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| Name: | Mickle Fell |
| Hill number: | 2711 |
| Height: | 790m / 2592ft |
| RHB Section: | 35A: The Northern Pennines |
| Nuttall/Wainwright area: | North Pennines - Western Fells |
| County/UA: | Durham |
| County (CoH): | Yorkshire, North Riding (CoH) |
| County (CoA): | Durham (CoA) |
| Catchment: | Tees |
| Class: | Marilyn, Hump, Simm, Hewitt, Nuttall, Historic County Top, Current County/UA Top, Administrative County Top, Buxton & Lewis, Bridge, Clem (Ma,Hu,Tu,Sim,Hew,N,CoH,CoU,CoA,BL,Bg,Cm) |
| Grid ref: | NY 80603 24545 |
| Summit feature: | small cairn c 20m NE of large cairn |
| Drop: | 212m |
| Col: | 578m NY747265  |
| OS map sheet(s): | (1:50k) 91 92 (1:25k) OL19N |
| Observations: | large cairn is at NY 80586 24534 |
| Survey: | Abney level |
| Comments: | B&L give NY805245 |
| Change log: | show changes for this hill entry |
| GPS data: | show GPS entries for this hill |
| Notes: |
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N.B. Some hill summits are on private property or on land where there is no public right of way. Permission should be sought from the landowner where access to a hill summit is through private land.
Please report via the contact page any logs you see below which describe or encourage acts of trespass. Please quote the hill number and hill name.
| Logged Descriptions (logged by 461 users, only the latest 50 shown - Show all) | By | Date of Ascent |
| I have finally made it to Mickle Fell having known that one day I would need to visit in order to complete my Nuttalls round. I walked over from Little Fell and it was really easy. I followed the advice of others and headed to the northern end of the fell, negotiated the bogs and then picked up the ATV track. I stopped at the shelters for a bite to eat and watched a short eared owl at close quarter via my binoculars as I did so. Then it was a straightforward walk to the summit of Mickle Fell where I met a fellow peak bagger. A lovely summit ridge with short and dry grass. | morgs4mountains | 30/03/2024 |
| Parked in a newish looking car park (6-8 cars) at the end of the road in Hilton. Took the old quarry track to the SE and up the zig zags to Long Fell, then a trod to Tinside Rigg. A path off the NE ridge eventually gave us sight of an atv track leading N, then NW on the Little Fell plateau near to the trig and hp. It continued N from the W side of the latter, past the shelters (lunch) on Arnside Rake and right up to the large cairn on Mickle Fell. The hp is just beyond. Returning to Arnside Rake we hacked across to Swarth Beck and picked up the (faint at first) path over the watershed and down into Scordale and eventually the track alongside Scordale Beck back to Hilton in the dark. A long day in the showers and low cloud and extremely wet underfoot. The upper Scordale valley worth another visit in better weather. Walk was on a Warcop public access day. With Gillian. | richard69 | 31/12/2023 |
| 5 of 8 from Hilton | robertphillips | 08/10/2023 |
| Finally after all this time we have bagged the notorious Mickle Fell! Like others we used the 8 mile out-and-back route along the county boundary fence to the summit. As it has been quite dry recently we had not much trouble with the terrain. It is rough but not too bad. Quite often on route there are trails here and there and with the two footbridges all water courses are easily crossed. The others streams being a matter of just stepping across. The only really boggy bit is near Hanging Seal. Avoid this part if possible. The final pull up the grass slopes is quite steep. The views today were far-reaching across the North Pennines wilderness and the Dales mountains. Just over 1 hour 30 to the top. As it was an open day and the weather was good I'm surprised we only saw 2 other people all day. 478m ascent. | DanTrig | 09/07/2023 |
