Smardale Gill Nature Reserve to Nettle Hill loop - 🐝🐝+ Group

This walk starts from the Smardale Gill Nature Reserve car park. We take the route behind Smardale Hall towards Smardale Fell, which climbs gently with views across to the Howgills and as far as Wild Boar Fell. Following a clear route we descend, with views back towards Smardale Gill Viaduct, to cross Scandal Beck at a pretty stone bridge. We briefly follow a farm track before taking a path on our right, up Sandy Bank and into open access land. At Begin Hill we follow the line of a wall to Bents Hill as we continue our ascent to the twin summits of Nettle Hill at 382m, one is marked with a trig point. From here there are panoramic views, if the weather is kind. 

We descend the hill heading towards Crosby Garrett. Before the village we take a track on our right and shortly after a footpath across fields heading towards Crag Wood. We pass the site of iron age settlements above the Smardale Gill Nature Reserve. As we descend we skirt around a disused quarry and join a path that was once the old railway line.  This disused railway line was the South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway. We pass by the double lime kilns which were used to produce lime for the construction of the Smardale Gill Viaduct. We follow this obvious route over the Smardale Gill viaduct and all the way back to the our starting point.