Causey Pike

Causey Pike is a fell in the English Lake District, standing in the Newlands Valley about five kilometres south-west of Keswick. It reaches 637 metres and is best known for its striking summit ‘knobble’ which is clearly visible from Derwentwater and Keswick. Alfred Wainwright included it in his Pictorial Guides, placing it in Book Six, The North Western Fells. The fell lies in the central sector of the North Western Fells, between Whinlatter Pass and Newlands Pass. Its ridge runs east–west, linking Grasmoor, Crag Hill, Sail, Scar Crags and Causey Pike in a gradual descent. Causey Pike is worth the journey for its dramatic profile and geological interest. The hill is formed from Ordovician rocks of the Skiddaw Group, with laminated mudstone and siltstone on the summit ridge and northern slopes. The southern slopes and the knobble itself come from the Buttermere Formation, an olistostrome of folded mudstone, siltstone and sandstone. Fossils such as trilobites, trace fossils and graptolites can occasionally be found in the scree around the top. The fell is also part of the Coledale Round, an 11-mile ridge walk with over 1,200 metres of ascent. Visitors find a narrow summit ridge with five almost equal bumps, the highest on the knobble. From the top there are wide views over Derwentwater, the Newlands valley, Skiddaw, Blencathra and the Helvellyn range. The fell race in March covers 7 kilometres with 542 metres of climbing, starting and finishing at Stair in the Newlands Valley. An unnamed woodland of about 5.5 hectares clings to the southern slope near Rigg Beck. The National Trust owns the land, and the fell is within the Buttermere Fells Site of Special Scientific Interest.