Great Borne

Great Borne acts as the stony gateway to the Ennerdale valley. The ascent from the lake is a notoriously steep, direct pull, but the summit plateau offers a sudden, surprising flatness with wide-reaching views over the coastal plain and the high Western fells.

• •The name is thought to stem from the Old English word 'burna', meaning a stream, likely referencing the various becks that drain the fell's steep northern and western flanks.
• •The fell’s western face, known as Herdus, consists of Ennerdale Granophyre, a hard igneous rock that forms the dramatic crags overlooking the lower reach of Ennerdale Water.
• •Great Borne is situated on a major geological contact zone where the younger Ennerdale Granophyre meets the much older sedimentary Skiddaw Slates, dating back nearly 500 million years.
• •Nearby Floutern Tarn, sitting in the depression between Great Borne and Hen Comb, is a classic glacial cirque tarn that often remains notoriously boggy and impassable on its southern edge.
• •Taking the direct route up the 'staircase' from Ennerdale is essentially a vertical treadmill of loose scree and steep grass; it’s the kind of path that makes you wonder if the fell is actively trying to push you back down.