Lake District
Loughrigg Fell
335M
1099FT
About Loughrigg Fell
Standing at the heart of the Lake District, this humble Marilyn punches well above its weight. Its complex, undulating summit is a maze of grassy hollows and rocky outcrops, offering famous panoramic views over Windermere, Rydal Water, and Grasmere. It is the quintessential introductory Wainwright, accessible yet endlessly interesting to explore.
Key Statistics
Rank
704th Highest in Region
Parent Range
Central Fells
Prominence
?
174.1m
Nearest Town
Skelwith Bridge
Geology
You are walking over ancient layers of volcanic ash and rocky debris. This rugged ground was forged by explosive eruptions and cooling flows of molten rock.
Classifications
Find It
Latitude
54.4375°N
Longitude
3.0084°W
Did You Know?
- •The name is a hybrid of Old Norse and Old English; 'Lough' refers to the surrounding lakes, while 'hriggr' is the Old Norse word for a ridge, perfectly describing its position as the ridge amongst the waters.
- •Alfred Wainwright devoted more pages to this fell than many higher peaks, praising its extraordinary complexity and noting that no other hill offers such a high reward of beauty for such a small amount of exertion.
- •On its northern flanks lie the Rydal Caves, large man-made caverns resulting from 19th-century slate quarrying. The main cave features a deep pool often crossed by stepping stones, offering a framed view toward the slopes of Nab Scar.
- •The summit provides a celebrated perspective of the Langdale Pikes to the west, while to the north, the entire Fairfield Horseshoe is laid out in a great grassy sweep above the waters of Rydal.
- •The fell is famously criss-crossed by what Wainwright called an 'extraordinary number of paths'; it remains one of the few places in the Lakes where you can be in sight of a pub in three different directions and still manage to get thoroughly turned around.