Often said to be the “backbone of England”, The Pennines form an unbroken mountain range stretching from the Peak District, through the Yorkshire Dales and to the Cheviot Hills on the Scottish border. At 250 miles in length, there is more than a lifetime of exploring that can be done but this circular route of High Cup Nick, a dramatic glaciated valley, with Murton Pike will provide you with a fabulous taste for The Pennines as well as unobstructed views of an area sometimes described as “England’s Grand Canyon”. At 13km, the route is a nice distance for a day hike with an element of challenge on one steep section before traversing the top of the valley and heading for the dramatic viewpoint of Murton Pike.
The hike at a glance
Difficulty: Moderate - one steep incline and challenging section to the top of High Cup Nick but otherwise paths are well maintained and easy to follow
Distance: 13.2km/8.2miles
Total Ascent: 552m
Est Time: 4.5hrs not including stops
Starting location: Murton Fell car park (CA16 6ND)
Facilities: none
Dog friendly: Not really - be mindful of stiles and one particularly steep section with a boulder crossing, livestock and ground nesting birds. This area is close to a Ministry of Defence training area and shooting is a regular occurrence. These loud bangs could scare dogs.
High Cup Nick and Murton Pike circular route
The walk starts from the free parking area in Murton at the base of Murton Pike. The first section is a short road walk towards the bend in the road where on your right is a public footpath sign crossing a wall and then a stile, following the well-trodden footpath through the field towards the farm buildings.
After following the footpath through the farm, you’ll find yourself in the valley of High Cup Nick and one of the most stunning parts of the walk.
The valley of High Cup Nick is a glaciated U-bend shaped glacial valley, formed by a large ice sheet. The path follows a direct route straight up the valley floor but there is also a slightly higher, narrow sheep path to the right. As you follow the path up the valley, you’re surrounded by steep cliffs, large landslides, rock pinnacles and waterfalls (after some rain). Directly in front of you, is the large boulder field and what looks like an inaccessible (and steep) route onto the top.
After passing through a boulder field section caused by landslips (be careful with your footing here), the path starts to rise steeply. This marks the start of the most challenging section, a steep path, becoming loose scree and a final little scramble onto the top. You can also cut right to head along the top of the landslip here if you wanted to.
At the top of High Cup Nick, you’ll be rewarded with the most stunning of views down the valley which you’ve just walked up. If there’s anyone down in the valley below, you’ll get a great sense of scale here and a head for heights is definitely needed if you stand close to the edge! The top of High Cup Nick is open to the elements and on a windy day, you’ll soon find yourself getting battered by the gusts. There isn’t much in the way of shelter so wrap up from the wind in your Rambler zip through fleece and for a good lunch spot, head to the right at the top and drop down just as you cross the little stream and sit in amongst the rocks for a snack.
When you’re ready to move on, follow the lower path along the left side of High Cup Nick as you look down the valley. The drops here are huge so be careful of not straying too close to the edge.
The path is easy to follow and eventually you’ll meet a stile at a wall. Don’t cross here and instead turn left, following the wall up to the pile of stones high on the shelf above you.
From the pile of stones, keep following the path as it nears a farm wall before veering off, down and across a small beck and then joining the main path leading back down to the direction of the little village of Murton. There are some signposts pointing you in the right direction but be sure to download the route onto your phone and take a map with you because it is easy to go the wrong way. This is particularly important because you’ll now be getting close to Ministry of Defence owned land, regularly used for training with a clear danger zone mapped out you can’t go into unless it’s certain days of the year. Read more about this at the end of the route.
You’ll soon join a stony track which leads all the way back down to Murton and in front of you, you’ll see Murton Pike; a grassy hill that sticks out on it’s own, dominating the view in front of you.
The path winds its way downhill until you reach the base of the path leading to the summit of Murton Pike. Follow the obvious path to the right leading to the summit. This bit is steep but it’s a short section and the views from the 594m summit are spectacular.
Wearing The Rambler Pink Borg Fleece
From the summit of Murton Pike, follow your route back to the main path all the way to the car park in Murton. To your left on the descent you’ll see some disused mine workings and you’re also quite likely to hear some distant shooting from nearby MOD training on firing days.
High Cup Nick and Murton Pike downloadable maps
Download the Ordnance Survey route and map here.
You can also download the PDF version of the route and print it out.
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Parking in Murton at the free car park
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The point at which you leave the road and join the public footpath, hedging through fields
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Walking through the farm buildings and into the valley of High Cup Nick
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The boulder field section and start of final steep ascent onto the top of High Cup Nick
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Summit of High Cup Nick where you follow the lower path around the side of the valley
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The summit of Murton Pike
Komoot App
Have you ever tried Komoot? Komoot allows you to access routes planned by others or plan your own which you can then download to your phone to follow while you are out. Komoot is free to join and access and you can find the route for his walk here.
Is there public transport to Murton?
Nearby Appleby-in-Westmorland has a train station and is approximately 4 miles from the village of Murton. You could then use a local taxi service to take you to Murton.
How long is the High Cup Nick circular route?
The route is just over 13km with 552m of elevation. Expect this to take around 4.5hours or longer depending on how many stops you want to take along the route.
How hard is the High Cup Nick circular route?
The route is relatively challenging but there are only a couple of steep sections that will require more effort. One your on the top of High Cup Nick, the route is relatively flat and a gentle downhill before the ascent of Murton Pike towards the end. The paths are of varied terrain changin between grass, boggy sections and stony tracks throughout.
Where is parking for High Cup Nick?
There is a small car park in Murton at the end of the road at the base of Murton Pike. At the time of writing (March 2025) this was free. There are information boards up about the MOD training land, public footpaths, danger zones and access land in the area.
What do I need to know about the danger area and Ministry of Defence training ground nearby?
Depending on which way you arrive to Murton, you might have already found yourself driving along the single track road through the military training area, through barriers which are sometimes closed and past warning signs and red flags alerting you to the fact you’re in a military training zone.
On arrival at the car park in Murton, you’ll find an information board explaining clearly which areas on the fells you can access safely and which parts are restricted. The danger zone is clearly marked on the Ordnance Survey map for this area too.
This is Warcop Training Area, one of the MOD’s largest army training areas in the UK. It is used 6 ½ days a week for training and seeing soldiers on your drive in and hearing firing in the distance is not unusual, especially from the end of this hike on Murton Pike.
The restricted and so called “danger zone”, lies to the east of Murton Fell and although this walk doesn’t go near here, without some form of navigation it would be very easy to wander too far off route so it’s really important to download and look at the route before you set off.
The danger zone is marked with warning signs and if you’re really nosy (like me) they do actually open up the land (although strictly on the permissive footpaths due to unexploded ordnance) on short notice days.
Take a look at this map which clearly shows the danger zone and you can also check the government website for any latest updates and firing times.
For additional UK outdoor adventures, wild swimming, hiking routes and more, check my other blog posts here on MY URBAN TRAIL and follow me @Wild_0utdoors on Instagram.
Happy adventuring!
Izzy