Fairfield Horseshoe is a classic circular hillwalking

Hillwalking

In the British Isles, the terms hillwalking or fellwalking are commonly used to describe the recreational outdoor activity of walking on hills and mountains, often with the intention of visiting their summits...

 ridge walk route starting from Rydal

Rydal, Cumbria

Rydal is an English village located in the shire county of Cumbria, which is in North West England. Historically within Westmorland, the village of Rydal is situated on the A591 road....

 or Ambleside

Ambleside

Ambleside is a town in Cumbria, in North West England.Historically within the county of Westmorland, it is situated at the head of Windermere, England's largest lake...

 in the English Lake District

Lake District

The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...

 that takes in all the fells that surround the valley of the Rydal Beck.

The walk is extremely popular and follows well defined paths throughout with no real difficulties; however, care should be taken on the summit of Fairfield

Fairfield (Lake District)

Fairfield is a fell in the English Lake District. It is the highest of a group of hills in the Eastern Fells, standing to the south of the Helvellyn range.-Topography:...

 in poor visibility as the plateau of that mountain is very flat and can be quite confusing with the danger of steep drops to the north and west. The eastern side of the horseshoe from Low Sweden Bridge near Ambleside to the slopes of Hart Crag follows a high dry stone wall for six kilometres, making navigation simple even in poor weather conditions.

There is a Fairfield Horseshoe Fell Race, which takes place annually in May, first organised by the Lake District Mountain Trial Association in 1966. This fell race

Fell running

Fell running, also known as mountain running and hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty...

 is over 14 kilometres long with over 900 metres of ascent. The course record was set by Mark Roberts in 2000 with a time of 75 minutes 11 seconds.

The horseshoe walk is a 16 kilometre journey with 1100 metres of ascent and includes the peaks of:

• Low Pike
  Low Pike
  Low Pike is a small fell in the English Lake District. It has a modest height of 508 m and is situated three kilometres north of Ambleside. Low Pike is well seen from the streets of the town as the first prominent fell on the ridge which continues northwards for a further four kilometres to...
  
   (508 metres)
• High Pike
  High Pike (Scandale)
  High Pike is a fell in the English Lake District, located five kilometres north of Ambleside. Situated in the Eastern Fells, it can be confused with another Lake District High Pike in the Northern Fells. High Pike reaches a height of...
  
   (656 metres)
• Dove Crag
  Dove Crag
  Dove Crag is a fell in the English Lake District. Situated in the Eastern Fells of the national park, seven kilometres south-south-west of Glenridding, it reaches a height of 792 metres...
  
   (792 metres)
• Hart Crag
  Hart Crag
  Hart Crag is a fell in the English Lake District, being one of the Fairfield group of hills in the Eastern Fells.-Topography:The fell stands on the ridge running south east from Fairfield to Dove Crag, at the point where a long subsidiary spur sweeps off to the north east...
  
   (822 metres)
• Fairfield
  Fairfield (Lake District)
  Fairfield is a fell in the English Lake District. It is the highest of a group of hills in the Eastern Fells, standing to the south of the Helvellyn range.-Topography:...
  
   (873 metres)
• Great Rigg
  Great Rigg
  Great Rigg is a fell in the English Lake District, it is situated 7 kilometres north northwest of Ambleside and reaches a height of 766 metres . It is most often climbed as part of the Fairfield horseshoe, a 16 km circular walk which starts and finishes in Ambleside...
  
   (766 metres)
• Heron Pike
  Heron Pike
  Heron Pike is a fell in the English Lake District, two kilometres east of Grasmere. It is part of the Fairfield group in the Eastern Fells.-Topography:...
  
   (612 metres)
• Nab Scar
  Nab Scar
  Nab Scar is a fell in the English Lake District, an outlier of the Fairfield group in the Eastern Fells. It stands above Rydal Water.-Topography:...
  
  (440 metres)