Sleddale Forest

Tucked away above the quiet Wet Sleddale Reservoir, this high moorland expanse offers a rugged, solitary experience away from the tourist paths. Its peat-scarred plateau provides a raw perspective of the Far Eastern Fells, overlooking the remote Wasdale Pike and the long, rolling silhouettes of the Shap Fells.

• •The name Sleddale derives from the Old Norse 'slétta', meaning flat or level, and 'dalr', for valley. The term 'Forest' refers to its medieval status as a royal hunting ground rather than a collection of trees.
• •The hill features in Alfred Wainwright’s 'The Outlying Fells of Lakeland' as part of the Sleddale Horseshoe, a circuit he praised for its peace and quietude compared to the busier central fells.
• •The eastern slopes overlook Sleddale Hall, the isolated farmhouse that gained cult fame as 'Crow Crag' in the 1987 film Withnail and I.
• •As a listed Synge summit, it is a point of interest for peak-baggers seeking the quieter, less-trodden heights of the Lake District's eastern fringe.
• •Labeling this terrain a forest is a piece of historical irony; a walker is significantly more likely to lose a boot in a bog than find a tree to shelter under.