| Cycled up to the cattle grid from Appleby. No phone signal on the road so set off up the permitted and informed the Guard-room I was on the mountain. Only one other person on the route and he was well ahead. easy to follow the fence. Returned the same way and cycled on to Middleton. | pclyndes | 28/05/2023 |
| Pleasant circuit from the Durham / Cumbria boundary on the B6276, taking in Mickle Fell and Little Fell and. Parked by cattle grid. Sort of path, (boggy line) across the moor. The ground improves towards the short sharp pull to the plateau. Followed the excellent grassy track towards Little Fell, turn off left uphill through a boggy section, and it passes within 200m of summit. Then to the lower top with trig and shelter. Descended SE on mainly good ground to Helbeck Fell, then track, bridleway and tarmac back to car. | Minto | 02/10/2022 |
| Revisit. From the cattle grid on the B6276. Followed faint track along boundary fence to summit. Two bridges on the way were not here last time and made the walk a lot easier. With Minto. | Dangerous Dave | 02/10/2022 |
| From Cow Green Reservoir car park, via Pennine Way (Cauldron Snout, Birkdale). Took left path at Moss Shop, crossed Maize Beck, followed fence line to summit of Mickle Fell. Return to right of way, and on to Scordale Head, ascent of Little Fell (since learned this not encouraged even on non-firing days, but is suggested on some websites), return to Scordale Head, and summit Murton Fell. Return via High Cup Gill Head and Pennine Way. | raymooremanx | 28/08/2022 |
| With permit (easy to get but allow 2-3 weeks); no signal for the supposedly-required phonecall. Up and down the fenceline after a tough Meldon Hill traverse; this is a little easier. The last county top (in my book) and the penultimate Hewitt. | poppiesrara | 28/08/2022 |
| Pleasant circuit from the Durham / Cumbria boundary on the B6276, taking in Long Fell, Tinside Rigg, Little Fell and Mickle Fell. Glad I took the advice to head north off Little Fell as I came across a wide track which took me easily to Mickle Fell avoiding the bogfest that the direct route would have delivered. | oldbagger27 | 07/08/2022 |
| Round of Long Fell, Tinside Rigg, Little Fell and Mickle Fell and a long trudge back along footpath alongside Swarth Beck and finally along Scordale back to Hilton. | Longwojo | 07/08/2022 |
| With Val. Permit easily and quickly obtained in advance. Southern Route. Rough going all the way. Heatwave and drought around the UK but drizzle on Mickle Fell so no views. Made sure the cairn was the summit one using GPS. | mike.hoult | 07/08/2022 |
| What a county top Mickle Fell truly is. It's certainly hard to do getting the permit and walking on the toughest boggy terrain in England, but it is very rewarding hearing complete silence of cars and only wildlife and your own footsteps. Me and my cousin followed the fence that we were told to follow, went up King's Pot, and then headed to the giant Cairn summit. Durham is certainly a county top I will never forget. | DavidHiner | 02/07/2022 |
| With permit. Southern route. | geralddavison | 06/03/2022 |
| Bad visibility. A stroll through the outer circle of Hell.From the south. | Pete Pozman | 23/12/2021 |
| Cross country slog from Murton Fell | conanharrod | 08/11/2021 |
| From Cow Green reservoir with permit. Followed official route up fence line and back the same way, connecting to Cow Green via the Pennine Way. Excellent weather. Terrain road/track on PW, then pathless, often boggy ground to fence line and pathless heather and bog towards the summit. Top is fine grass. There is no bridge across the Maizebeck but the water was low on my visit and easy to cross. Might be problematic after heavy rain/in spate. | NorthernWayfarer | 05/06/2021 |
| From car park at Cow Green Reservoir - with permit - to Mickle Fell using 'north route' [via Maize Beck (791,263) and Kings Pot (803,242)] | RobB | 02/05/2021 |
| From Hilton, over Little Fell, then down to north and back down ROW through Scordale. Glorious day, desolate of people | Rockdoctor | 03/04/2021 |
