Great Shunner Fell

About Great Shunner Fell

Rising as a massive peat-covered dome between Wensleydale and Swaledale, this is the highest point in the Yorkshire Dales’ northern fells. Crossing the broad summit via the paved Pennine Way, walkers find a substantial stone windbreak offering shelter and sweeping views of the Three Peaks to the south and Cross Fell to the north.

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Did You Know?

• •The name likely derives from the Old Norse 'sjón-ari', meaning 'look-out hill'. In a landscape of deep valleys, its massive bulk provides a vantage point that lives up to the name, overlooking the head of both Swaledale and Wensleydale.
• •As the third-highest peak in the Yorkshire Dales, it serves as the high point of the Pennine Way's journey through the national park. Before the installation of extensive flagstone paving, this section was notorious among long-distance walkers for its deep, energy-sapping peat bogs.
• •The summit is crowned by a distinctive cross-shaped drystone shelter. This design ensures that no matter which direction the Pennine winds are howling from, there is always one quadrant providing a lee for a quick lunch break.
• •On a clear day, the view south is dominated by the 'Three Peaks' of Ingleborough, Whernside, and Pen-y-ghent. Looking north-west, the horizon is broken by the distant, craggy silhouettes of the Lake District fells and the high plateau of Cross Fell.
• •Despite its height, the fell was once a site of industry. Remnants of coal pits can still be found on its upper slopes, where miners extracted low-quality 'smut' coal to fuel lime kilns in the valleys below during the 18th and 19th centuries.