Black Combe Summit Trail

An out-and-back of 4.7 miles total round trip from the small car park beside St Mary's Church at Whicham, just off the A595. Leave the car park by the footpath between the church and the old school, follow the short lane and track, then pick up the clear public bridleway that climbs across open fell all the way to the top. Budget around 3.5 hours at a walking pace with stops.

The payoff is the summit itself at 600 m (1,970 ft), marked by a trig point and a stone shelter, reached on a final cairned approach. You return the same way, so there is no navigation puzzle at the end of the day.

Call it a moderate to moderately strenuous hill walk: no scrambling or technical ground, but a sustained climb that rewards decent footwear.

• The first section is the hard part: a steady, genuinely steep pull straight off the valley floor.
• Above that the gradient eases and the walking becomes much more relaxed.
• Total ascent is in the region of 2,000 ft, spread unevenly with most of the work early.
• Surface is grass and open fell with a dirt bridleway, plus short stretches of lane and footway near the start.
• The track is generally well defined and easy to follow. In wet spells the steep lower section can run with water and behave more like a shallow stream bed.

Black Combe sits unusually close to the Irish Sea, which is why the view from the top is so much broader than the modest height suggests. On clear days the panorama can take in the coastline and open sea, Morecambe Bay, the western Lake District fells, and, when the air is exceptionally clean, the Isle of Man and distant land across the water toward Wales, Ireland and Scotland. That kind of long-range clarity is a bonus rather than a given.

The flip side is exposure. The fell is open, with no tree cover and nothing to break the wind once you are above the fields. There is no shelter beyond the summit windbreak.

The direct path is usually obvious, and walkers have found it easy to stay on in mist. Still, this is open fell, and low cloud removes the visual references that make the ground legible. If the summit is capped, carry a map and compass or a reliable GPS track and be prepared to turn around. Coming down blind on trackless grass slopes is the main way this walk goes wrong.

• Parking is the small car park beside St Mary's Church, with a donation box.
• No toilets and no reliable facilities at the trailhead or on the route. Carry all the water you need, since there is no reliable water facility here.
• Dogs are welcome on this public right of way, but the route crosses open fell grazed by livestock, so keep them under close control or on a lead.

There is a separate circular route on Black Combe of around 10.7 miles that takes in more varied and rougher ground. It is a different, much bigger day with weaker route markings in places, and not an extension of this walk.