The Easiest Route Up Loughrigg Fell Is Also the Most Beautiful One
When the UK finally leaned into summer last week, I took the hint.
Friday forecast: ☀️ all day. So I packed light, grabbed my lightweight expandable backpack, and boarded the first train north.
Destination: Lake District National Park, specifically the trail to Loughrigg Fell Circular, via AllTrails.
It wasn’t a technical hike. Just the right kind of steepness to make you feel like you earned the view, without ruining your knees. We chose the easier loop — roughly 4 hours, 335 meters of elevation, and constantly shifting views that made it feel like 10 different walks stitched together.
Here’s the route we followed:
🔶 Segment 1: From Ambleside Town Centre to Rydal Cave The town itself is charming in that sleepy, stone-building kind of way. A few cafés were already serving breakfast when we passed through. The trail starts easy — shaded, green, and close to water.
🔷 Segment 2: From Rydal Cave to Loughrigg Fell Summit The climb starts gradually but gets steeper near the top. Rydal Cave is wide and echoey — we lingered there for a bit, watching families explore and dogs dip their feet. Once you hit the summit ridge, the breeze picks up, and the sky opens wide. No filters needed. Just light and land.
🔴 Segment 3: Descending from Loughrigg Fell back to Ambleside We looped back toward town through rolling paths, past scattered sheep and quiet lakes. At one point, we sat on a stone wall and just listened — no service, no traffic, just summer and space.
What I love most about this walk is how accessible it is. No car needed if you’re based in Ambleside. No gear stress — I carried everything in a single lightweight expandable backpack: a windbreaker, water, a camera, and a sandwich that didn’t survive the first hour. But mostly, I carried time. Open, unstructured time.
We ended the day back in Ambleside with ice cream, muddy shoes, and just enough sunburn to prove we’d been outdoors.
Loughrigg isn’t a challenge for the sake of challenge.
It’s the kind of climb that clears your mind by degrees — gently, honestly, beautifully.
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