Deadwater Fell

The walk up Deadwater Fell rewards you with views that stretch across Northumberland's emptiest corners - moorland rolling away toward the Scottish border, with Kielder Water glinting below on clear days. It's not a dramatic peak in the Alpine sense, but that's rather the point. The fell sits roughly two miles from Hexham, tucked into the wilder terrain where the Border country begins to feel properly wild.

The ascent is straightforward enough for most walkers, taking you through heather and rough grass with the kind of wide-open feeling that makes you remember why people bother with hills at all. The top's a proper moorland summit - wind-scoured, often misty, occasionally brilliant. You're looking at an hour or so up, depending on fitness and how many times you stop to admire the view. Allow another hour down.

Seriously committed hikers will love this - it's exactly the sort of fell that teaches you to navigate by contour and intuition rather than rock scrambles and cairns. Less experienced walkers should come on a clear day and stick to marked routes. Kids will find it boring unless they're already keen on walking; there's no summit cafe or dramatic views to gasps at, just space and silence.

Staying at Kielder Campsite, just two miles away, makes this a logical morning sortie before heading to the water itself. Landal Kielder Waterside, if you're after a bit more comfort, sits six miles off. Either way, the fell works best as part of a wider Kielder exploration rather than a destination in itself.