Since time began the surrounding landscape has provided inspiration to poets such as William Wordsworth & Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Even the Roman Empire ventured to these parts leaving many tell tale signs.
Scafell Pike, with its huge crags and vast summit plateau, should be on everyone’s bucket list. Not because it lays claim to the highest land in England, but because it has a unique and rugged quality. The 360° panorama from the summit on a clear day is stunning, with far reaching views over all the Lakeland fells and as far as the Isle of Man, Scotland and the Fylde coast.
Scafell Pike is a huge block of a mountain formed through time firstly by volcanic eruptions and more recently by frozen glacial processes, to produce peak, plateau, and precipice.
The various rock types include: tufa; breccia; andesite; and rhyolite. These came into existence around 450 million years ago whilst Scafell Pike was still an active volcano. Much of Scafell gives the appearance of large jumbles of rock & boulders. This is a result of more recent Ice ages, with glacial debris evident at many locations. The ongoing freeze / thaw processes continue to break up the rock making this an ever changing landscape.