High Street

Overview

High Street is a high, broad grassy mountain at 828m above sea level and its summit is the highest point in the far eastern part of the national park. The fell is named after the Roman road which ran over the summit.

Getting There

The two closest car parks to High Street are Hartsop and Mardale. Both of them roughly the same distance, but offer very different ascents. Hartsop is along the A592 just north of Kirkstone Pass about 7 miles from Ambleside or 3 miles south of Patterdale. Mardale Head is harder to reach as it is about 6 miles from Brampton along country roads to the south west – or about 10 miles from Shap. A slightly longer ascent which forms part of the Kentmere Horseshoe start off in the lovely valley of Kentmere. Kentmere is about 5 miles north of Staveley between Wintermere and Kendal.

To get to The Lake District itself, from the north follow the M6 south past Carlisle and to Kendal. Take the A591 towards Windermere from Kendal and look for the road off towards Kentmere and Staveley.

Red Tape

No Red Tape.

Camping

The nearest campsite is Sykeside about half a mile south of brothers water to the west. The campsite is one of only a handful of campsites open all year round.

There are many Inn’s and B&B’s fairly close by. The nearest to High Street being Kirkstone Pass Inn and Kirkstone Foot. There is a bunkhouse in Kentmere and near Sykeside Campsite.

External Links

High Street Information and Photos

Routes

Route 1 - Green
This route starts from the village of Hartsop. It follows the valley floor to the east up to Hayeswater. From there its a steep ascent north east and a quick trip up The Knott (to get another Wainwright in) and then a simple walk south to High Street. The route has well marked footpaths throughout.

Route 2 - Blue
Wainwright calls this the 'Connoisseurs Route' up High Street. Starting at Mardale the route follows a ridge almost due west, over Swine, Heron, Eagle and Rough Crags all the way up to the High Street Plateau.

Route 3 - Orange
This is the northern tip of the Kentmere Horseshoe. Starting off in Kentmere the route heads west, then north over Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick and Thornthwaite Crag up to High Street.

Route 4 - Red
This is the most direct route to High Street from the top of Kirkstone Pass. It follows St Ravens Edge (just a grassy ridge) up to Stoney Cove Pike and then a short descent and ascent to Thornthwaite Crag and onto High Street.

History

Sourece Wikipedia:
The Roman road crosses the fell on its journey between the forts ofBrocavum near Penrith and Galava at Ambleside. Situated in one of the quieter areas of the Lakes, the High Street range has quite gentle slopes with a flat summit plateau. It was these characteristics which persuaded Roman surveyors to build their road over the fell tops rather than through the valleys which, at the time, were densely forested and marshy thus making them susceptible to ambushes.

The fell's flat summit was also used as a venue for summer fairs by the local population in the 18th and 19th centuries. People from the surrounding valleys would gather every year on 12 July to return stray sheep to their owners; games and wrestling would also take place as well as horse racing. The summit of High Street is still known as Racecourse Hill and is so named on maps, and fell ponies can be found grazing occasionally on its summit. The last of these summer fairs was held in 1835.

Images

View High Street Image Gallery - 4 Images