Bowscale Fell

About Bowscale Fell

Rising above the village of Mungrisdale, this expansive Northern Fell offers a gentler alternative to its rugged neighbour, Blencathra. While its western slopes are smooth and grassy, the eastern face drops dramatically into the glacial hollow of Bowscale Tarn, a serene highlight on a circuit involving the nearby Bannerdale Crags.

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Did You Know?

• •The name Bowscale is rooted in Old Norse, likely deriving from 'bog-skali', which translates to a temporary shelter or hut situated by a river bend—a reference to its position above the River Caldew.
• •The fell is home to Bowscale Tarn, a classic corrie lake famously associated with a local legend of two immortal fish that were said to live there and converse with one another, a tale later immortalised in poetry by William Wordsworth.
• •Alfred Wainwright was a great admirer of the tarn, describing it as 'the most attractive of all small sheets of water' in the Lake District and recommending the ascent via the ancient path used by Victorian tourists.
• •From the summit, walkers are treated to a unique perspective of Blencathra’s northern face and the dramatic profile of Sharp Edge, along with far-reaching views across the Solway Firth to the hills of Dumfries and Galloway.
• •The summit plateau is so vast, level, and consistently grassy that in a thick mist, a walker could be forgiven for thinking they had stumbled onto a high-altitude bowling green rather than a Lake District peak.