Cross Fell Summit – Great Dun Fell Radar Station loop from Milburn

Hiking trails & Routes

Cross Fell Summit – Great Dun Fell Radar Station loop from Milburn

Hard

4.0

(1)

hikers

Cross Fell Summit – Great Dun Fell Radar Station loop from Milburn

06:48

21.5km

840m

Hiking

Hard hike. Very good fitness required. Easily walkable paths.

Last updated: August 18, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

Please check local regulations for:

North Pennines National Landscape

Waypoints

Start point

Get Directions

68 m

Milburn Village Green

Highlight • Settlement

Milburn is a charming, beautiful village with an old fashioned village green. It lies underneath Cross Fell, which is the highest peak in the Northern Pennines AONB. Nearby are also Great Dun Fell and Little Dun Fell. The village is a great location to start a hike on any of these peaks. There is no car park as such, but when speaking to the locals, they advocated parking on the village green or on the grass outside the small village school, as long as it is not in term time.

Tip by

4.94 km

View of Cross Fell and Little Dun Fell from the Quiet Path

Highlight (Segment) • Viewpoint

This path is quieter than the Pennine Way - sometimes hard to follow and boggy but gorgeous!

Tip by

8.96 km

Cross Fell Summit

Highlight • Natural Monument

At an altitude of 2,930 feet (893 m), Cross Fell is the highest point in the Pennines. From the summit, you are afforded far-reaching views of the Lake District, the west coast and also the east coast. On a clear day, the southern uplands of Scotland and the Cheviots can also be seen.

Tip by

11.3 km

Little Dun Fell

Highlight • Summit

Sandwiched between Cross Fell and Great Dun Fell is Little Dun Fell. This is a super hill to do, and the walking route to it from both of the aforementioned hills forms part of the Pennine Way, so it is slabbed with stone and well maintained. Little Dun Fell, however, is somewhat overshadowed by its more famous northern and southern neighbours, but I prefer this hill to the others. The views across to Cross Fell and Great Dun Fell are super nice, raw, and barren, with nothing in between just the path of the Pennine Way. It also has a small cairn on the top, and at 842 metres, it is also a UK-designated nuttall.

Tip by

12.4 km

Great Dun Fell Radar Station

Highlight • Viewpoint

Standing at 2,782 feet (848 m) tall, Great Dun Fell affords spectacular views over the melancholy moors. It's the second-highest mountain in the Pennines, with its taller neighbour, Cross Fell, just 2 miles (3.2 km) away. The summit is home to the Civil Aviation Authority’s air traffic control radar. The summit domes are visible for 40 miles (60 km) around.

Tip by

19.1 km

Deep Bog Near Milburn Gate

Highlight • Trail

Now this is the first 'bog' warning highlight that I have put on Komoot. This is the main hiking route going up to Great Dun from Milburn, and as is normal in the Northern Pennines, things are always a tad boggy underfoot. I was hiking here today, however, half way through a very wet July (2024), and the depth of this surprised me. There is an obvious valley here and a gate. For about thirty metres after the gate heading north, the ground is sodden, it is basically a marsh and full of Bog Hair Grass. I only just got over to the other side using some ginger footwork and senile speed. I only went up to my knees in water and muck, but I felt that the bog had the capacity to be even more unforgiving, i.e., deeper. It might just be the wetter than normal July, and it is not like this in normal weather months? There also did not seem to be an obvious route around. It would, however, be a great place to put a duckboard system.

Tip by

21.5 km

End point

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

12.7 km

6.29 km

2.26 km

268 m

Surfaces

12.8 km

5.37 km