Distance 20 miles (32.1km)
Classification Challenging
Duration 13 hours over two days
Begins Great Langdale National Trust campsite
OS grid reference NY287058

Walk in a nutshell
This two-day adventure will have you throwing a tent in your rucksack and hitting the mountains. It very conveniently starts and ends at one campsite and stops overnight at another, divvying up the walking into two roughly equal days. The route takes in a swath of the western Lake District, encompassing the well‑known Langdale and Mickleden passes and the more remote and less trodden Wasdale. And just for good measure, it includes a yomp up to the top of the 978m Scafell Pike.

Why it's special
This is definitely one for honing your map and compass skills. Once you've left Great Langdale, you won't touch tarmac again until day's end at Wasdale. In between you'll cover some of the most sublime mountain walking country in England.

Keep your eyes peeled for
Rossett Gill – a steep, stony and tiring climb that drew the ire of no less a man than Alfred Wainwright. In his sketch of the gill he remarks, "Stones and boulders are not portrayed … They number millions." Further on, Scafell Pike is the highest mountain in England, while down below you will see Wastwater, the deepest lake in England (79m at its deepest point – memorise this now for future pub quizzes).

Stay overnight at
Day one ends at the National Trust's Wasdale Head campsite, which also has camping pods. Turn up on the day and they'll fit you in for one night if there's space (which there usually is). Or try the Wasdale Head Inn, which runs its own campsite. Day two ends back at the National Trust's Great Langdale campsite.

Recover afterwards
At the Hikers' Bar of the Old Dungeon Ghyll hotel in Great Langdale – an inn for over 300 years and something of an institution among the climbing fraternity.

If it's tipping down
There are no roads en route, so you'll just have to grin and bear it (and be thankful that the rain is at least filling the lakes).

How to get there
Take the train to Windermere or Lancaster and bus number 555 to Ambleside, where you can catch the Langdale Rambler 516 to Great Langdale.

Step by step

Day one

1 From Great Langdale National Trust campsite follow the road to the Old Dungeon Ghyll hotel, turn right and take the path behind the pub.

2 At the bottom of the valley head, bear left, following a sign for Rossett Gill (not Stake Pass). At the top of the gill, follow the clear path past Angle Tarn up to the shelter beyond the ridge line.

3 Bear left up to Esk Hause, then bear right up and down Broad Crag, before ascending Scafell Pike.

4 Return the same way to Esk Hause and shelter before turning left downhill between Great End and Seathwaite Fell.

5 In front of Sty Head bear left and continue downhill to Wasdale. Follow the path behind farms and houses to the Wasdale Head Inn. Wasdale Head National Trust campsite is a 10-minute walk on the left along the lane.

Day two

1 Return via Wasdale Head Inn and Sty Head to the shelter, where you bear right up to Esk Hause.

2 Bear left to Esk Pike and follow the path on to Ore Gap, then bearing right to Bow Fell.

3 At Three Tarns, bear left downhill via White Stones and the Band to Stool End and return via the field to Great Langdale campsite.