Stank Hill

The name alone puts people off. Stank Hill sounds like something you'd avoid, but that's precisely why it stays quiet when every other Pennine fell gets hammered with boots. The walk from Kirkby Stephen takes you up proper moorland - rough grass, wind-bitten turf, the kind of terrain that leaves your legs screaming but your lungs absolutely singing. The summit sits at 601 metres, modest by Lake District standards but commanding enough to see across Teesdale and the Eden Valley on a clear day. Visibility is the lottery here. I've seen it crystalline and I've seen it wrapped in drizzle thick enough to swallow the horizon completely, so check the forecast or accept whatever you get. The ascent isn't technical - there's no scrambling or exposure - but it's relentless in stretches and the exposed sections can bite if the wind's up. Allow three to four hours for a solid round trip. It's walker country pure and simple. No café at the top, no gift shop, no crowds. Families with younger kids might find it a slog without the payoff of famous views, though confident hillwalkers will love the seclusion. The landscape changes completely once you're up there - you leave the villages and farmland below and enter a different world entirely. If you're based at Gillcumber Glamping Pods near Kirkby Stephen, this makes for a proper day out without the circus of more famous summits.