Sallows and Sour Howes from Staveley

The route

From Staveley, follow the valley up toward Kentmere before turning onto the old drove road of Garburn Pass. Where the pass tops out, the route breaks off along the ridge to Sallows, the summit of Kentmere Park at 516m, then continues around the horseshoe-shaped high ground to Sour Howes at 483m. Both are grassy, rounded tops rather than rocky fells, which is exactly why they get overlooked in favour of their higher neighbours.

The ground itself

Sallows and Sour Howes don't look much like classic Lake District fells from a distance, and that's part of the appeal. The running here is largely on grass and turf rather than rock, with sweeping views across to Wansfell Pike, and along the Yoke, Ill Bell and Froswick ridge to the north. Because neither summit draws a crowd, this is one of the quieter corners of the eastern fells even on a busy weekend.

Finding your way

The lack of dramatic terrain cuts both ways. Underfoot is straightforward and largely runnable, but the rounded, featureless tops give few obvious landmarks if cloud comes down, so it's easy to drift off line without realising. Garburn Pass itself is an old packhorse route and can be heavily rutted where trail bikes use it, which is worth knowing before you commit to running it at pace.

Getting back

The return drops back down toward Kentmere and follows the valley back into Staveley, closing a loop that never strays far from a path but still delivers a proper sense of remoteness for relatively little climbing. It's a good option when the bigger fells are socked in cloud, or when you want distance on your legs without a heavy vertical bill.

Why bother with the lesser fells

Plenty of runners tick off Kentmere's higher horseshoe and never come back for Sallows and Sour Howes, which is exactly why this pair stays quiet. There's no summit trig point moment here, no crowd at the top comparing photos - just a long, easy ridge, good running underfoot, and the kind of solitude that's increasingly hard to find on the more obvious Lakeland lines. Treat it as a recovery-week route or a low-key evening loop rather than a big-day objective, and it earns its place on the list.