Burnmoor Tarn

Burnmoor Tarn from Illgill Head

Burnmoor Tarn is a tarn half a mile long on Eskdale Fell in Cumberland, on the slope of the Scafell massif (NY183044). It swallows a number of minor ghills from the fells and the Whillan Beck emerges from it. It is well known to climbers conquering the greatest of the fells, and several footpaths converge here.

The Tarn is just 820 feet above sea level but overlooked by the highest fells in the Lake District; to the northeast rise the slopes of Scafell, rising to 3,209 feet at Scafell Pike just 2½ miles northeast of Burnmoor Tarn.

A good bridleway runs up from the village of Wasdale Head in Wasdale over Eskdale Fell and along the shore of Burnmoor Tarn and down to Boot in Eskdale. From the tarn another path leads up to Scafell and the Pike.

Over the hump of Illgill Head (1,998 feet) to the northwest and west is the long ribbon of Wast Water.

An ancient fort site or defended village known as Maiden Castle is found close to the tarn, guarding the pass from Wasdale to Eskdale.

The Tarn and Scafell

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