Lake District
Great Borne
616M
2020FT
About 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.
Key Statistics
Rank
249th Highest in Region
Parent Range
Western Fells
Prominence
?
113m
Nearest Town
Ennerdale and Kinniside
Geology
You’re walking on granite that was once molten rock, overlain by layers of mudstone that have hardened over time.
Classifications
Find It
Latitude
54.5349°N
Longitude
3.3554°W
Did You Know?
- •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.