Claife Heights

About Claife Heights

Rising gently above the western shores of Windermere, this sprawling, forested plateau offers a tranquil alternative to the high fells. Its undulating tracks wind through larch and pine, leading to the rocky outcrop of High Blind How. From here, the reward is a superb perspective across the lake toward Bowness and the distant Coniston fells.

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Did You Know?

• •The name 'Claife' is derived from the Old Norse word kleif, meaning a hillside or a ridge. This accurately describes the long, elevated plateau that runs parallel to the western shore of Windermere for several miles.
• •Alfred Wainwright included this summit in his 'The Outlying Fells of Lakeland'. He appreciated the 'magnificent views' of the lake but warned walkers about the confusing network of forestry tracks that can make finding the true summit, High Blind How, surprisingly difficult.
• •On the lower eastern slopes sits Claife Viewing Station. Built in the 1790s, it featured windows with colored glass designed to show Windermere in different seasons—yellow for summer, orange for autumn, and light blue for winter—catering to the early 'Picturesque' movement of tourism.
• •The summit offers a celebrated view of the Coniston Fells to the west, with the distinctive profile of the Old Man of Coniston and Wetherlam clearly visible across the lower ground of Grizedale Forest.
• •It is one of the few places in the Lake District where the primary navigational hazard is not a sheer cliff or a peat bog, but the sudden and frequent relocation of 'permanent' forestry tracks by logging machinery.