Wild camping in the Lake District

on - 10/05/2025

Whenever I talk to people about backpacking and wild camping in England their response is invariably “oh, so you like going to the Lakes?”, to which I look sheepish and admit I have never been. I have a couple of friends who have bought a house in Kendal who go on about it being lovely, a good friend at work who wild camps above the wall line and keeps telling me to go and most recently a housemate who reassures me I would love it.

It was the early May bank holiday when plans finally aligned and I found a free weekend to drive up and see if it lived up to three years worth of expectations. I had originally planned to be in Cornwall but couldn’t escape from work and so decided to wake up at 5am and drive to the Lake District instead. My friend at work recommended a route starting from Hardknott Pass, so I packed for three days and set off.

Unfortunately, my colder weather gear was already packed and with my parents in France ready for my May backpacking holiday so I had to make do with my Luxe pyramid tent and a summer sleeping quilt. One of the reasons for going was the wonderful weather in England but I was still slightly worried it would be too chilly. My landlord also kindly lent me a 52l rucksack which could barely fit everything in. Rather optimistically I thought I would be ultralight and cover vast distances, but alas, that was not to be.

Day 1 – Wrynose Pass to Scafell (Scafell Pike 977m)

I have been reading Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome and he titles his chapters after key events in the chapter, so following the same style day one of my Lakes trip would be: An early start and long drive.—Waterfalls.—The long steep climb.—Sudden crowds.—A sharp descent.—A stranger and the hunt for a secret Tarn.—Sunset.

I left the house at about 5.30am. I have spent the previous nine days on a work trip in India and my sleep schedule was all wackadoo anyway so adding one more night of minimal sleep didn’t have a major effect. The journey went without a hitch, there was very little traffic early on Saturday and I had a clear run all the way. What I hadn’t realised is that Eskdale where my friend had recommended was another hour past Kendal, twisting up increasingly smaller mountain lanes. I started to feel rather excited as I twisted my way up towards Wrynose Pass, with a steep drop one side and craggy mountains looming overhead.

I decided to park just after the col rather than winding on further, the view was incredible so why drive.

From my parking spot at Wrynose Breast I walked along the road a little way then struck up the hill, aiming to rejoin the River Esk at the waterfalls before Great Moss. I love a good waterfall and that section has plenty to scramble around.

My friend from work had recommended the Eskdale route as it’s the least popular. And it’s the one I would recommend for anyone wanting to avoid the crowds. I was blissfully alone until I neared the top and then I heard the murmur of crowds and emerged on top to a huge crowd of people as is always the case on any of the three peaks or Pen Y Fan.

I didn’t pause on Scafell Pike due to the crowds and immediately dropped down the other side to look for somewhere to camp. It was a steep descent but I spotted a couple of little tarns and aimed for them. Some exploring revealed a nice sheltered gully to pitch the tent in.

I prefer my water freshly sourced rather than from suspiciously sheepy looking tarns, so I left my bag and wandered off in search of a stream, water bladder in hand. After a fifteen minute ramble in widening circles I found one five minutes from where I had started, filled up, and started heading back.

As I got closer on the way back, I saw a man wandering around nearby, looking slightly puzzled in that classic look of someone who is definitely not lost just enthusiastically not sure where he is. As soon as he saw me, he made a beeline over and asked excitedly if I’d seen “the secret tarn”.
He explained that a guy on YouTube was really excited about a secret tarn in the area. I shrugged and said it sounded like a hyperbolic statement someone might say on YouTube. But maybe the shallow puddle next to us was it and he concurred it may be. Sensing an opportunity, I casually gestured widely and said my bag was around here somewhere. He pointed a few gullies over, showing that I’d overshot it by about ten feet.

Later, out of curiosity, I looked up this mysterious tarn and found a few posts talking about Broadcrag Tarn. It’s supposedly unmarked—except that it’s clearly marked on my OS map—and, interestingly, on the opposite side of Scafell to where we were. So no idea what he was looking for or where he thought he was.

Day 2 – Scafell to Ore Gap (Great Gable 899m, Allen Crags 785m, Esk Pike 985m)

Sunrise.—A goal set.—A long way down and a long way up again.—Majestic views of Wast Water.—A freezing wind causes middling concern.—Shivering in a tent and no sign of re-emergence.

The route for this walk was pretty fluid, before leaving I had gone onto plotaroute.com and happily drawn a 60km squiggle that meandered through valleys and up mountains. Day 1 taught me maybe that was unrealistic so I rebaselined the plan to be climbing up Great Gable and go from there.

I knew that the Lake District was mountainous but what nobody told me was just how steep it is. The up is endless, and the down is knee breakingly steep, lots of scrambling and scree slopes. It took the whole morning just getting down Scafell and up to Great Gable.

It was early afternoon when the wind got steadily colder and my compass showed it was a strong northerly. I was on the north side of Esk Pike and so pushed on to Ore Gap where I dropped down the valley a bit in the hope of finding somewhere out of the wind.

My concern grew as it was absolutely freezing and I only had my summer tent and sleeping bag. I eventually found somewhere that was slightly sheltered, pitched, filled the water bladder and climbed in at about 5pm. I think I must have caught a chill because I didn’t re-emerge until 7am the following day. I remember reading until 6pm and thinking maybe it would be more sensible to pack up, get to the car and get home. I remember deciding to cook up on the jetboil and enjoying the warmth it produced and then lying there feeling cold. Something was definitely wrong as 14 hours in a tent in May is too much!

Day 3 – Ore Gap to Wrynose Pass (Bow Fell 902m, Crinkle Crags 859m, Pike of Blisco)

An uncomfortable night causes restless sleep.—The wind remains.—Eventual return to Wrynose Pass.—Home

I had a restless night, I tend to use my clothes bag as a pillow when backpacking but as I got colder the clothes bag got smaller. By the end of the night I was wearing everything possible… T-shirt, long sleeved hiking shirt, fleece, warm jacket and waterproof jacket, long johns and walking trousers. All of which meant I didn’t have any pillow to speak of. I slept fitfully and woke up at 6am and decided to get going, I was worried about a mass exodus from the Lakes at the end of the bank holiday so aimed to get back to the car at about lunch time.