Today’s walk was a short (less than 1 mile) adventure to see if we could find the Fairies Cave, near Whitbarrow Scar in South Lakeland. We were successful! It’s a small but very interesting limestone cave, hidden in the beautiful woodland surrounding Whitbarrow Scar.
We’ve walked this area before, when we did a loop up and over Whitbarrow Scar itself, and also when we walked the bluebells at Cowclose Woods (these are stunning, go early May to be amazed!) You could combine this cave with either of these walks.
So, you can park for free in the layby just past North Lodge, at grid reference 430872 on OS map OL7, just south of Pool Bank and Cowclose Woods. Approach either from the main A590, turning north at Witherslack. Or approach from the A5074, turning south at Crossthwaite. It’s a tiny, single track country lane, but well worth it for the peace!
Once parked, walked just under half a mile north east, along the clear footpath (can be very muddy when wet!) Describing exactly where the cave is situated is difficult, as it is quite well hidden and off the beaten track. After the 0.5 mile, you need to cross a wall on your left, and the cave is about 50 metres on your right, where the stream/river is. Hopefully this map will help… here is the exact location of the cave at GR 434877:
Stay on the east side of the fence, and keep walking round the bottom of the hill until you find the cave. Don’t forget your torch if you want to explore the caves, and enter at your own risk. We entered on a dry day, after a bit of a drought, but caves can fill with water quickly, so beware!
On the way back to the car, we found a brilliant tree swing, about 100 metres before the layby, on the right side. We had a load of fun swinging really high!
Here is the full route map, the layby for parking shown where the arrow is:
After our walk, we jumped in the car and headed south to join the A590 and then eastwards until we reached the Gilpin Bridge Inn. What a fantastic little pub! The staff were super friendly, we had some delicious grub and there was a lovely outdoor play area for the kids to run off some more energy! The menu and photos of the playground are below…
Walks near here include Cowclose Woods, Whitbarrow Scar, Grange Prom, Brown Robin Woods, Arnside Knott, Pepper Pot Silverdale, Sizergh Wild Trail, Low Sizergh Barn, Gummers How and many more!
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