At Haverthwaite the A590 leaves the flat lands of Greenodd and enters into the gorge of the River Leven, a steep-sided valley with wonderful woods. The scene of much past industry with iron and gunpowder works utilising the water power. The new road crosses to the east bank of the Leven and by-passes the small village of Backbarrow. The Lakeside and Haverthwaite Steam Railway can also be found here.
Just west of the gorge proper a large junction caters for the turn off to Haverthwaite village and the minor road to Grisedale. Turn north to Grisedale and then immediately right. Shortly, at a very sharp bend, turn right again onto the abandoned stretch of old road. The cutting of the new road slices across the end of this section after a few hundred yards. At the very end of the road a wonderful path into the woods makes a great walk with various options and can lead to Anna's Rock cache (GCF70B) on the top of the hill.
The old road was cut through the hill end leaving a beautiful rock face. The rock is sedimentary, part of the Windermere Super Group. During the Silurian period there was continuous sedimentation when thick turbidite sequences of sandstones, greywackes, siltstones and mudstones were deposited. The rock here looks like silt/mudstone and has a fine structure, giving sharp edges, with a few small erosion pockets. It has been colonised by some plants and at the top and sides of the cliff is the lovely oak woodland. The cache is a bottle pre-form.
Like many lay-bys and abandoned road sections this can suffer from litter and may not be a great place at night. The cliff, however, is well worth the visit. Area is tarmac old-road so is wheelchair accessible, although some assistance retrieving the cache might be needed. The X6 Barrow-Kendal express bus stops at the Haverthwaite junction.