(S/E) From the front door of the pub, walk up the hill (signposted to Kendal) for 325 metres. Pass a lane on the right, followed shortly by the entrance to Helsington Lodge.
(1) Ignoring a bridleway on the right, continue up the road to an S-bend; turn left onto a farm track with a footpath sign. Follow the drive through woodland for half a mile, level at first then gradually ascending. Just before the track leaves the wood, turn left onto a footpath at the head of a small valley. Follow the path round to the right, initially along the edge of the wood and then heading more deeply into the trees. Eventually, the path returns to the farm road.
(2) Turn left across a field to the farm. Ignore the track signposted to Scout Scar on the right and, level with the farmhouse, turn left at a fingerpost (“Garth Row Lane”) and walk downhill to a gate in a wall back into woodland. The path descends fairly steeply to another kissing gate. Cross a narrow field to a step stile over a wall. Follow a narrow path that winds through the trees to a forestry track. Turn right and then bear left, picking up a path on the right. This path winds through the craggy ground with clearfell to a gate into a field overlooking a house. Cross the field to the left of the house and garden to meet a path at the foot of a bank. Turn right towards the house and go through a gate. Beyond the house, join the drive and walk out to the road. Turn right past a house on the left and follow the lane to a house by a stream.
(3) Turn left down the driveway after the house (“Yew Tree House” and “Foxdene”) and follow it to another property, where a path on the right leads behind an outbuilding to a field gate. Beyond the gate, another footpath joins from the right; turn left and then bear right along a wall. The path winds pleasantly through the intermittently wooded country to emerge into another lane.
(4) Turn right past the imposing Thorns Villa and continue along the lane to a junction with a wider road on a sharp bend. Turn left here and walk downhill, passing a house on the right after 180 metres. Continue past further houses, then turn right into a metalled farm drive (with a sign for “Tranthwaite”). After quarter of a mile, just before a house on the left, go through a kissing gate on the right into a field. Walk uphill, following the power lines initially, then bear half right past a shallow disused quarry (ignoring the more obvious track heading towards Knott Farm). Above the quarry, go through a gate with a waymark. The path beyond is indistinct: follow the wall initially before bearing right through rocky outcrops, keeping left of the highest point. Descend to a gateway, then continue ahead to a road (the line of the right-of-way is to the left of the obvious way forward, and passes a waymark post).
(5) You should meet the road at a slight left-hand bend, with a stony, hedged byway (Gamblesmire Lane) leading off through a gate. Follow this byway over a low hill and then uphill through woodland. After a gate at the top of the wood, continue ahead along the wall. Switch to the right-hand side of the field boundary when the track from Cunswick Hall joins from the left, but continue in the same direction. After a gate, the track drops slightly before resuming the ascent towards wooded Cunswick Scar. After a second gate, the track swings right towards the wood, and the gradient increases. The track passes a well-preserved limekiln on the left and then goes through a gap in a wall. Turn right here (signposted to Scout Scar Car Park). The path follows the wall initially then crosses the field towards a wood, aiming slightly to the right of the mast. At the top of the field, a gate leads into the wood; shortly afterwards, take the path on the right, which winds through the wood and then emerges above a car park in a quarry. Follow the path round the top of the quarry to emerge on a road.
(6) Turn right past the car park entrance, then take the obvious path on the left through a spiked metal kissing gate. Follow the path up the slope, curving left to emerge above the cliffs of Scout Scar. Follow the limestone edge for about 400 metres to the domed viewing shelter known as the Mushroom. Beyond this, carry on along the edge for three quarters of a mile, until you reach a large cairn where a path crosses and the shorter route rejoins. Continue along the scar. After half a mile, the path drops right, into a small, wooded valley. Climb the other side then follow the wall on the right, before following the obvious path as it swings left, across the hillside to a gate. Beyond, the well-worn path descends gradually to the road.
(7) Turn right, then, at a junction on a bend, turn left onto the road to Helsington church. Immediately after the cattle grid, turn right at a footpath sign and follow the fence steeply downhill. At the bottom of the field, bear left to a wooden kissing gate, through which turn right and follow a narrow path through trees that shortly drops down to join a bridleway.
(8) Turn right and follow the bridleway down and up (ignoring a path off to the left) until you meet a road. Turn left past the Brigsteer sign and walk down the road with care back to the Wheatsheaf.(S/E)
