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WALK 5

Ward’s Stone from Littledale

Start/Finish Roadside parking near Cragg farm (SD545617) Distance 17km (10½ miles) Total Ascent 582m (1909ft) Terrain Field paths, moorland tracks and rough moorland traverse Maps Explorer OL41 (Forest of Bowland and Ribblesdale)

This is a popular but demanding walk that needs a clear, settled day if you are to avoid the potential for confusion. It takes in high Bowland landscapes with far-reaching views, and visits the highest point in the Forest of Bowland.

Begin from the parking area at Little Crag above Littledale. Walk to the nearby road bend just above Cragg farm, and there leave the road for a footpath that finds an easy way across farmland to Skellow Barn, and here turn right, beside Sweet Beck, to reach the edge of Access Land and the open moors beyond.

A fairly clear path now climbs the moors, and rises to meet a broad track. Cross this and continue in the same direction, through gritstone outcrops and heather to intercept a path linking Clougha Pike to the west with Grit Fell to the east. Turn onto this and head for Grit Fell, and then basically keep going in a generally eastwards direction to reach the little rocky plateau of Ward’s Stone, unusual in having two trig pillars – that to the east is marginally the higher.