Monday 20 April 2009

HOWGILL FELLS (April 2009)






The Howgill Fells are a small group of mountains in Cumbria in northern England, bounded approximately by a triangle drawn between Sedbergh, Kirkby Stephen and Tebay.

The southern half of the Howgill Fells is in the northwest corner of the Yorkshire Dales national park although the northern Howgills are outside the park.

They are separated from the Lake District to the west by the River Lune and in the east by the Dent fault, and are formed from Ordovician and Silurian rocks, rather than the Carboniferous limestone elsewhere in the Yorkshire Dales.

The southern Howgill Fells are a part of the national park outside the county of North Yorkshire, being just over the Cumbrian border.

Due to their position, the Howgill Fells give fine views of both the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. Cautley Spout, a waterfall in the south of the area, is considered to be England's highest waterfall, with a drop of about 180 m.

The Howgill Fells include two Marilyns: The Calf (676 m) and Yarlside (639 m), and a number of smaller peaks, including five Hewitts.