After edging your way along an exposed ridge, clinging to bare rock and clambering breathlessly up a scree-covered trail, the 950m summit is won and your spirits soar as a line of craggy peaks suddenly fills the horizon.
Welcome to Helvellyn, England’s third highest mountain. Carved by ancient glaciers and still home to rare flora that has survived since the ice sheets retreated, this gnarly landscape presents adventurous walkers with exhilarating scrambles and a day that will never be forgotten.
Striding Edge and Swirral Edge are best tackled in dry, calm conditions and only by those with a head for heights. Mountaineering gear and experience are essential in winter conditions.
Looking for more walks nearby? Check out our trail guides to Scafell Pike, Blencathra and the Old Man of Coniston.
Discover more Lake District walks
Of all the national parks in Britain, the Lake District in North England is arguably the most celebrated – discover the area's fells, rivers, waters and towns with our guide to the best hikes in the Lake District National Park.
Helvellyn walk
7.7 miles/12.4km | 828m ascent | 5–6 hours | challenging
1. Glenridding
Leave Glenridding’s main car park, turn right along the A592 and immediately right again. Fork right beside the beck. At a minor road, go left, soon joining a gravel path to the right. Keep left at a path junction near a gate and bear right at a fork.
2. Catstye Cam
After the next gate, turn left. So begins the climb! It’s a slog at first, but then you are greeted by the uplifting sight of the pyramid-like Catstye Cam and Helvellyn’s fearsome cliffs.
3. Striding Edge
Soon after passing – and ignoring – a ladder stile in the wall, join a path from the left, making its way to Striding Edge. Either keep to the exciting, rocky apex, scrambling easily over one or two small dips, or use the more straightforward path to the right.
The biggest difficulty comes in the form of a rock tower, which has to be down-climbed with care. Face into the rock here. Having negotiated this, take a breather before the final, lung-bursting pull to Helvellyn’s extensive summit area – big enough to land a plane on as two airmen proved in 1926.
4. Helvellyn
At the top, bear right along the plateau’s edge, passing the memorial to Charles Gough, whose dog guarded her master’s dead body for three months after he fell from the mountain – an incident immortalised by William Wordsworth, Sir Walter Scott and Sir Edwin Landseer.
Pass the summit shelter on the way to the trig pillar, from where the far-reaching outlook takes in all of Lakeland as well as the North Pennines and some Scottish hills.
5. Swirral Edge
Keep to the fell edge to find the sprawling cairn marking the path on to Swirral Edge. Carefully descend right to negotiate this rocky ridge.
6. Red Tarn
About 500m after leaving Helvellyn’s plateau, fork right. Descend towards the dramatically located Red Tarn and then fork left to drop into the valley of Glenridding Beck, crossing two tributary bridges on the way.
7. Glenridding Beck
Bear left to cross a bridge over Glenridding Beck and turn right along a track near Greenside’s converted mine buildings. Back in Glenridding, turn right after the Fairlight Guesthouse to re-enter the car park.
Helvellyn and Striding Edge map
Helvellyn and Striding Edge walking route and map
