Clougha Pike ( ) is a hill in the

Forest of Bowland The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire (however ro ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. From the west it looms over the Conder Valley, the city of

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

and

Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

. It is visible from as far away as

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

South Lakeland South Lakeland was a local government district in Cumbria, England, from 1974 to 2023. Its council was based in Kendal. The district covered the southern part of the Lake District region, as well as northwestern parts of the Yorkshire Dales. A ...

mountains such as the

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, and

Blackpool Tower Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the tallest man-made structure in the British Empire. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower in P ...

. From the west, it appears to be a large dome shape, with a cliff-like section at the very top. From the south-west, a series of notches or cloughs are visible in its flanks, giving the hill its distinctive name. The notches vary in size and run across the side of the hillside, but not down it. The largest notch has had part of its floor filled in by a small lake and swamp and is a dramatic gritstone boulder-strewn feature. These notches are thought to have been cut by meltwater flowing south-west from the area of Littledale, along the side of a glacier which occupied the Quernmore valley. They are known as marginal notch channels and are among the best examples of these features in Britain. Clougha can be reached from the west, by a pleasant path that travels up its slopes by Rowton (spelt variously) Brook and then diagonally up the final steep broken rock section. It can also be reached from the east from

Grit Fell Grit Fell is a lonely hill between Clougha Pike and Ward's Stone in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, England.

, over boggy land along a muddy path that is sometimes difficult to distinguish. An approach from the north, from the direction of Caton, is also possible. A small car park is also available close to Clougha Pike, just off Rigg Lane. Another starting point to ascend Clougha is from the

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of Jubilee Tower, where there is also a car park. Its summit furniture includes an

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

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and two rock wind shelters. The view west from the top is over

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is an estuary in north-west England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second largest ga ...

. On a clear day views from Clougha Pike extend to

Snowdonia Snowdonia, or Eryri (), is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...

, the

Ribble Estuary Ribble may refer to: * River Ribble, in North Yorkshire and Lancashire, England ** Ribble and Alt Estuaries * River Ribble, West Yorkshire, England * Ribble Motor Services, a former bus company in North West England * Ribble Valley, a local gove ...

, the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

(directly behind

), the fells of the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

and many of the Pennine hills. Very rarely, the

Mourne Mountains The Mourne Mountains ( ; ), also called the Mournes or the Mountains of Mourne, are a predominantly granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountain in all of Ulster, Slieve Donard ...

can be seen to the south of the

. Clougha Pike was one of the lowest of the 100 hills included in ''Trail'' magazine's 2007 list of "Britain's Greatest Mountains".

References

External links

Clougha Pike Lancaster Hill Walk
at visitlancaster.org.uk
The Three Chambers on Clougha
at geograph.org.uk {{City of Lancaster geography Hills of the Forest of Bowland Mountains and hills of Lancashire