| A day of plausible denial. From Hilton. Conflicting MoD indicators MoD – flags not flying, lights not lit, barriers down. Along waymarked track SE to plantation, then up track to Long Fell mines; gunfire below. Up Roman Fell from col at NY761200, purgatorial veg; on to Tinside Rigg, tough veg. Bit of a path just before and after bridleway from Christy Bank, then ATV track to Little Fell. Corroded unexploded ordnance aplenty. From Little Fell a promising ATV track was abandoned several times as it kept veering off rather than going direct to Scorsdale Head, from which an ATV track sidles up SW along line of white posts to S top of Murton Fell, then it’s ruff’n’tuff N to the summit of Murton Fell. Ruff’n’tuff down to the mapped PF at the ‘shelters’. Down at the Murton CP, MoD display board says the area is off limits 6.5 days a week (access only after 13:00 on Sundays), with access to Little Fell only in escorted groups in July; there is no similar display board at Hilton – hence PD | Isbjorn | 25/08/2020 |
| yorkielad | 01/08/2020 | |
| Southern route along the fence / county boundary with a permit. After a week of rain, it was very soggy and the becks were high, but all just about crossable if you're good at long jump. Cloud base at 650m or so, so no views from the top. | Peter_W_Mitchell | 04/07/2020 |
| From Hilton village to the SW. Great walk up Scordale. Old lead mine workings visible. Lots of wild flowers, butterflies and birds. Stonechats, dippers, wheatears, wrens, wagtails, ravens and buzzards overhead. Grouse and Golden plovers on Mickle Fell. However very hard slog from the col at the top of Scordale down Swarth beck & then up to Mickle Fell. Path largely non existent, numerous bogs to wade through alternating with deep heather. low cloud, drizzle and rain. Can't remember any harder of the 200 plus Marilyns I've done. 8 hours trip. Other routes from S, SE or E may be better. Without the permit I would have chosen a better day. | gettingonabit | 04/07/2020 |
| Obtained permit from Warcop before Christmas. Parked at cattle grid to SE of Hill on B6276. Followed wire fence and boundary stones all the way to summit. Stayed on E side of fence as this was where all the footbridges were. Nearly made the mistake of thinking the summit was the 788m spot height when in fact it is further NE. | Wheelsy | 05/01/2020 |
| From carpark at Murton -> Murton Fell -> Bink Moss -> Mickle Fell -> Little Fell. Over 2 days with Nathan. | axoree | 04/01/2020 |
| From SE starting at cattle grid on a no live firing day. Phoned the military at Warcop and given the green light by a Nepalese officer who also offered to help me get an Everest permit ha ha. CG route is the shortest but there is much soft and wet ground, cycling in on longer routes may be better. | Topographer57 | 21/10/2019 |
| On a non-firing day with a permit from county boundary and back over Little Fell | IWC | 24/08/2019 |
| Armed with a permit on a no firing day we headed out on the Nuttall route from Hilton. Little Fell Summit was very disappointing but Mickle Fell more than made up for it (shame about the horrendous pathless terrain during the middle section) | Jephcote83 | 03/08/2019 |
| From NY 8314 1994 on a non-firing day. Followed fenceline to NY 8038 2250, then direct to Little Fell (Elsmslie) before heading up onto the Mickle Fell ridge for the main hill and on to the trig. Direct route back towards start point, then veered off to pick up the sub5 Helbeck Fell. | jonglew | 14/07/2019 |
| Hilton - Roman Fell - Long Fell - Tinside Rigg - Little Fell - Mickle Fell - Murton Fell - Scordale - Hilton. Looks impressive from the west, first clear summit of the day | Gary Heath | 13/07/2019 |
| Applied for permit by email 12 days previous & got no reply. Scheduled non firing day rang recorded message 0800 number on the day “no live firing” so went for it. From Durham / Cumbria border on official route following the fence. Someone at summit had a permit which arrived 5 weeks before the date. | rogreeves | 06/07/2019 |
