Driving west from Ullswater towards Keswick, there is a point where the road opens out and a mountain appears on the northern skyline that most visitors have never seen before — and that stops them asking questions about whatever the expert storyteller was talking about.
Blencathra does this. It is one of those mountains that commands attention before you know what it is, before you know its height or its name or anything about it. Something about the shape — the way the southern face is riven into deep parallel gullies by millennia of erosion, the way the summit ridge breaks into multiple tops, the way the whole mass rises from the valley floor with almost theatrical abruptness — announces itself as significant.
It is, by any measure, one of the finest mountains in England.
Blencathra — sometimes called Saddleback, for the distinctive double-topped outline visible from the east — is a mountain in the northern Lake District reaching 868 metres (2,848 feet) above sea level. It stands largely alone, separated from the main mass of the northern fells by the Glenderaterra and St John's in the Vale valleys, and this isolation gives it a presence and visibility that more connected peaks lack.
It is not the highest mountain in the Lake District — Scafell Pike at 978 metres holds that distinction — but it is one of the most visually compelling. The southern face in particular, which is what you see from the A66 and from the approach road from Ullswater, is a masterclass in fell architecture: five great ridges — Blease Fell, Gategill Fell, Hall's Fell, Doddick Fell and Scales Fell — separated by four deep gullies, all converging on the summit ridge above.
The most dramatic of the ridges is Hall's Fell, which rises directly from Threlkeld village to the summit in an unbroken line — one of the finest ridge walks in the Lake District, narrow enough in its upper section to feel genuinely exposed, with the gullies falling away steeply on both sides.
Blencathra is built from two different rock sequences that tell the story of the Lake District's geological history in a single mountain.
The lower slopes and valley sides are Skiddaw Slate — the oldest rocks in the Lake District, formed from marine sediments deposited approximately 500 million years ago during the Ordovician period, before the volcanic episode that created the central fells. Skiddaw Slate is a soft, friable rock that weathers to smooth, rounded forms — the gentle lower slopes of Blencathra, covered in grass and bracken, are Skiddaw Slate.
Above a certain height — visible as a change in the profile of the fell from smooth to craggy — the rock changes to the harder volcanic material of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group. The upper ridges and summit of Blencathra, with their rocky crags and sharp outlines, are volcanic rock. The boundary between the two sequences runs roughly through the middle of the mountain's southern face.
This geological transition — from the ancient smooth sedimentary rocks to the younger, harder volcanic rocks — is visible on several mountains in the northern Lake District but nowhere more clearly than on Blencathra's southern face, where the change in rock type corresponds directly to a change in the mountain's appearance. Tim explains this transition on the tour, in the few minutes between the Ullswater section and the arrival in Keswick for lunch — a concise piece of geological storytelling that makes the whole northern Lake District landscape legible.
On the north-eastern face of Blencathra, above Scales Tarn, there is an arête — a narrow rock ridge — called Sharp Edge. It is one of the most celebrated scrambling routes in the Lake District, and one of the most demanding.
Sharp Edge is approximately 150 metres long and in places narrows to a ridge of exposed rock perhaps a metre wide, with steep drops on both sides. It requires confidence on exposed rock and a head for heights. In winter, covered in ice or snow, it becomes a serious mountaineering route requiring ice axe and crampons.
It is mentioned on our tours not because we visit it — Sharp Edge is accessible only on foot from Scales — but because it is part of the story of Blencathra as a mountain that rewards those who engage with it seriously. From the road, Sharp Edge is not visible; but knowing it exists on the far side of the summit changes how you look at the mountain.
In June 1818, the poet John Keats — then 22 years old, on a walking tour of the north of England and Scotland with his friend Charles Brown — walked over Skiddaw, the mountain directly north of Blencathra, in fog so thick he could see nothing. He described the experience in a letter to his brother Tom.
Keats knew Blencathra by sight from the road between Keswick and Penrith. His walking tour took him through this exact landscape — the same road we drive on our tours, with Blencathra on the same northern skyline. He was, by his own account, overwhelmed by the scale of the northern fells.
Keats died three years later, in Rome, at the age of 25. The Lake District walking tour of 1818 was one of the last significant outdoor adventures of his short life.
Blencathra is a Cumbric name — from the ancient Brittonic language spoken in the Lake District before the Norse settlers arrived in the 9th century and before the Norman French influence of the medieval period. Cumbric was closely related to Welsh, and the name Blencathra is generally interpreted as meaning something like summit of the demon or peak of the chair — though the exact interpretation is disputed.
The alternative name Saddleback — the outline of a saddle visible from certain angles — is straightforwardly descriptive and thoroughly English, which is why the Ordnance Survey used it for many years. Blencathra has now reasserted itself as the preferred name, partly through the advocacy of Alfred Wainwright, who famously considered Blencathra one of his favourite Lake District fells and described it in his Pictorial Guides with particular warmth.
We pass Blencathra on the The 10 Lakes Full-day Tour with Ullswater Cruise, driving west from Ullswater towards Keswick on the A66. The mountain fills the northern skyline for several miles of this section. Your expert storyteller will explain the geology of the southern face — the Skiddaw Slate lower slopes and the volcanic upper ridges — and describe the Hall's Fell ridge, Sharp Edge and the Keats connection as the mountain passes to the north.
Is Blencathra worth climbing?
Very much so — it is one of the finest mountains in the Lake District for both the walking and the views. The Hall's Fell ridge to the summit is one of the best ridge walks in the north of England. Sharp Edge is one of the most exciting scrambles outside of Snowdonia. Even the gentler routes via Blease Fell or Scales Fell are rewarding.
How long does it take to climb Blencathra?
From Threlkeld village at the foot of the mountain, the ascent via Hall's Fell takes approximately 2 to 2.5 hours. The return via the same route takes around 1.5 to 2 hours. Allow a full half day minimum.
Why is it sometimes called Saddleback?
The eastern profile of the mountain, visible from the Penrith direction, has a distinctive double-topped outline that resembles the shape of a saddle. The name Saddleback was the Ordnance Survey's preferred name for many years. Blencathra — the ancient Cumbric name — is now the standard form.
What is Sharp Edge?
A narrow rock arête on the north-eastern face of Blencathra, above Scales Tarn. Approximately 150 metres of exposed ridge walking with steep drops on both sides. One of the most exciting scrambling routes in the Lake District, requiring a good head for heights.
Can I see Blencathra from Keswick?
Yes — Blencathra is visible to the east from Keswick town centre and from the shores of Derwentwater. From Keswick the double-topped profile is clearly visible. The best views of the dramatic southern face are from the A66 east of Keswick, or from the road between Ullswater and Keswick.
We pass Blencathra on our The 10 Lakes Full-day Tour with Ullswater Cruise. Check availability and book here.
