fell on Friday, headed up from Wythop Church to the summit and back down. Its one of my favourite little fells, although it was steeper than I remembered from my first ascent 7 or 8 years ago

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