Probably one of the most famous trees in the world, Sycamore Gap sits in a sharp dip in Hadrians Wall in Northumberland. The National Trust site was made popular by the 1991 film Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, it has become a top photo stop on the walk along the wall.
With the choice of a longer, circular walk from the visitor centre or a much shorter ramble from the Steel Rigg car park there’s a couple of ways to approach.
Incredibly popular with locals and visitors a like, the area is full of camp sites, hostels and b&bs that can accommodate walkers and visitors.
As we are fair weather walkers, we chose the Steel Rigg car park as it was a bit rainy. There’s plenty of tarmac spaces and an overflow grass car park. Word of warning, the machine does not take new £1 coins but it does accept cards. Plan ahead!
Leaving the car park and setting out to Sycamore Gap, you are spoiled with beautiful rugged views whatever the weather. Given the location, there’s no set paths and you are over mixed terrain.
The first approach from Steel Rigg up the hill does get pretty steep towards the top and that’s just the first incline. If you are less mobile, scared of heights or have kids in tow then we found a great alternative.
The final descent to the tree is very steep so if you have access to good walking shoes or even poles, they will certainly come in handy. Of course you can tackle the walk in normal clothes too so don’t let the kitted out ramblers put you off.
Instead of starting the climb, veer to the right around the base of the hill and you can follow a farm vehicle route right up to the tree. There is an incline towards the end but it is better than the alternative. There is cattle in the same field so please do bear that in mind. I had a bit of a waiting game with 2 angry cows that wouldn’t move off the path!
The walk up and over the top and along the bottom roughly takes the same kind of time so no one in your group will be waiting too long. For safety sake, there’s pretty good phone signal up there too. When you make it to the tree, you’ll be rewarded with great views of the tree, Hadrians Wall and of course a great sense of achievement!
We arrived at Sycamore Gap at around 9am on a Sunday morning and it was extremely quiet but by about 10am after we’d taken photos, it was so busy it would have been a struggle to get a person-free photo.