M6 in Cumbria

Cumbria, the most northerly county on the M6, possible on of the most scenic motorway routes in England? Passing as it does the historic city of Carlisle before heading along the Pettrill valley, passed the market town of Penrith then climbing the fells to Shap Summit. Descending down to the village of Tebay, the Lune Gorge and the Howgill Fells before climbing out to to a summit at junction 37, passing Killington Lake then descending to junction 36 and the Lancashire Border.

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Junction 44 North Carlisle, A74/A7/A689 the most northerly junction on the M6

Junctions 44-43 Northern Carlisle Bypass, the Southern Uplands to the North, the Pennine's to the East and the Lakeland Fells to the South and West, the M6 crosses the River Eden.

Junction 43 Carlisle East, A69 the junction for the North East, Newcastle and Hexham.

Junctions 43-42 Southern Carlisle Bypass the Carlisle's outskirts on the West, countryside and the Pennine's on the East. The M6 crosses the Settle and Carlisle Railway.

Junction 42 Carlisle South, A6 the first time the A6 and M6 meet, the junction is signposted Carlisle, however for southbound traffic it is one of the least used junctions just serving a few small villages.

Junction 42-41 Carlisle to Penrith link climbing out of Carlisle and past southwaite services, the Pennine's are our constant companions to the east, with glimpses of the lakes to the west, the M6 enters the Pettrill valley towards Penrith the scenery is such that it is difficult to tell if you are climbing of descending.

Junction 41 Penrith North, B5305, in reality the start of the original Penrith bypass, signed Wigton, but anyone going south would have used the A595 to Wigton, in reality it is an unofficial junction for Penrith.

Junctions 41-40 Northern Penrith Bypass, the M6 starts descending as Penrith comes into view on the eastern side.

Junction 40 Penrith West, A66/A592, one of the busiest junctions in Cumbria, traffic leaves for Penrith and the A66 across the pennine's to Scotch Corner, traffic joins from Penrith and the northern lakes.

Junctions 40-39 Southern Penrith Bypass, the M6 starts the serious climb to Shap, on the way it passes the end of the original Penrith bypass, the junction was closed on completion of the next section of the M6 further south.

Junction 39 Shap, (A6) the highest junction on the M6 and the only one to feed onto a minor road, this is the main junction for Kendal for southbound traffic.

Junctions 39-38, Shap Summit, this is reached just after the junction, as the M6 starts to fall views of the fells come into sight, then Tebay and the Lune gorge, the start one of the most scenic routes on any British motorway. Tebay Services comes up just before the next junction.

Junction 38 Tebay A685/B6260 more traffic joins the southbound route than leaves here this is the southern junction for Brough and the A66.

Junction 38-37 Lune Gorge, the M6 crosses the River Lune twice in quick succession as well as the London-Glasgow main railway line and then enters the gorge with high fells to the west and the Howgill fells to east the scenery is breathtaking. The M6 then climbs out of the gorge again crossing the main railway line then climbing towards the next junction, you cannot fail to notice the windmills on the western side.

Junction 37 Sedbergh A684 a quite junction serving Sedbergh and the Yorkshire dales the junction is just about on the summit.

Junction 37-36 Southern Kendal Bypass, the M6 passes Killington Lake services, before climbing slightly then going into a long descent, views of the sea in this instance the Kent Estuary and some of the southern cumbrian fells

Junction 36 Farleton A65/A590 the last junction in Cumbria and possibly the busiest. Traffic leaves for north yorkshire, however traffic joins from Kendal, Barrow and the South Lakes making the M6 much busier.

Junction 36-35, views of Farleton Knot to the east, the M6 is much flatter now climbing slightly to a summit near Burton in Kendal the M6 crosses the border into Lancashire, as it descends views of Carnforth and Warton Crag to the west.