Tom Smith's Stone

Up on the fells north of Carlisle, Tom Smith's Stone sits on a bleak stretch of moorland where the wind rarely stops blowing. It's a modest cairn, really - nothing fancy - marking the spot where a shepherd called Tom Smith died in a winter blizzard centuries back. The locals still remember him, which tells you something about how people mark their landscape here.

Walkers love this place because it sits on proper fell terrain with genuine views across towards Scotland. You're not trudging up some manicured tourist route - this is real walking country where the weather matters and you need decent boots. Allow a couple of hours from Carlisle if you're making a day of it, though most people string it together with other fell walks in the area rather than treating it as a standalone trip.

There's no visitor centre, no tea shop, no charge. Just a stone and the fell. That's rather the point. Families with young kids might find the exposed moorland a bit much, especially if weather turns, but teenagers who actually like walking will get something genuine here. It's the sort of place that reminds you why the Lake District's southern parks like High Hall Farm Campsite (just 5.7 miles south) make such good bases - you get proper fell access without the crowds of Scafell Pike or Helvellyn. Go midweek in autumn when the light's long and dramatic.