When travelling in the Lake District on foot or by car we often pass an attractive feature, such as a tarn or small fell, that despite being accessible is rarely visited. One such is Man Crag. If you drive between Skelwith Bridge and Coniston on the A593 you pass within 250 yards of its modest 750-foot summit. This short but hilly circular walk ascends the attractive viewpoint then visits Hodge Close, crosses The Dubs and returns through Tongue Intake Plantation.

Start from the junction of Low Oxen Fell with the A593 by Tongue Intake Plantation (grid reference NY 329 022).

1 From the Tongue Intake National Trust sign take the lane ahead passing a bench seat. (Avoid the lane to High Park and Hallgarth.) After 0.4 mile turn left at the junction signed Public Bridleway A593. Just past the top of the slope turn right and go through a gate. Walk alongside a fence on the left on a grassy track following the line of a wall 100 yards to the right, ascending steadily. Pass a cube shaped rock then climb to the left to go around a solitary larch then ahead to the summit of Man Crag, which is next to a fence. For such a short climb the views are impressive in all directions. Like Coniston Old Man, its name comes from a Celtic word (maen) for stone.

2 Follow the line of the fence in a southwesterly direction over a second hilltop. The fence turns right then left and right again. Step over the fence next to a holly tree and ascend to pass through a circular area enclosed by rocks then around the right of a rocky hillock with two birch trees. Pass a fallen larch and continue ascending a heather clad slope ahead. A view of Yew Tree Tarn can be seen on the left. A faint path then descends into a ravine where you turn right and descend to a wooded area. Turn left at the edge of the wood to a low wall on the left of a tiny stream. Go around large fallen trees and across a former quarry area then turn right onto a path and sharp right on a stony track. Pass through two gates then turn right onto the lane past a parking area and Hodge Close quarry.

3 Continue along the lane. After passing through a gate walk ahead onto a waymarked path over the Dubs. If there was a pool here as its name suggests, it silted up long ago, but remains boggy. After crossing a stile, the path descends towards Little Langdale with good views across the valley to Lingmoor Fell. Turn right on the lane to High Park Farm.

4 To shorten the walk, follow the lane back to the start. To continue, keep straight on through the farmyard and enter woodland ahead. Follow the main (higher) footpath and descend through the woods. Where the footpath goes left at a waymarker keep right onto the bridleway. Cross a footbridge then turn right to go steeply uphill. Follow the path through the woods to meet a lane and turn left to where the walk began.

Distance: 4 miles with 900 feet of ascent.

Time: 2 hours

Terrain: Open fell and good footpaths

Map: OS Explorer OL7