The Bowder Stone is a popular, and interesting feature near Grange, in the beautiful Borrowdale valley. We decided to combine a visit to this giant, fun rock with a 2.5 mile circular walk up King’s How – Grange Fell, which is a Wainwright, at 392 metres or 1286 feet.
There is a National Trust car park at grid reference 253168 on OS map OL4 (SatNav CA12 5XA). This is free for members, although please note it is a new machine, and you will need to scan your membership card to obtain a ticket, rather than just showing your sticker in your car.
From the car park, walk back down towards the road and you’ll see the sign for the Bowder Stone. Follow the well trodden path and enjoy exploring this huge beast of a rock. You can climb the ladder to the top and go all the way round it. But can you shake hands under it?? If it’s not too wet then you should be able to, and it’s supposed to bring good luck! There is some debate over whether it is a glacial erratic or a huge piece of rock fall from Bowder Crag above. You decide!
Continue onwards and cross the road, turning left, using the path next to the river for safety. It’s a busy road. Re-cross the road to get to the footpath that takes you up the fell.
It’s a little tricky in places, but essentially keep heading up, up and up until you can’t go up anymore! Then you’ve reached the top of King’s How – Grange Fell. It’s a bit of a slog up there with small children, but our 5 year old walked the whole way, with a bit of sweet encouragement! Our 3 year old required a fair bit of carrying in the sling on the climb. But once you plateau the summit, the views are simply stunning.
On a clear day you can see the Skiddaw range looming at the end of Derwentwater, and to the south the Scafell range in the distance. Plus if you look to the west, you can see another family favourite, Catbells.
Once you’ve soaked up as much of the views as you can, continue on northwards, starting the descent. Keep following the well trodden path down, through the forest and eventually going through a gate and heading north west. Towards the end, make sure you take the left fork which will lead you back to the car park, past some more large boulders.
The circuit is just over 2.5 miles. There’s a map in the photos below, but please don’t rely just on this, take a good map with you.
Once we’d finished the walk, we headed to the pub in Rosthwaite, but they stopped serving food at 2.30pm, and didn’t start the next service until 6pm. Worth noting if you’re hungry and looking forward to it!
For more walks like this, stay up to date and “like” our facebook page Family Walks and Pubs in the Lake District and follow us on Twitter @familywalklakes
Family Walks and Pubs in the Lake District 
Leave a comment