NORTH WEST
■Distance: 6½ miles/10.5km ■Time: 4-5 hours ■Grade: Moderate
Littledale is one of the Forest Of Bowland’s prettiest areas. It consists of several deep valleys filled with bluebell woods, above which are lush green pastures, all set against a backdrop of heather-clad moors. This undulating circuit passes through all of those environments. It also visits an abandoned 19thcentury church which somehow seems to exemplify the area’s peaceful and rather forgotten air. It may be just a few short miles in distance from the busyness of Lancaster and the M6 but Littledale is a million miles away in feel.
1 Start Take road E from parking area and descend the road towards Crossgill. Go over two bridges then climb to a junction. Turn R and follow road through Crossgill’s buildings. Just as the road turns sharply L, leave the road and pass through gate on R.
2 1¼ miles/2.2km Follow straight track through felled forestry to emerge into fields. Continue straight ahead passing the derelict church. When the track forks, go L, uphill to pass beneath a copse. Don’t go through gate ahead but instead pass to R of fence, to enter woods via small gate. Continue on an overgrown path between the fence to the L and woods to the R. Emerging, go slightly uphill then turn R to contour across bracken-clad slopes before dropping down on a quad bike track to a footbridge.
ROUTE
Start/parking Little Crag Car Park near Crossgill, LA2 9ET, grid ref SD545617 Is it for me?
Undulating on tracks, quiet roads, peaty moorland paths and sometimes boggy fields. No dogs allowed on the Access Land Stiles 5
PLANNING
Nearest town Lancaster (7 miles) Refreshments The Ship Inn at Caton (01524 770214) Public toilets Bull Beck Picnic Site, Caton, LA2 9QR Public transport None Maps OS Explorer OL41; Landranger 97
3 2½ miles/4km Don’t cross the footbridge. Instead turn back W to follow the track beside Closegill Beck. Go through a gate to enter woodland before emerging from it just short of Littledale Hall. Turn L on dri
