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Nine Standards Rigg

8.70 miles (14 km)

Ordnance Survey Map Open Streetmap Enjoy wonderful views over the Eden Valley on this climb to the summit of Hartley Fell in the North Pennines AONB. The walk starts from Kirkby Stephen and climbs to the 662 m (2,172 ft) summit on a mixture of country lanes and footpaths. You will pass a series of cairns about 10ft tall known as the Nine Standards. At the summit there is a trig point that marks the watershed divide across England. From here, rivers flow west toward the Irish Sea and east toward the North Sea. There are also wonderful views of Cross Fell, Great Dun Fell and the Howgills.
The walk is on Wainwright's Coast to Coast walking route so you could pick this up to continue your walking in the area.
To continue your walking in the area you can try our Kirkby Stephen Circular Walk and enjoy riverside paths along the River Eden.

Nine Standards Rigg OS Map Ordnance survey map - Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking

Nine Standards Rigg Open Street Map Open Streetmap - Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking

Further Information and Other Local Ideas

Near the site there's the interesting town of Brough. Here you'll find the historic ruins of the 11th century Brough Castle and some nice trails along the Swindale Beck.
For more walking ideas in the area see the North Pennines Walks page.

Photos

The Nine Standards, Cumbria - geograph.org.uk - 53635

The Nine Standards, Cumbria. The origin of these carefully constructed dry-stone cairns is unknown but they have stood on this wild site for many hundreds of years.

Repaired Nine Standards - geograph.org.uk - 1488648

The four most northerly cairns on Nine Standards Rigg have been very neatly rebuilt.

Topograph on Nine Standards Rigg - geograph.org.uk - 261164

Topograph at the summit. This handy topograph details all the sights you can view from this excellent viewpoint

On Nine Standards Rigg - geograph.org.uk - 1761719

The pimple on the horizon is the viewfinder pillar which can be confused for the trig pillar in mist. On the approach over Baxton Gill Head the Standards remain out of sight until the last moment.

Ascending Nine Standards Rigg - geograph.org.uk - 1761703

Above Rollinson Gill looking over Dukerdale and Nateby Common.

Long Rigg - geograph.org.uk - 509688

Long Rigg is an attractive little limestone scar that makes an interesting alternative approach to the main Nine Standards Rigg track. The farm at Cote Garth can just be seen to the left of the scar with the Eden valley beyond.

Elevation Profile

Video

GPS Files

GPX File

Nine Standards Rigg.gpx (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold>Download Linked File)

Memory Map Route

Nine Standards Rigg.mmo (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold >Download Linked File)