Fairfield
873m (2865ft)
The Eastern Fells, The Lake District, Cumbria, England
You can find Fairfield & all the walks that climb it on these unique free-to-access Interactive Walk Planning Maps: (click/TAP to select)
1:25,000 scale OS Explorer Map (the ones with orange/yellow covers):
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See Fairfield and the surrounding tops on our free-to-access 'Google Style' Peak Bagging Maps:
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*Walk & bag all 35 Wainwrights in The Eastern Fells area of The Lake District in just 8 easy-to-follow circular walks.
*This version is marked with the walk routes you need to follow to Walk all 214 Wainwrights in just 59 walks. Click here for more information.
NB: Whether you print off a copy on to paper or download it to your phone, these PDF Peak Baggers Maps will prove incredibly useful when your are up there on the tops and you cannot get a phone signal!
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Vital Statistics:
| Length: | 7.5ml (12km) |
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| Ascent: | 3,116ft (950m) |
| Time: | 6 hrs |
| Grade: |  (Moderate) |
Route Summary:
Grasmere - Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk - Mill Bridge - Little Tongue - Seat Sandal - Grisedale Tarn - Fairfield - Rydal Head - Great Rigg - Stone Arthur - Grasmere
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Vital Statistics:
| Length: | 9.5ml (15km) |
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| Ascent: | 3,682ft (1,122m) |
| Time: | 7.25hrs |
| Grade: |  (Hard) |
Route Summary:
Grasmere - Mill Bridge - Little Tongue - Seat Sandal - Grisedale Tarn - Fairfield - Rydal Head - Great Rigg - Rydal Fell (Heron Pike North Top) - Heron Pike - Alcock Tarn - Grasmere
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Vital Statistics:
| Length: | 9.75ml (15.5km) |
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| Ascent: | 3,516ft (1,072m) |
| Time: | 7 hrs |
| Grade: | (Hard) |
Route Summary:
Patterdale - Arnison Crag - Birks - St Sunday Crag - Deepdale Hause - Cofa Pike - Fairfield - Rydal Head - Hart Crag - Blake Brow - Hartsop Above How - Hoggill Brow - Gale Crag - Bleaberry Knott - Cockley How - Bridgend - Patterdale
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Vital Statistics:
| Length: | 11ml (17.5km) |
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| Ascent: | 3,633ft (1,107m) |
| Time: | 7.75hrs |
| Grade: | (Hard) |
Route Summary:
Ambleside - Rydal - Nab Scar - Heron Pike - Rydal Fell (Heron Pike North Top) - Great Rigg - Fairfield - Rydal Head - Hart Crag - Dove Crag - High Pike (Scandale) - Low Pike (Scandale) - High Sweden Bridge - High Sweden Coppice - Ambleside
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Vital Statistics:
| Length: | 12.25ml (19.5km) |
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| Ascent: | 3,984ft (1,214m) |
| Time: | 8½ hrs |
| Grade: |  (Hard) |
Route Summary:
Ambleside - Rydal - Nab Scar - Heron Pike - Rydal Fell (Heron Pike North Top) - Greenhead Gill Head - Stone Arthur - Great Rigg - Fairfield - Rydal Head - Hart Crag - Dove Crag - High Pike (Scandale) - Low Pike (Scandale) - High Sweden Bridge - High Sweden Coppice - Ambleside
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Vital Statistics:
| Length: | 12.5ml (20km) |
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| Ascent: | 3,411ft (1,040m) |
| Time: | 8 hrs |
| Grade: | (Hard) |
Route Summary:
Ambleside - Rydal - Nab Scar - Heron Pike - Rydal Fell (Heron Pike North Top) - Great Rigg - Fairfield - Rydal Head - Hart Crag - Dove Crag - Little Hart Crag - Scandale Pass - Red Screes - Snarker Pike - Ambleside
Fellow go4awalkers who have already walked, climbed, summited & bagged Fairfield
Nick Tippins walked up Fairfield on July 2nd, 2025 [from/via/route] c247: The Fairfield Horseshoe from Ambleside [with] Fran
Paul Roddam climbed Fairfield on September 14th, 2024 [from/via/route] From Ambleside [with] Bri and Barber [weather] Wet
Chris Mcmanus bagged Fairfield on July 30th, 2024 [from/via/route] Circular route Hartsopp above How Hart Crag Fairfield St Sunday Birks Arnison [with] Joanne & Julie [weather] Sunny
Kate Peacock hiked Fairfield on May 18th, 2024 [from/via/route] Helen & Amber walked to this one with me. Anti-clockwise. Great walk. Busy due to events but people were friendly [with] Me & Skye [weather] Sunny with a nice breeze - Sunburnt as the breeze made me think it wasn't as hot
Christine Shepherd summited Fairfield on May 15th, 2005 [from/via/route] Patterdale Reached this summit again on 19.6.22 when I did the Fairfield Horseshoe for the sixth time. [with] Rebecca [weather] Hot & sunny - I also reached this summit twice with friends in 2009; once using walk c230 The Scandale Beck Horizon & once using Walk c247 'The Fairfield Horseshoe'. I then did this last walk again by myself on 26.3.12 & 25.3.18. The Scandale Beck walk was rather eventful as I tripped & broke three ribs just after leaving the summit; a painful walk down to Ambleside!
