UKC

i am taking my non climbing girlfriend to the lake district for a bit of scrambling. it is a first for both of us and i was thinking of borrowdale. are there any good campsites anyone can suggest with good access to some scrambling.

In reply to calvomatteo: Dont go to borrowdale, its the wettest place in britain, it always rains in borrowdale, even when its fine it drizzles!!!!

In reply to calvomatteo: I think there are four sites in the Borrowdale area, all much of a muchness for facilities. There's a National Trust one run by a farm at Grange on the right as you head towards Rosthwaite. Cross over the bridge at Grange and turn left. Lots of space in nice setting but sparse on facilities. There's another at Stonethwaite....go through Rosthwaite, turn left and follow the road. Again this is quiet, out of the way and there's oodles of room. Just after the left hand turning for Stonethwaite there's a site just on the left or you could carry on to Seathwite and camp at the farm. All have easy and quick access to scrambles and easy rock climbs. You can basically make the scrambling up as you go along. Why not nip over to Honister slate mine and take your girlf on the via ferrata at the slate mine?

In reply to Rawstron1: Ps even though Seathwaite is the wettest place in England, I've camped in Borrowdale four times in the last year and it's not rained once!!!

In reply to calvomatteo:

Stonethwaite's close to Cam Crag Ridge, a really good scramble that you can dodge the hardest bits on. Grange (Manety farm?) is right beside Nitting Haws, another good scramble. I'd go for Stonethwaite, the pub's closer.

In reply to calvomatteo:

This one has possibly the best facilities, though the campsites elsewhere are also good to stay on, although the hollows farm one has a very rough track to it so watch your sump if you visit it.

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=325615&Y=513985&A=Y&...

In reply to sutty:

I'm also sorting a trip to Borrowdale so I'm interested too.

Do you know if you have to book any of the sites? - I've stayed at Hollows before but not at the others.

In reply to Different Steve:

Never have booked in Borrowdale, and the Stonethwaite one holds thousands, well counted over 400 tents one day then got bored.

Some like Braithwaite or Castlerigg may want bookings some weekends in season, and the Patterdale ones can fill up at bank holidays.

In reply to calvomatteo:

The National Trust one I say, its great.

In reply to calvomatteo: Borrowdale? All you'll see is fat people pretending to hill walk for an hour before getting leathered in Keswick and 'orrible screaming university groups at Shepard's crag. Go to Wasdale.

In reply to Shaun L:

Good call. Wasdale is the sh*t.

Plus, you've got all that ace scrambling (back to the op) around Scafell Pike and Great Gable.

In reply to Shaun L: Iam glad somebody said it!

In reply to calvomatteo:
Wasdale is indeed nicer than Borrowdale, and Eskdale is nicer than both. However, they're also much farther away from almost anywhere, add at least an hour each way to your travelling time.

There's nothing wrong with Borrowdale, it gives easy access to all sorts of places including Scafell and Great Gable. But it seems to be traditional on UKC to say how horrible it is.

There's a very nice campsite at Grange, but it's quite a long way from the best scrambling. My favourite is the one on the bend on the main road just south of the Stonethwaite turn off. The Stonethwaite one is a bit closer to the hills but can be noisy.

There's also one at Seathwaite, which is handy for the Gable/Scafell area, but I haven't stayed there so can't comment.

In reply to IanJackson:

Me too. Fools everyone into thinking borrowdale is no good so they all f*ck off somewhere else and leave the best place in great britain for those of us who deserve it.

In reply to Shaun L: As a highly experienced climber I'm sure you have the right to dish one on the country's best walking & climbing valleys. Having visited Shepherd's Crag (note correct spelling and grammar, my opinionated friend) on many occasions, it is only the Diff and VDiff areas that ever get clogged with parties. Perhaps you climb at this grade and so couldn’t do anything else?

Your stereotypical attack on fat people is rather offensive – does everyone have to walk 25 miles to earn the right to go for a walk?

Please consider the word empathy.