Dale Head

Dale Head is a classic Lake District peak that dominates the head of Newlands Valley. Most hikers tackle it from Honister Pass for a steep but short ascent, rewarded by a famous stone cairn and an incredible, perfectly framed view straight down the valley toward Skiddaw.

• •The fell sits atop the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, and its southern slopes are heavily scarred by the Honister Slate Mine, which has been extracting high-quality green slate since the 1700s.
• •Its name is remarkably literal, deriving from the Old Norse 'dalr' and Old English 'heafod', simply meaning 'the top of the valley' in reference to its position at the apex of Newlands.
• •The summit is home to one of the most impressively built cairns in the Lake District; it was carefully reconstructed by a local shepherd and stands as a solid, man-sized pillar of slate.
• •The northern face drops dramatically into the Dalehead Crags, a popular spot for traditional rock climbing that offers a much more rugged character than the grassy southern slopes.
• •While the view from the top is a masterpiece, the initial climb from Honister is effectively a vertical treadmill of loose slate and grass that will have your calves questioning your life choices within ten minutes.