Walks & nature · Westmorland and Furness
Smardale Gill Nature Reserve
A lost railway line through orchid-rich limestone to a fourteen-arch viaduct — and one of England's two homes of the Scotch argus butterfly.
★★★★★Gem 7/10Westmorland and Furness
About
The story
A lost railway makes the gentlest of grand walks at Smardale, where the old line above Scandal Beck runs through ancient woodland and flower-rich limestone cuttings. The reward is the Smardale Gill viaduct, ninety feet high on fourteen stone arches, striding across the empty valley since 1861 with nothing but sheep and birdsong below. The reserve is one of only two sites in England where the Scotch argus butterfly flies, and summer brings bird's-eye primrose, fragrant and butterfly orchids; red squirrels keep to the trees. Managed by Cumbria Wildlife Trust and reached from a small car park near Kirkby Stephen, it stays serenely uncrowded even in August.
Our word
Why Hunters selected it
A spectacular viaduct walk with nationally significant wildlife in the Westmorland countryside most Lake District visitors drive straight past — quiet corner criteria met exactly.
Perfect for
- Nature Lovers
- Walkers
- Photographers
- Peace & Quiet
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