Family Walk up Nicky Nook, Scorton

It’s been spitting rain and cool temperatures all week, incredibly autumnal for the middle of August. I’ve been itching to get outdoors for days, so when I checked the forecast, I knew we needed to get the kids out for a walk. Less than 20 minutes from our house, Nicky Nook was a perfect circular walk for a mild summer day.

To get ready, I pulled down our OS map of the area to look at with the boys. I pointed out the path, we looked up the markings near the walk in the key, and then made a list of what we would see on the walk.

This was a fantastic idea. My original hope was that the kids would start to make a connection between the shapes on the map and the contours of the land. However, there was a much more immediate benefit. I took the list with us on the walk, and having a succession of landmarks to hunt for gave the kids lots of things to look for, and a quick sense of progress on the walk. I will definitely be doing this again before we do another walk.

For our four year old and three year old, the walk was challenging, but successful. They walked the whole way, and only got tired towards the top of the fell and as we started coming back to the car. (Nicky Nook is nice in that the ascent is pretty quick and at the beginning of the walk, which means most of the time is spent going downhill). We enjoyed finding feathers, spotting sheep, and playing with burrs.

Nicky Nook Circular

Distance: 3 miles

Height: Roughly 126 meters to begin, with a smaller ascent along the road back to the car at the end.

Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes

Route: We followed this route up and around Nicky Nook, but we parked at the foot of the fell rather than in Scorton, and followed the road back to the car. This cut about a mile off the route.