From the high vantage of Kidsty Howes, the entrance to Riggindale appears as a wide, glacial amphitheatre extending from the foot of High Street. To the west the valley is bounded by a tall wall formed by Hause Crag, Short Stile and Twopenny Crag, while to the north the sheer cliffs of Kidsty Pike and Kidsty Howes rise sharply. The southern wall culminates in Riggindale Crag, and below, Riggindale Beck flows eastward toward Haweswater Reservoir, its gentle descent contrasting with the enclosing crags

At the Straits of Riggindale, where the Coast to Coast path narrows between Twopenny Crag and Short Stile along the back wall of the valley, the southern valley rim rises to a long ridge running from Riggindale Crag toward The Rigg. Nestled between Riggindale Crag and Rough Crag on this ridge is Caspel Gate, a subtle saddle marked by a small tarn. A mountain path leads from Caspel Gate toward the dam at Blea Water in the adjacent valley of Mardale, linking contrasting glacial landscapes high on the High Street ridge.

From Long Stile the Riggindale ridge unfolds over the craggy lower slopes toward Caspel Gate and on to Rough Crag, forming a rough, rising backbone of rock and grass. This ridge continues southwards from the head of Riggindale up toward The Rigg above Haweswater, providing a continuous high-level route along the spine of the High Street fells and illustrating the dramatic transition from deep valley floor to upland ridge.

Short Stile is a short but distinctive bluff on the High Street ridge, forming the southern wall of the Sale Pot cirque at the head of Riggindale Beck — a backwall shared with Twopenny Crag and Kidsty Pike. From the Coast to Coast path above Riggindale Beck it appears in the foreground of Long Stile and Riggindale Crag, linking the high ridge above the valley with the deep funnel of the Riggindale valley floor.

From Racecourse Hill on High Street there is a sweeping prospect down toward Haweswater Reservoir that includes an extended view along Riggindale Crag’s south-facing slope. In this panorama the broad U-shaped valley of Riggindale is evident, its gentle valley floor giving way toward the lake below while the enclosing crags and ridges frame the wider Far Eastern Fells landscape.

The north face of Riggindale is dominated by the steep flanks of Kidsty Pike and Kidsty Howes, forming the high northern rim of the valley. From the Straits of Riggindale the Coast to Coast path follows this ridge — threading past Twopenny Crag and the head of Riggindale Beck, climbing up to the 780 m summit of Kidsty Pike before easing toward Kidsty Howes and its descent to Bowderthwaite on the south-west shore of Haweswater Reservoir.

Riggindale Beck rises from a spring on the north-west cliff face known as the Head of Riggindale Beck, its waters first gathering in the cirque of Sale Pot before flowing eastward along the valley floor into Haweswater Reservoir. On the south valley wall below Rough Crag lies Hugh’s Cave, named on OS maps and tied to the local legend of Hugh Holme — said to have fled royal retribution after the Canterbury Conspiracy against King John in 1209 and hidden here in the remoteness of Riggindale. After King John’s death he did not return south but is said to have settled locally, gaining the esteem of villagers and, in later tradition, the honorary title “King of Mardale”, a name borne by his descendants into the 19th century.

At the small bay where Riggindale Beck spills into Haweswater, the forested promontory of The Rigg marks the southern entrance to the valley. From near the tip of The Rigg a high-level ridge path runs along the backwall above Riggindale — following the line of Swine Crag, Heron Crag and Eagle Crag — before leaving the ridge halfway between Eagle Crag and Rough Crag to descend toward High Street. This upland route forms a dramatic link between the reservoir shore and the broad whaleback of the High Street ridge above.

At the foot of Riggindale, Riggindale Beck descends the full length of the valley, passing under the small Bowderthwaite Bridge before it spills into the south-west shore of Haweswater Reservoir. The bridge marks a quiet point on the Coast to Coast route where glacial valley waters meet the reservoir’s edge, and walkers can trace the line of the beck as it enters the broader sweep of the lake below.

As the Coast to Coast path completes its descent from Kidsty Howes and crosses Bowderthwaite Bridge, the trail becomes flanked by a double row of small boundary stones — the Bowderthwaite Stones — marking the line of old fell and field divisions as it heads toward The Rigg above Haweswater. These modest markers follow the ancient boundaries of upland commons and dry-stone enclosures, guiding walkers along the quiet transition from valley floor to the ridgeline beyond. 

In the autumn of 2021, prolonged dry conditions caused Haweswater Reservoir to fall to exceptionally low levels, revealing broad expanses of the original Mardale valley floor, including remnants of the drowned settlement of Mardale Green beneath the lake’s surface. From the forested promontory of The Rigg the unusually exposed shoreline and ruins emerged against the backdrop of quiet water and surrounding fells, a striking reminder of the valley that once was before the reservoir was created in the 1930s.