Duddon Valley

The Duddon Valley is a valley in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. The River Duddon flows through the valley, rising in the mountains between Eskdale and Langdale, before flowing into the Irish Sea near Broughton in Furness.

The part of the valley near the village of Ulpha is marked as "Dunnerdale" on Ordnance Survey maps, and upstream towards the village of Seathwaite is Hall Dunnerdale. The name "Dunnerdale" is often used as a synonym for "Duddon Valley", but many people, including Alfred Wainwright, prefer the name "Duddon Valley" and consider that Dunnerdale as a valley is properly the small valley above Broughton Mills that contains Dunnerdale Beck. It is this tributary valley that has given its name to the "Dunnerdale Fells", which are between Broughton Mills and the main Duddon Valley, and to the parish "Dunnerdale with Seathwaite", which includes the valley of Dunnerdale Beck as well as the main length of the River Duddon. Interestingly, advertisements for holiday cottages at Hall Dunnerdale describe the cottages as being "in the Duddon Valley".

From the top of the valley, steep motor roads lead west over the Hardknott Pass to Eskdale and east over the Wrynose Pass to the Langdale valleys. A less steep pass to Eskdale over Birker Fell leaves the valley at Ulpha, with extensive views of the Scafell range.