Whernside is a mountain in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills ri ...

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

. It is the highest of the

Yorkshire Three Peaks The mountains of Whernside (), Ingleborough () and Pen-y-ghent () are collectively known as the Three Peaks. The peaks, which form part of the Pennine range, encircle the head of the valley of the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales National ...

, the other two being

Ingleborough Ingleborough () is the second-highest mountain in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks (the other two being Whernside and Pen-y-ghent), and is frequently climbed as part of the Three Peaks walk. A large part o ...

and

Pen-y-ghent Pen-y-ghent or Penyghent is a fell in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It is the lowest of Yorkshire's Three Peaks at ; the other two being Ingleborough and Whernside. It lies east of Horton in Ribblesdale. It has a number of interesting geologic ...

. It is the highest point in the

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

Mickle Fell Mickle Fell is a mountain in the Pennines, the range of hills and moors running down the middle of Northern England. It has a maximum elevation of . It lies slightly off the main watershed of the Pennines, about south of Cross Fell. After Cro ...

in southern

Teesdale Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Tees’s drainage basin, most water flows stem from or converge into said river, including the Skerne and Leven. Upper Teesdale, more commonly just Teesdale, falls ...

is the highest point within the boundaries of the historic county of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. and the

historic History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

with the summit lying on the county boundary with

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

. It is the fifteenth most prominent hill in England. In shape Whernside forms a long ridge, running roughly north-north-east to south-south-west. The mountain is north west of Ingleton and north of

Horton-in-Ribblesdale Horton in Ribblesdale is a small village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated in Ribblesdale on the Settle–Carlisle Railway to the west of Pen-y-ghent. Its population in the 2001 census ...

Name

The name, first recorded in 1208 as ''Querneside'', is of Old English origin. It is derived from ''cweorn'' '

quern Quern ( da, Kværn) is a former municipality in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populo ...

' or 'millstone' and ''sīde'' 'hillside', so means "hillside where millstones are found". The name is of the same origin as

Great Whernside Great Whernside is a fell in the Yorkshire Dales, England, not to be confused with Whernside, some to the west. Its summit is the highest point of the eastern flank of Wharfedale above Kettlewell. Great Whernside forms the watershed between Wh ...

, to the east, with which it is sometimes confused.

Routes

Whernside lies about northwest of

Ribblehead Viaduct The Ribblehead Viaduct or Batty Moss Viaduct carries the Settle–Carlisle railway across Batty Moss in the Ribble Valley at Ribblehead, in North Yorkshire, England. The viaduct, built by the Midland Railway, is north-west of Skipton and so ...

on the Settle–Carlisle Railway, and the mountain is commonly ascended from Ribblehead. There is a

public footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

from

Ribblehead Ribblehead is the area of moorland at the head of the River Ribble in the area known as Ribblesdale, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, England. Ribblehead is most notable for Ribblehead railway station and Ribblehead Viaduct on the Settl ...

that heads north via Smithy Hill and Grain Ings before turning west to Knoutberry Haw and then south to Whernside itself. From the summit the right of way heads initially south, then steeply south-east down a stepped path to the area known as Bruntscar. If climbed as part of the

Challenge (which is normally done

anti-clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite s ...

) Whernside is climbed following the route up from Ribblehead to descend to Bruntscar. There are, however, other routes up/down the mountain which are not rights of way but instead make use of

open access land The freedom to roam, or "everyman's right", is the general public's right to access certain public or privately owned land, lakes, and rivers for recreation and exercise. The right is sometimes called the right of public access to the wilderness ...

. A path heads directly west from the

triangulation pillar A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they a ...

to reach Deepdale Lane near White Shaw Moss. An alternative route heads directly north across Knoutberry Haw to pass Whernside Tarns and reaches the Craven Way at Boot of the Wold. Following the southern descent for , instead of turning steeply south-east towards Bruntscar a path continues south-west running adjacent to the wall passing Combe Scar and West Fell to reach the limestone pavements at Ewe's Top. Finally, south of the triangulation pillar an old route (partly fenced off) descends (initially very steeply) for to reach a road southwest of Winterscales Farm, this is the old route of the Three Peaks Challenge. Walkers should select this route with care as it is no longer maintained, boggy, badly eroded and requires extreme care over the steep ascent/descent. The current route of the Three Peaks fell race runs approximately north of this old ascent along open moor. A walk solely around Whernside starting at the junction of the Blea Moor and Gauber roads near the Station Inn at Ribblehead, to the top of Whernside and back via the bridleway from Bruntscar via the farms at Broadrake, Ivescar, Winterscales and Gunnerfleet (or the footpath from Blea Moor Sidings) is a distance of roughly .

Alfred Wainwright Alfred Wainwright MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume ''Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells'', published ...

in his 1970 ''Walks in Limestone Country'' describes three walks titled "Ascent of Whernside": a route from Ingleton, up the southwest ridge and returning via Ellerbeck, which he describes as "an exhilarating walk, a tonic for jaded minds, and a splendid exercise for the legs"; a route from Dent (alternatively, from a car parked nearer), following what is now the

Dales High Way A Dales High Way is a long-distance footpath in northern England. It is long and runs from Saltaire in West Yorkshire to Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria, roughly parallel to the line of the Settle and Carlisle Railway. Route The Dales High Wa ...

route onto the ridge and descending steeply west to Deepdale, "a fine walk on a fine day with excellent views ... the best of all routes up Whernside because of the lovely countryside from which it springs"; and the ascent from Ribblehead, via Force Gill with a direct return via Winterscales. On a clear day the views from the summit to the west can be spectacular, with views of the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

and

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is a large estuary in northwest England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second larges ...

, including (with the aid of binoculars)

Blackpool Tower Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the List of tallest buildings in the British Empire and the Commonwealth, tallest man m ...

, some away.

Notes

References

External links

* Computer generated summit panorama
Whernside

Photos of Whernside and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk

Listing on Peakbagger.com
{{Marilyns N Eng Marilyns of England Hewitts of England Peaks of the Yorkshire Dales Mountains and hills of Cumbria Nuttalls Sites of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire Yorkshire Three Peaks Highest points of English counties