Braithwaite to Force Crag Mine

• Practical difficulty: 4/10, easy to moderate.
• Sampled climbing is around 252 m spread over the whole outward leg, so the gradient stays gradual rather than steep.
• No scrambling, no stiles, and no technical ground. The effort comes from steady distance and a long, slow ascent into the valley.
• Mobility scooters using the route need to be class 2 or 3.

A short access path leaves the parking area and joins the broad gravelled mine track, which then does almost all of the work. The track is wide, firm and consistently graded, which is why it suits pushchairs and wheeled access. It climbs into Coledale alongside the beck, with fells rising on both sides, and finishes at the mine approach. Turn around at the mine and retrace the same track back down, which is faster and mostly downhill.

The payoff is the valley itself: an open, treeless bowl of grass and scree with long views back down Coledale as you gain height. At the head of the walk sit the Force Crag Mine buildings and spoil slopes, worked for lead, zinc and barytes and the last working mine in the Lake District when it closed in 1991. Treat the buildings as a destination to look at from the access route rather than assuming you can go inside.

• The start is a small informal car park at the bottom of Whinlatter Pass, just outside Braithwaite.
• Parking is very limited and fills quickly. Do not park on the road.
• Braithwaite School offers parking at weekends and during school holidays, and there is additional parking in the village near the Methodist Church.
• Arriving early is the simplest way to avoid the parking squeeze.

Coledale is exposed and offers little shelter, so wind and rain feel stronger here than in the village, and warm layers plus a windproof are worth carrying year round. The gravel surface handles wet weather far better than the softer fell paths nearby. For photography, early morning and late afternoon light rakes across the valley sides and gives the best shape to the crags and spoil heaps; the mine buildings photograph well with the headwall behind them. Dogs are allowed on the track. Keep them under close control around livestock and near the mine workings.

The longer Coledale Low Round, about 5.6 miles with roughly 300 m of ascent, uses this same graded mine track for one leg but adds a rougher, sometimes indistinct grassy path and a beck crossing. It is a step up in navigation and footing, so choose it only if you are happy off a made surface.