Burney Hill

Tucked away in the northern reaches of the Yorkshire Dales, this modest Tump offers a quiet limestone escape. Its grassy slopes overlook the impressive Smardale Gill Viaduct and the winding Scandal Beck. It serves as a peaceful vantage point for surveying the transition from the lush Eden Valley to the high North Pennines.

• •The name likely derives from the Old English 'burna', meaning a stream, and 'eg', meaning an island or land elevated above marshy ground, referencing its position above the Scandal Beck.
• •The summit provides a superb perspective of the Smardale Gill Viaduct, a Grade II listed structure that formerly carried the South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway across the deep gorge below.
• •The lower slopes fall into the Smardale Gill Nature Reserve, which is one of the few places in England where the rare Scotch Argus butterfly can be found on the wing during late summer.
• •Looking west from the top, the view is dominated by the steep, rounded silhouettes of the Howgill Fells, while the limestone pavement of Great Asby Scar is clearly visible to the east.
• •At 426 metres, the hill remains a remarkably quiet spot; most visitors are content to look up at it from the viaduct rather than bother with the short, sharp pull to the summit.