Wild Boar Fell, Swarth Fell and Swarth Fell Pike from Mallerstang
Three summits joined by a single ridge, a ruined castle at the start, and some of the emptiest fell running anywhere in the Yorkshire Dales boundary.
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A remote 22.7km loop from Mallerstang over Wild Boar Fell, Swarth Fell and Swarth Fell Pike, three connected summits above the Eden headwaters, with 708m of climbing.
Three summits joined by a single ridge, a ruined castle at the start, and some of the emptiest fell running anywhere in the Yorkshire Dales boundary.
The route
Mallerstang is a valley most visitors to the Dales never see, tucked away at the northern edge of the National Park along the Settle-Carlisle railway line. The route starts near Pendragon Castle, a ruined 12th century tower said in legend to have been built by King Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, and dwarfed by the fells rising steeply on either side of the valley.
Three summits
Wild Boar Fell is the first and highest of the three tops at around 708m, its broad, flat summit ringed with old boundary cairns and giving a proper sense of exposure across the Eden headwaters below. The ridge continues over Swarth Fell and the smaller Swarth Fell Pike, linked ground that stays high for a genuinely sustained stretch before the route drops back down towards the valley.
Why it works
At 22.7km with 708m of ascent, this route packs three named summits into one continuous outing, on ground that's about as remote as the Yorkshire Dales gets - the valley and fells here were only added to the National Park boundary in 2016, and it shows in how quiet the paths still are. If you want proper fell running without the crowds of the honeypot Dales routes, this is it.
Getting there
Parking at Pendragon Castle is limited to a small roadside layby - fine for a handful of cars, but arrive early on a nice weekend. Kirkby Stephen, a few kilometres north, has more services if you need them before or after. The Settle-Carlisle railway runs the length of the valley below, and the Dent Head and Ais Gill viaducts nearby are worth a look if you have time either side of the run - a reminder that this remote-feeling valley was, for a while, one of the most engineered stretches of railway in the country.
Exposed, flat summit ground that can be disorientating in cloud despite the lack of technical difficulty. Genuinely remote with limited phone signal and no realistic bail-out partway round. River crossings on the lower ground can be difficult after heavy rain.
Summits on this route
Safety on this route
- No signal? Text 999 — pre-register first: text register to 999
- Tell someone your route and expected return time before you head out
Leave No Trace
- Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but memories.
- Please respect the countryside and all its inhabitants.
- Dogs on leads near livestock, and around ground-nesting birds from March to July.
- Gates as you find them — open or closed, leave it that way for the farmer and the next runner.
- Take it all home — wrappers, peel, tissue, the lot. It doesn't count as biodegradable if you can still see it.
- Stick to the path where the ground either side is wet, planted, or nesting habitat.
Common questions
Run by us
Jason Millward has run this route and written it up from the ground. How we check routes
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Runner reports
Nobody's logged a run here yet. If you get out on it, a few lines about how it went helps the next person plan their day.
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