Melfyn Parry conquered Fairfield on November 21st, 2023 [from/via/route] Followed route C247 - walked out of Ambleside on the A591 & just after Scandale Bridge we crossed the road to follow the lane into the Rydal Hall estate, went passed the cafe & the Hall & then turned right to pass Rydal Mount. Here we veered left to take the stone steps path to the top of Nab Scar, again following a well defined path we were soon on Heron Pike. Continuing along the path with a slight detour to ascend Heron Pike north top. Continuing on to Great Rigg & onwards to Fairfield. We stopped here for lunch & the clouds lifted to give great views over towards Helvellyn & Sunday Crag. After pausing to take some photos we retraced our steps for a few metres before heading left to follow the ridge line to ascend Hart Crag, then Dove Crag & then High Pike. The undulating ridge takes you through some quite boggy areas & on to Low Pike & then down to High Sweden Bridge (a fascinating old bridge). All that was left to do from here was to follow the trail downwards in to Ambleside returning to the village by the Salutation Hotel. [with] DS [weather] Visibility was very good below 800m. By lunchtime the cloud had lifted even more to give clear views of the whole horseshoe. A dry day with sunny intervals, quite cold above 600m but very pleasant below this level. - Doing the walk in a clockwise direction as per C247 is best as the ascent anticlockwise would be much more of a cardio vascular workout.
David Higginbottom scaled Fairfield on February 8th, 2023 [from/via/route] Route 247 [with] Carolyn [weather] Very poor
James Hughes walked up Fairfield on June 26th, 2023 [from/via/route] Nab Scar, Heron Pike, Great Rigg, Fairfield, Hart Cragg, Dove Cragg, High Pike, Low Pike [with] Solo [weather] Four seasons in a day. Unsettled with showers at times, cold & misty around Fairfield, improved on descent into Ambleside. - Chatted with Andrew from Littleborough. Outraged by parking cost & then toilet fee. Pint at Golden Rule (Robinsons Cumbria Way) at end.
Rob Prikanowski climbed Fairfield on June 21st, 2023 [from/via/route] c247 [weather] Cloudy but dry, strong wind, top in the mist.
Angeline Grieveson bagged Fairfield on February 19th, 2023 [with] Dotty
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More Photographs & Pictures of views from, on or of Fairfield
My wife just below High Pike (Scandale) during a temperature inversion on the Fairfield Horseshoe
Clouds rolling in over Fairfield (left), Dollywaggon Pike and Nethermost Pike from Helvellyn
Windermere from Low Pike (Scandale) on the way back down from completing The Fairfield Horseshoe
Dunmail Raise and Grasmere Village in the valley with Helvellyn (left), Fairfield (centre) and Seat Scandal, Great Rigg and Heron Pike beyond from Lang How
*The Coniston Fells, The Langdale Pikes, High Raise, The Helvellyn Ridge, Fairfield, Seat Sandal, Great Rigg, Heron Pike and finally Loughrigg Fell from Lang How
*Codale Tarn (left) and Easedale Tarn from the Blea Rigg ridge with Helvellyn (left), Seat Sandal (centre) and Fairfield (right) on the horizon
Steel Fell, Gibson Knott and Helm Crag below Seat Sandal (with Helvellyn and Fairfield in mist beyond) from Tarn Crag summit cairn
Rays of sun shining through the clouds over Fairfield (left) and Dollywaggon Pike (right) and Grisedale from Brownend Plantation
Steve Taylor and Ian Matthews Golledge looking back over Ambleside & Lake Windermere as we ascended Nab scar and on up to Fairfield
. . . see all 95 walk photographs & pictures of views from, on or of Fairfield
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