Helvellyn from Thirlmere

The route

This is the cleanest way up Helvellyn from the west. From Swirls car park on the A591 you cross Helvellyn Gill and climb the steep, rebuilt path up Browncove Crags, gaining height fast with Thirlmere dropping away behind you. The path is engineered and obvious, which makes this 641m of ascent runnable in sections that would be a grind on rougher ground. You top out near Helvellyn Lower Man (925m) before the final pull along the rim to the summit shelter at 950m.

The summit

Helvellyn is the third highest fell in England and a full Wainwright in their own right, sitting in the Eastern Fells. The summit plateau is broad and grassy, with the famous drop off the east face into Red Tarn and the arms of Striding Edge and Swirral Edge below you. On a clear day the view runs from the Scafells round to the Pennines. The trig point sits a short way south of the cross shelter, so touch both before you turn.

Why it works

The return reverses the line of ascent or, better, drops north over Lower Man and down the Whiteside zig-zags back to the gill. Either way it is fast, grassy descending where you can let the legs go. At 10.7km this is the route to bank Helvellyn on a tight schedule or as a first big fell run, and it links naturally into the longer Dodds and St Sunday outings if you want more. Wythburn church, a little south on the A591, gives an alternative start if Swirls is full, climbing steeply through forest to join the same ridge. Keep something back for the descent: the upper path is rocky underfoot and the gradient is unforgiving on tired quads, and in cold months the summit holds snow long after the valley is clear. Time it for a still, clear morning and you can have the third highest fell in England largely to yourself before the main path fills.