Our 6 favourite sunrise & sunset routes for National Hiking Day
This Sunday is National Hiking Day, celebrated on 17 November, encouraging people to get outdoors and enjoy the beauty of nature through hill walking. Use the BMC's hiking route ideas to inspire you and our mapping discounts and freebies to navigate your way.
Mid-November hikes are fantastic for starting early to see the dawn gently waking the sleeping mountains, or sneaking home late afternoon as the sun melts into flamingo pink, bright orange and gorgeous purple over a toothy horizon. Don't forget your headtorch!
Here to help you on your way on National Hiking Day this Sunday 17 November, we've put together our top 6 sunrise or sunset hikes on paths, up hillsides and over bridges restored and repaired by the BMC Mend Our Mountains campaign.
BMC Membership & Hill Walking Coordinator Josh Harris says, "When life gives you mountains, put on your boots and hike!"
On the navigation side, the BMC has no less than seven discounts and freebie offers with mapping providers to share with members, including:
- 30% off an OS Maps Premium Subscription
- A free region bundle from Komoot worth £8.99
- A free 60-day Strava subscription
- A free 6-month AllTrails subscription
- 20% discount on Harvey British Mountain Maps
- 20% discount on an Anquest maps subscription
- 20% discount on Grough Route
Join today to take advantage of these incredible offers, and click here make the most of them if you're already a member.
TOP 6 HIKING ROUTES
Here are some of the team's favourite hiking routes, taking you on newly repaired footpaths thanks to the Mend Our Mountains campaign from the BMC's Access & Conservation Trust (ACT).
Donate now to help support our vital footpath repair work and access improvements across England and Wales.
And BMC members, if you walk any of these routes, don’t forget to email your photos to Summit, the quarterly members’ magazine, for a chance to win a prize every issue.
7.6 miles / 700m ascent
A small, quick-to-climb hill that packs a big punch at sunrise or sunset with far-reaching views across to Lose Hill and Win Hill. This is the site of the spectacular Great Ridge Night Light in 2018 where 600 people lit up the path from Mam Tor to Lose Hill with their headtorches in support of the BMC's Mend Our Mountains Make One Million appeal.
12 miles / 690m ascent
Park at the visitor centre in Haytor Vale and follow old granite tramways on this anti-clockwise loop, ticking off Hound Tor (with its fascinating medieval settlement), Hameldown Tor, Hollow Tor and finish on the stunning Haytor Rocks. Here, stop to admire the footpath repair work that has just been finished this October 2024. You could add in a short out-and-back detour up Rippon Tor before Haytor Rocks too if you're feeling fit towards the end.
7.8 miles / 880m ascent
Head up The Band to admire around 100m of footpath repairs from the BMC Get Stuck In volunteer group this August 2024 before you summit Bow Fell for superb Lake District views. Descend via the beautiful Angle Tarn for a super sunset stroll back down.
7.8miles / 890m ascent
Miss the Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) summit crowds and enjoy the peace and quiet of Y Lliwedd on this epic route for experienced mountain hikers with navigation skills. The route up the Watkin Path is straightforward, over some freshly repaired path by the BMC Get Stuck In volunteers in April 2024. At the saddle, turn your back on Yr Wyddfa for an easy scramble to Y Lliwedd. Then there's some off-path fun to Gallt y Wenallt and the descent to the Copper Mines where you pick up a well-trodden path once more to walk back down.
4 miles / 115m ascent
A beautiful route along the River Barle, crossing Tarr Steps (warning, they can be impassable after heavy rain do not cross if flooded) and leading to the new Great Bradley Bridge which was funded by the Mend Our Mountains campaign along with other partners. For more info on the new bridge and four more routes in this area click here.
12.3 miles / 1,200m ascent
BMC Hill Walking Ambassador Rose Gare-Simmons says, "My favourite hike is the Kentmere horseshoe in the Lake District. Although this is a well-known and relatively popular hike, it’s often much quieter than other areas in the lakes and has a real sense of wilderness about it. It’s a circular hike, starting from the small village of Kentmere, and takes in several peaks (Wainwrights). On a clear day, the views over Windermere and across to the Coniston fells are outstanding, and as you approach Harter Fell you are rewarded with beautiful views down over Haweswater. It’s definitely one for experienced hikers looking for a challenging day out, with a real feel of remoteness. This hike has both rugged beauty and the natural charm of the Lake District."
The BMC's Mend Our Mountains campaign supports Fix the Fells, working to keep footpaths maintained throughout the Lake District.
Summits: Yoke 706m - Ill Bell 757m - Frostwick 720m - Thornthwaite Crag 784m - Highstreet 828m - Mardale Ill Bell 760m - Harter fell 778m - Kentmere pike 730m - Shipman’s Knott 578m.
What’s Mend Our Mountains?
Mend Our Mountains is an award-winning campaign from the BMC’s Access & Conservation Trust (ACT) which has raised a total of £1.4 million since its creation in 2016 to repair Britain’s hills and mountains. Since then over 50 miles of fragile footpath has been restored for future generations and 544 miles of upland has been repaired - the equivalent length of over 67,000 double decker buses!
Great Bradley Bridge was funded in the 2023 campaign. This year there are seven projects including:
1 Funding an Access Officer for the Cotswolds AONB
2 Supporting the Fix the Fells rangers in the Lake District
3 Restoring paths on Roseberry Topping, North York Moors
4 Making the footpath to Chanctonbury Ring, South Downs, more accessible
5 Replacing Cressbrook Mill footbridge, Peak District
6 Multiple Get Stuck In volunteer footpath repair events with the National Trust in the Lake District, Snowdonia and Peak District
7 Haytor Rocks almost 2,000m of footpath repairs in Dartmoor
Support Mend Our Mountains
Path repair is a surprisingly costly business. Working in remote locations with complex equipment and adverse weather conditions makes rebuilding trails an enormous and expensive challenge.
£5 buys a pair of work gloves
£50 buys five garden skips for moving soil
£250 fixes approximately one metre of footpath
£1000 flies ten bags of stone to an inaccessible mountain location
Did you know?
Simply becoming a BMC member supports BMC Access & Conservation Trust projects like this, plus you get all the benefits that membership offers, including these and many more:
£15 million Worldwide Combined Liability Insurance
£10,000 Personal Accident Insurance
Quarterly member-only magazine, Summit
15% off Cotswold Outdoor, Snow+Rock and Runners Need
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