Harrison Stickle

Harrison Stickle

Overview

Harrison Stickle rises to 735.3 m above Great Langdale in the central Lake District. The catalogue summit is rock 6m SSE of cairn at NY 28173 07400, 735.3 m above sea level. The cairn is a nearby landmark, rather than the surveyed high point.

Complete summit circuit

The Langdale Pikes circuit starts and finishes at New Dungeon Ghyll car park, using the guide’s grid NY 295 064. It climbs Stickle Ghyll to Stickle Tarn and North Rake to Pavey Ark, then visits Thunacar Knott, Harrison Stickle, Pike of Stickle, Loft Crag and Thorn Crag. Return from the gap beside Loft Crag on the established zigzag path and follow the lower gates past the hotel to the same car park. The published estimate is approximately 8 km and 4½ hours for the whole circuit. There are hands-on steps on Pike of Stickle. Do not substitute the tarn-only walk’s figures or an ascent-only distance.

Terrain and safety

North Rake is steep and rocky. Jack’s Rake is a separate, exposed Grade 1 scramble across Pavey Ark’s cliff, often wet and slippery. Do not use it, Easy Gully or the Dungeon Ghyll ravine as an improvised shortcut. Keep clear of cliff edges; wet steps, loose stones and stream crossings demand care. Turn back if water is too high to cross safely. Carry navigation equipment and use a mountain forecast. Snow, ice, strong winds and low cloud greatly increase the seriousness of this terrain.

Access, parking and facilities

The National Trust lists Stickle Ghyll parking at NY 294 065, in the New Dungeon Ghyll area. Parking is paid, with members free, and toilets are in the car park. Lanty Slee’s Langdale occupies the former Sticklebarn. Stagecoach 516 serves the valley via Ambleside; check your stop, service date and last return. Keep dogs on leads around livestock, use established paths and obey local access and nesting-bird notices. Check BMC RAD before climbing or scrambling on the crags.

Geology and views

The Langdale Pikes expose rocks of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, including volcaniclastic sandstone, breccia and tuff in the Seathwaite Fell Formation. The named Harrison Stickle Member contains breccia, lapilli-tuff and pebbly sandstone; the overlying Pavey Ark Member also includes breccia and pebbly sandstone. Glacial erosion later shaped Great Langdale and its steep-sided mountain scenery.

In clear weather there are views along Great Langdale, down to Stickle Tarn and across Bowfell, Crinkle Crags, the Scafell range, Great Gable and the Helvellyn fells.

Name and history

Stickle is a local topographic term for a sharp point or peak. Robert Ferguson’s historical dictionary of Cumberland dialect explicitly gives Harrison Stickle and Pike o’ Stickle as examples.

Harrison Stickle is one of Wainwright’s Central Fells and a familiar part of the Langdale skyline. The wider valley has a long history of Neolithic stone-axe production, fell farming and rock climbing. George Macaulay Trevelyan’s gifts of farms to the National Trust helped protect the valley landscape.