Red Screes and Middle Dodd from Ambleside

This is a circular 8.8-mile (14.2 km) loop from the centre of Ambleside, with 806 m of ascent and a realistic time of about 5 hours, or 4.5 to 6 hours if you stop for photos and lunch. It starts and finishes at the top of town by the post office and tourist information centre, so no shuttle or retracing is needed.

The two-summit pairing is the point here: Middle Dodd gives the valley-head drama, Red Screes gives the wide panorama.

• Street start up North Road and Kirkstone Road, then Sweden Bridge Lane and a track into Scandale.
• Follow Scandale Beck past cascades and through wetter ground near Scandale Bottom to Scandale Pass.
• A short deliberate off-path traverse out to Middle Dodd, with big views down to Brothers Water, then back to the col.
• The ridge above the crags to Red Screes, passing the summit tarn, trig point, cairns and windshelter.
• Descent by the southern ridge over boggy Snarker Moss, across ladder and step stiles, joining The Struggle back into Ambleside.

Rated 7/10. The climbing is sustained rather than technical, with no technical climbing established, but expect rough, rocky ground:

Mist makes the navigation notably harder, especially on the off-path traverse and around the crag edge.

• Very rough boulder and scree, peat, bog and steep grassy slopes.
• Indistinct paths in places, with real map-and-compass demands.
• A short section with no path at all on the way to Middle Dodd.
• Some exposure near crags between Middle Dodd and Red Screes.
• Rough, wet ground and repeated stiles on the lower southern ridge.

Views open to Ambleside and Windermere on the way up and back, with Brothers Water, Ullswater and the Fairfield high ground from the tops. The red-stained scree that names the fell is the durable signature of the walk, alongside the small summit tarn and the dry-stone walls threading the lower slopes.

Public access throughout on rights of way. Parking options include the main car park above Ambleside on the A591 toward Rydal, or Miller Field at the bottom of town, then a short walk to the town-centre start.

Dogs are allowed on the standard route, but keep them under close control around livestock and steep ground. Note that the stiles on the lower southern ridge have no dog gate or bypass, so a dog that cannot be lifted will struggle.