Dove Crag

Climbing Dove Crag from Cow Bridge car park

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This route climbs Dove Crag from the National Trust's Cow Bridge car park, about 570 m from the hamlet of Hartsop. Parking is paid, with room for about 30 cars, at about 160 m. The Cow Bridge bus stop, about 50 m away, is served by the 508 and 509.

The line is 5.3 km long and gains about 690 m. It crosses Goldrill Beck at Cow Bridge within the first 50 m, then follows a gravel track past Brothers Water. The first 1.6 km stay level, between about 160 m and 170 m.

The track gives way to a path at about 1.7 km. The climb is gradual at first, to about 320 m at 3 km, and the route crosses Dovedale Beck at about 3.6 km and 405 m. The steepest part follows: between 3.9 km and 4.2 km the line rises from about 475 m to 625 m. The last 520 m are a path with a ground surface on the map, ending about 20 m short of the summit cairn at 792 m. None of the route is graded for difficulty on the map.

About 3.4 km of the line follows public footpaths and 3.2 km crosses open access land. From about 1.7 km, about 580 m is on a path the landowner opens by permission rather than public rights of way, and most of it is on neither, as are the first 35 m from the car park.

Dove Crag is 792 m high, 39th of the 214 Wainwrights by height, and belongs to the Eastern Fells in Book 1.

The GPX file is the same line, from the car park to the summit. Return the same way, or plan a longer round with a map before you set out.

Download the GPXFree. The route is © OpenStreetMap contributors and the file is released under the Open Database Licence: you may copy, share and adapt it.