Maiden Moor: 575m, Walks and Views above Derwentwater

Maiden Moor is the broad-backed fell between Cat Bells and High Spy, rising above the Newlands valley and Borrowdale. At 575 metres, it offers a quieter-looking continuation of the familiar Cat Bells ridge, with more upland space and less of a pointed summit. Walkers often meet it as part of a longer round, but its open outlook deserves time of its own.

A broad summit between two valleys

Maiden Moor belongs to the ridge separating the Newlands valley on the west from Borrowdale on the east. Cat Bells stands to its north and High Spy to its south. Seen as part of that ridge, its character is easy to understand: this is a broad stretch of high ground rather than an isolated peak, linking two better-defined summits.

The summit reaches 575 metres, or 1,886 feet, at grid reference NY236181. Its grassy top is less sharply marked than the summit of Cat Bells. That distinction matters to anyone collecting Wainwrights: passing along the ridge and visiting its highest ground are not necessarily the same thing. The appeal here is the breadth of the fell rather than a dramatic summit crag.

The outlook brings together several characteristic Lakeland landscapes. Derwentwater lies to the north-east, with the Skiddaw massif beyond the Keswick area. To the west, the Newlands valley opens beneath the surrounding North Western Fells. Borrowdale provides the eastern setting, while the ridge towards High Spy draws the eye south into higher country. Views change as you move across the broad top rather than gathering around one narrow viewpoint.

Maiden Moor in the Wainwrights

Alfred Wainwright included Maiden Moor in The North Western Fells, the sixth volume of his Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. It ranks 139th by height among the 214 Wainwrights. Its immediate ridge neighbours, Cat Bells and High Spy, help place it within a group that also includes Dale Head and the fells enclosing Newlands.

Castle Crag is another nearby Wainwright, standing separately in Borrowdale rather than on Maiden Moor’s ridge. The contrast is useful: these neighbouring fells range from a small, rocky, wooded height to broad open upland. Maiden Moor represents the latter, with its identity tied closely to the continuous skyline above the valleys.

Part of the Newlands Horseshoe

Maiden Moor is best known as part of the Newlands Horseshoe, the established fellwalking round linking Cat Bells, Maiden Moor, High Spy, Dale Head, Hindscarth and Robinson. Its place on that circuit explains why it is so often walked in company with other summits. It also offers something distinct from the more immediately recognisable Cat Bells: a longer sense of open ridge, with the valleys falling away on either side.

Where Maiden Moor stands

Summit at grid reference NY236181 · open full map

The real Maiden Moor

Walking Maiden Moor

We make artwork, not route guides — these are the guides we'd point a friend to:

• Guide links to be curated.

Weather on Maiden Moor

Conditions estimated at summit height (575 m) via Open-Meteo. For a walker's forecast, use the Mountain Weather Information Service.

Maiden Moor on your wall

A painting of Maiden Moor can recall the quieter stretches of a familiar fell day: the broad ridge, the Newlands slopes and the water beyond Cat Bells. A print or canvas brings that remembered shape into the room, without needing to explain why it matters.

Own “Snowy Ridge on Maiden Moor” — our painting of Maiden Moor → or browse all Fells & Mountains artwork

Neighbouring Wainwrights in The North Western Fells

• High Spy 653 m
• Cat Bells 451 m
• Castle Crag 290 m
• Dale Head 754 m

Part of our guide to all 214 Wainwrights — see the full index.