Pillow Mounds – Bentham Footpath Group

Rathmell

5.3 miles | 8.5 km | 147 m Ascent | 6.0 Naismith miles | Peter Lennard
In July 2024, we enjoyed a great walk from Rathmell up to Whelp Stone Crag, and that walk impressed on us that walking in and around Rathmell had a number of attractions:
The area is much less busy than the “honeypot” villages within the national park, and there are great views across the Ribble Valley to Settle and Langcliffe with Pen-y-Ghent in the distance. Add to this convenient parking and a short travel distance from Bentham, and Rathmell clearly has much to offer.
It’s also an attractive village in its own right with some interesting history. The walk includes an ancient packhorse bridge that would not be out of place on any Yorkshire Dales calendar, and toward the end we get to see llamas and alpacas.

Cunswick and Scout Scars

Easy

7.2 miles | 11.5 km | 298 m Ascent | 8.6 Naismith miles | George Sheridan
A quick glance at an OS map centred on Kendal shows a viewpoint just to the west of the town – not far from Underbarrow. This walk gave us the chance to see that view – and much more besides.
We start at a convenient free car park on the Underbarrow road, and head out along the top of Cunswick scar, with great views across Cunswick Fell to Kendal and beyond. We then drop down through Scar Wood, to skirt the edge of Cunswick Tarn and stroll past Cunswick Hall before taking a variety of woodland paths to Underbarrow.
From here we see Scout Scar looming ahead before climbing it at Barrowfield. Once at the top, we enjoy views across to the Lakeland fells, and Morecambe Bay before heading along the top of the scar to the viewpoint where we find an historic shelter and helpful graphics to identify the numerous hills we can see. A brief stroll downhill returns us to the car park.

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