Great Stickle

About Great Stickle

Rising sharply above the Duddon Valley, this rocky outcrop offers a rugged experience that belies its modest elevation. As a Wainwright Outlying Fell, it provides a superb vantage point for surveying the Dunnerdale landscape, featuring a distinctively craggy summit that feels far more mountain-like than its three-hundred-metre height suggests.

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Did You Know?

• •The name 'Stickle' is derived from the Old Norse 'stikill', meaning a sharp peak or a prominent point. In this case, 'Great' distinguishes it from its smaller neighbour, Little Stickle, which sits just to the south.
• •Alfred Wainwright included the hill in his 'The Outlying Fells of Lakeland', noting that while the climb is short, the terrain is unusually rugged and the massive summit cairn is well worth the visit.
• •The summit offers an exceptional perspective on the Duddon Valley; on clear days, the view extends past the massive bulk of Black Combe to the Irish Sea, while the high peaks of the Scafell range dominate the northern horizon.
• •It is frequently climbed as part of a classic circuit of the Dunnerdale Fells, usually paired with the higher, cone-shaped peak of Caw and the nearby Stickle Pike.
• •At exactly 1,000.65 feet, the hill only just avoids the indignity of being demoted to three figures; it is a summit that understands the vital importance of those last eight inches.