| From car park near Cow Green Reservoir on non-firing day. | lenman | 05/05/2019 |
| On Close House track to trig and then across grass to summit. | peter4lc | 22/04/2019 |
| out ticking off some nuttalls in lovely weather conditions starting at GR NY 80287 22229 on the county boundary a walk mainly off cross country to the summit off mickle fell little fell also getting little fell trig in a bad way now and also arnside rake little fell arnside rake mickle fell pt 2547 and hilton fell | Darren-443 | 21/04/2019 |
| out ticking off some nuttalls in lovely weather conditions starting at GR NY 80287 22229 on the county boundary a walk mainly off cross country to the summit off mickle fell little fell also getting little fell trig in a bad way now and also arnside rake little fell arnside rake mickle fell pt 2547 and hilton fell | my-list | 21/04/2019 |
| From cattle grid on road to south, with permit. Cold dry weather meant that conditions underfoot were generally good. | Winterfloodian | 05/01/2019 |
| Grains o'th'Beck, Close House, High Crag, trig then summit. 21k. | NormanW | 14/10/2018 |
| With Andy and permit from the south | colinfielding | 07/10/2018 |
| From Cattle grid on Cumbria/Durham border. Followed fence upto the plateau. Some areas wet underfoot, but not to bad. Howling wind on top though. With Colin and MOD permit. | Andrew Pearson | 07/10/2018 |
| With Deborah. Southern route, boggy as expected although the best way through/round was often by the fence. Round trip took 4hrs 40 minutes including lunch. Possible to do it in less but the weather was glorious and there was no need to hurry. | Donpeblo | 06/10/2018 |
| Mickle Fell pt 2547 > Mickle Fell > Mickle Fell trig > Long Crag > Long Crag East Top > Lang Hurst from GR: NY 81129 30862 | ronaldo333 | 29/09/2018 |
| Mickle Fell pt 2547 > Mickle Fell > Mickle Fell trig > Long Crag > Long Crag East Top > Lang Hurst from GR: NY 81129 30862 | Hippster | 29/09/2018 |
| After more than two years in the planning we set off from Cow Green Reservoir with our access permit and Chris. Unfortunately we omitted to take a pontoon bridge with us which made crossing the Maize Beck more difficult and ended with a long detour upstream looking for a crossing point and eventually finding a footbridge. The ascent alongside the boundary fence proved to be quite a slog but we were rewarded with magnificent views all around at the top. Although access days are limited we saw no one else on the hill. | Newton Maximus | 25/08/2018 |
| From 392 track end above Grains o’ th’ Beck. Easy if a little long walk along track then 4x4 path to summit. Sunny day. Warcop site very helpful to access days and phone line. The from this direction you only just cross into MOD land. | N.Morters | 04/08/2018 |
| From Cow Green. Permit from MOD. | solitaryfellwanderer | 07/07/2018 |
| Murton Fell - Mickle Fell - Little Fell - Long Fell - Tinside Rigg. | tomd4 | 05/05/2018 |
| Parked at boundary wall between Cumbria and county Durham. Followed the wall all the way to Plateau then walked to the carn summit. Return via trig and then on track down to a bridge then cross country to boundary fence and back to the car | jmistry86 | 01/04/2018 |
| With K and RM with a permit. Usual route from cattle grid to the south. Harder work than anticipated. Snow on the summit and above average visibility. | Ashley | 01/04/2018 |
| From Langdon Beck YH, hired for Richard's birthday. Snowy ascent via impressive Cauldron Snout , and an interesting crossing of Maize brook in large ( declining) group; also visited trig. inevitable icy descent in darkness. Great day followed by roast pork dinner. Second ascent. | Denise | 03/02/2018 |
| For Richard M s birthday - a large group of 10/20 from Langdon Beck taking advantage of a military free day. Mist and Lots of snow. | davechaffey | 03/02/2018 |