Trail Description

Make sure you stock up with food and drinks from the Kielder Waterside shop and visitor centre then make your way to the rear of the building and the start of the tree lined start of the trail.

To the left, is the final metres of Craggy Burn before it enters Kielder Water, the largest reservoir in Northern Europe by the volume of water it contains.

The tree lined section soon gives way to an open landscape area which was recently a forested area. This location was a victim of recent windstorms which felled thousands of trees across Kielder and changed the landscape virtually overnight. Sad as that may seem, weather events are all part of nature and on the positive side, they have created new features in the landscape by providing new and different habitats for wildlife and plant life and opening up new views.

Continue to follow the Lakeside Way and distinctive yellow Bull Crag Trail way maker for about 350 metres, through the cleared area. On your left, is a line of ancient, gnarled, and moss covered, multi-stemmed beech trees, planted in the late 1600's, which marked the boundary of what was known as the Mounces Estate. Originally, the beech tree saplings would have been planted on top of a turf wall which can still be seen. If you want a closer look, a parallel path follows the line of beech trees and eventually joins the Lakeside Way and Bull Crag Trail at the Water Ski Club area.

When you reach the small inlet, the trail and Lakeside Way turn right across the water ski club car park and continues behind the building and along the shoreline. From here, you will see the north side of Bull Crag stretching out into the middle of the lake.

Before the construction of Kielder Water, Bull Crag was an upland ridge overlooking the North Tyne valley, now it is landmark peninsula. The Lakeside Way encircles Bull Crag, sticking close to its shoreline and gives breathtaking views across the north, east and southern sections of the lake.

The trail continues until bears left onto peninsula where the views looking northward, towards the upper reaches of Kielder Water, start to appear. In the distance, you may see Deadwater Fell, which is topped by an array of communications and testing installation. Deadwater marks the border between England and Scotland and on the lower southern slopes of Deadwater Fell is the source of the North Tyne River which is marked by a stone obelisk.

Approximately 300 metres after turning onto Bull Crag, you will see Freya’s Cabin, short distance up the slope to your right, a timber structure clad in gold, balanced in long golden stems and carved on the inside like a forest. It has been constructed like a flower press with two solid end that squeeze 200 differently carved 'pages' that together make up the internal forest and integrated seats. Freya’s Cabin and Robin’s Hut, which is located on opposite sides of the Kielder Water, are linked by the tale of Freya & Robin, two characters who live by the lake and their efforts to meet up. Look for the story inside the cabin or find it at Freya’s Cabin and Robin’s Hut

After visiting Freya’s Cabin, make your way back to the shoreline path and turn right to continue.

Before the reservoir was constructed you would have been looking down at the tree-lined ribbon of the North Tyne making its way through livestock farmland. Mounces Estate and Otterstone Farm occupied this area and were two of the largest sheep farms in England. Alongside the river, were the embankments of the Border Valley Railway, making its way north, then westwards over Kielder Viaduct (which can still be seen and crossed today), through Kielder Village and onwards across the border with Scotland, to Riccarton Junction, where it met the Edinburgh to Carlisle Waverley Line.

On this open stretch of trail, keep a lookout for a gate on your right signed for Otterstone Viewpoint, approximately 900 metres beyond Freya’s Cabin. If time and energy allow, it is worth the short uphill detour to take in the full lake, forest and fells vista. In this area, you will see the remnants of stone walls which were agricultural field boundaries.

Returning to the trail and continuing towards Bull Crag headland, you will shortly emerge from a wooded area on a tarmac road, complete with centre lines. This is the old valley road which emerges at this point from the lake and returns to the depths after approximately 500 metres.

From this point, the trail is mainly within tranquil forest woodland, with dappled tree lined glades and babbling streams and frequent breaks in the vegetation to give more views over the lake.

After approximately 500 metres from the old road, you will be in the area of the Bull Crag headland from where you will be looking almost due east. Before the construction of the reservoir, you would have been looking down from the crag onto the tiny farm hamlet of Shilburn Haugh. Today, across the lake, you will see the top of the Kielder Reservoir Vale Tower. Standing 70 meters high, the valve tower controls the release of water from the reservoir into the North Tyne River and manages the regional water transfer scheme.

Continuing southwards at this point, you will round a small inlet and then start heading west. This section sits quite high on the peninsula and looks down on Whickhope Inlet which provides sheltered anchorage for sailing craft. Before the reservoir, on its way to join the North Tyne, Whickhope Burn would have sat in the base of this small valley and passed by a few houses known as Whickhope Cottages.

Approximately 1.5km after turning from the headland inlet, the trail turns left along an old road and then right, to continue westwards along the south side of Bull Crag.

After 400 metres, you will come across a timber shelter and viewpoint which forms part of the Kielder Art & Architecture programme. Timelapse resembles a stack of timber drying in the forest. It explores themes of timber seasoning, natural forest growth cycles, and the passage of time. Timelapse

A further 650 metres beyond Timelapse, the Lakeside Way takes a left turn and heads down the side of Bull Crag to Cranecleugh Bridge via a series of switchbacks and hairpins however, the Bull Crag trail continues straight ahead along the broad tree lined avenue which eventually turns right to a gated junction with a little used gravel road. Turn right onto the gravel road for about 100 metres then first left onto another gated gravel road which climbs to summit of Bull Crag and bears right before descending to Freya’s Cabin, from where you turn left and retrace your previous journey back to Kielder Waterside for a well-earned drink and bite to eat at the Boat Inn restaurant and bar where you can grab a hearty lunch.

Keep an eye out!

The hills are alive. Look north across the reservoir to the hills that mark the border with Scotland. They are peaceful today, but this wild high land rang with the noise of night-time reivers’ raids and bloody battles 500 years ago.

Where otters played. The large sheep farm of Otterstone Lee, now beneath Kielder Water, took its name from a clearing with stones where otters were often seen. The reservoir, constructed in the 1970s and opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 1982, was nearly named Otterstone!

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