I am looking to do an evening activation of G/np-032 Cracoe Fell. It will be my first visit to this particular summit.
As I will be returning late at night, I don’t think the usual parking at the farm shop or public house are suitable., so any other parking around the village, or is my only other option the lay by near Rylstone?
I parked here, between Swinden Lane and the farm gate: Google Maps
It was after 4pm when I arrived so too late to park at the farm shop but it was still light and there were other cars parked along here.
I always park at the layby on the bend in Rylstone. From here I walk a short distance along the road (there is a pavement), cross over and take the road past the church. At the farm I turn right and follow the track and eventually turn left to follow the bridleway that heads up. It’s longer but it avoids walking on the road. The short cut that heads to the cross does have bracken that gets tall in summer. I was there a couple of weeks ago and it wasn’t too bad but it may be worse now (my route up G/NP-028 goes through some bracken and that is quite tall now). However, you are unlikely to get lost as the path is quite obvious and the wall is over to your right. You can avoid the bracken entirely if you don’t take the short cut. Instead keep following the track until it gets to the wall. Through the gate and turn left. The wall is just to your left - follow this pretty much all the way to the summit obelisk.
Presumably you’ll be going up in the light so you should be able to see how the route is for your later descent. How late are you planning to be? It goes dark pretty late at the moment so it may actually be in twilight for sometime. As long as you have a decent headtorch you should be fine.
I’ve done G/NP-032 31 times but never in the dark.
Thanks to Pete @MW0PJE and Colin @M1BUU for additional parking suggestions.
I had not noticed the lay-by just outside Cracoe.
I’ll take the advice from Richard @G4TGJ and take the longer route, using the wall on the left as a handrail. (on the right for the return).
Correct, I will be out for UKAC next week, so ascending around 1800 BST and decending around 2300 BST.
Not much moonlight about that evening. I know from experience that paths can look a whole lot different in the dark. Good head torch (and back-up) will be taken.
I don’t think that layby helps you if you take my route from Rylstone.
There is a direct route up from Cracoe but I wouldn’t recommend that in the dark as it is difficult to find the path down if you’ve never done it before.
If you decide to do the route on that report you can miss going through the bracken.
As you gain height past the small wooded area on your right you will see the Rylstone Cross to your left, as the ground flattens out where I go left through the bracken, ignore that and just carry on straight ahead in the track a little further and there is a left turn. Follow that and you will find yourself the other side of the wall fron the cross, just continue straight ahead on this track.
