Wrynose Pass

Wrynose Pass is a narrow mountain road in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria. It links the Duddon Valley with Little Langdale and reaches 393 metres above sea level. The single-track route has gradients as steep as one in four and follows part of an old Roman road. Nearby Hardknott Pass has an even sharper climb of one in three. The pass divides the Furness Fells from the Bowfell-Crinkle Crags range. The name comes from the Old Norse words for ‘stallion’s ridge’, though local speech still calls it Wreynuss. A stone at the summit marks where Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland once met. Before the early 19th century three separate county stones stood in the same spot. Fell Foot Farm, a 17th-century National Trust property, sits at the foot of the pass. Visitors find open moorland and sweeping views on either side of the road. The Roman road can be seen alongside the modern tarmac in places. At the top the Three Shire Stone stands on a windswept ridge. Below, Fell Foot Farm’s stone buildings recall the area’s farming past.