Great Calva and Knott from Mosedale

This is a circular loop of 7.4 miles (12 km) for the complete round, starting and finishing at the Grainsgill Beck bridge at the end of the road in Mosedale. It takes in two fells, Great Calva and Knott, on the quiet back side of Skiddaw. Most people should budget around 4.5 hours, and honestly the wet ground, the navigation and a few minutes standing on each top usually push it out rather than pull it in.

The payoff is the long valley approach earning you two summits in one go, plus a summit view from Great Calva that runs straight down the line of the Great Central Fault, with Skiddaw, Bakestall, Blencathra and Bowscale Fell all in the frame.

• From the bridge, follow the Cumbria Way up the valley beside the River Caldew on a rough cobbled track.
• Cross Burdell Gill and keep going to Wiley Gill, roughly three and a half miles of steady valley walking.
• Leave the main path and climb steeply beside the fence line to the summit of Great Calva.
• Drop to the col, then climb again to Knott, the high point of the day.
• Head east over open moor toward Coomb Height, then descend alongside Grainsgill Beck past the old mine workings back to the bridge.

Call it 7 out of 10. There is no scrambling and nothing technical, but it is long, remote and physically tiring. The ground is grass, moss, heather, peat and a lot of water, because this high moorland holds rainfall rather than shedding it. Expect a ford, boggy puddles, mossy moraines and peat hags. The fence-line pull onto Great Calva is short but genuinely steep, through heather, and there is a hurdle or stile complication at the fence corner. The climb toward Knott is grassy, wet and longer-feeling than it looks.

The valley track is obvious. Once you are up on the moor, paths become faint trods and in places, particularly around Little Calva and on the traverse toward Coomb Height, they effectively disappear. You want map and compass skills here, not just a phone. The tops are open and windy with nothing to hide behind, and in cloud this is a place where a mistake costs you a long detour. Following the river on the outward leg is a useful bearing check.

It is also very quiet. Meeting only two or three groups in four hours is normal, which is part of the appeal and part of the risk.

Mosedale and the Caldew give a clean, empty valley approach with heather and bracken on the flanks. The descent beside Grainsgill Beck passes the remains of the Carrock tungsten (wolfram) mine, an unusual bit of Lakeland industrial history that gives the last mile some character after the open ground. Keep out of the workings and stick to the track.

• Go after a dry spell if you can. This route is far more pleasant when the peat has firmed up, and dreary when it has not.
• Clear air matters more than sunshine, since the whole point of both summits is the long view.
• For light, an early start puts the sun behind you on the valley walk and gives you soft light on the tops; late afternoon works well for the Skiddaw and Blencathra skyline, but leave real daylight margin for the trackless section.
• Dogs are allowed, but must be under close control. On open access land they must be on a fixed lead no longer than 2 m from 1 March to 31 July, and around livestock at any time of year. Be aware there is a stile with no dog provision and fencing to negotiate, so it is not a carefree dog day out.
• No permit needed. This is ordinary public path and open-access fell.

Parking is a small, rough roadside and grass area by the Grainsgill Beck bridge at the end of the narrow road, space for very few cars. The road up the valley has potholes, and beyond the bridge it is rough and not suitable for ordinary low-clearance cars. Park without blocking the road or gateways, and have a plan B if the pull-in is taken.

The first three and a half miles are a slog: functional, riverside, and not especially exciting. You do the same valley again in reverse mood on the way back down. In return you get solitude, two summits and a genuinely wild stretch of moor. If you only want Great Calva, there is a slightly longer circuit of about 7.7 miles from Peter House Farm that covers similar remote heather and bog country without the Knott extension. If wet feet, faint paths and wind on exposed tops sound like a bad day out, pick something else.