Clougha Pike

The western rampart of the Forest of Bowland and one of the finest sky-to-sea viewpoints in Lancashire: from the gritstone tors on top you look clean across Lancaster and Morecambe Bay to the Lakeland fells, with the Isle of Man on a rare clear day. It is open-access moorland with a proper car park at Rigg Lane/Birk Bank, a manageable climb, and - crucially - space and legal freedom that the National Trust honeypots don't give you. For pilots that means room to launch cleanly and get big sweeping reveals over heather, weathered boulders and the patchwork lowlands below. The moor catches the weather, so expect wind up top and firm-underfoot-to-bog depending on season. Sunset is the move here: the whole bay lights up and the tors throw long shadows. Skylarks, curlew and red grouse are all around, so keep clear of the ground and give wildlife room. A genuinely underrated, legally clean fell for drone work.