Walks by Buttermere
The walks you can reach around Buttermere — the routes that start within about 5 km, and the Wainwright and Outlying fells within the same radius, ranked nearest first. Each fell carries today’s conditions and the bus where there is one. Planning the trip? See the full Buttermere guide for parking, buses and where to stay.
Walking routes near Buttermere
- High Snockrigg, Eel Crag & Lad Hows 1.5 km away15.7 km~1399 m~5.5 hA big north-western day — seven tops from High Snockrigg over Whiteless Pike to Crag Hill, 15.7 km and 1,399 m, with one stage averaging 22%. About 5.5 hours.
- Great Borne & Starling Dodd 1.5 km away16 km~1100 m~5 hRed Pike, Starling Dodd and Great Borne along the western end of the High Stile ridge — three tops, 16 km and 1,100 m, with one stage averaging 20%. Hard for length, severe for steepness; about 5 hours.
- High Stile, Seat via Buttermere 1.5 km away13 km~836 m~4 hFive tops along the High Stile ridge with Buttermere below you the whole way. 836 m of ascent in 13 km, and a stage averaging 20% to gain the ridge in the first place. Exposure is rated hard where the crags drop straight to the lake. Roughly 4 hours.
- Crummock Water shore circuit 1.6 km away13.2 km~191 m~3 h🏞️ Easy & familyThe full circuit of Crummock Water — about 8.2 miles around one of the loveliest of the western lakes. Largely level but long, and boggy in places along the quieter western shore.
- Buttermere lake circuit 1.6 km away7.4 km~66 m~1.6 h🏞️ Easy & familyThe classic low-level lap of Buttermere — a flat, well-made path right around the lake beneath High Stile and Fleetwith Pike, passing the famous lone tree and a short rock-cut tunnel. One of the great easy walks in the Lakes.
- Scale Fell and Mellbreak 1.9 km away14.7 km~561 m~3.9 hScale Knott and both Mellbreak tops — 14.7 km and 561 m, with a stage averaging 19%. The only route in this group rated SEVERE for exposure, and hard for length and navigation too. About 3.9 hours.
- The Buttermere Ridge 1.9 km away13.4 km~975 m~4.3 hOne of the finest ridge walks in the Lakes — Seat, High Crag, High Stile and Red Pike strung above Buttermere, with plunging drops into Ennerdale on one side and the lake on the other. Earned by the loose, relentless grind of Gamlin End and paid for again on the red scree chute off Red Pike: 13.4 km, 975 m of climbing, and severe for steepness.
- Black Star Brandreth and others 4.6 km away9.2 km~597 m~2.8 hStraight up from the Honister pass — Honister Crag, Fleetwith Pike, Brandreth and Grey Knotts in 9.2 km with 597 m of climbing. Short but severe for steepness and hard for exposure, with one stage averaging 15%. Under three hours.
- Honister to Keswick: over the Newlands fells 4.6 km away19.6 km~1035 m~5.6 hHard🏞️ Easy & familyA big Newlands horseshoe walked one–way from the top of Honister Pass to Keswick. You climb straight onto Dale Head, trace the broad grassy tops over Hindscarth and Robinson, drop to Newlands Hause and pick up the quieter Knott Rigg–Ard Crags ridge, then walk out down the Newlands valley into town — six summits and a proper day out, with no car to collect.
- Haystacks 4.6 km away11.4 km~738 m~3.5 hFleetwith Pike's front edge first, then the tarns and rocky knolls of Haystacks — the two finest small summits above Buttermere in a single round. There is a scramble to the true top, and a maze of paths up there that needs care in cloud.
- Great Gable from Honister Slate Mine 4.7 km away9.6 km~690 m~3.1 hHardThe kindest way to England’s most-loved mountain. Honister starts you at 350 m, so the Grey Knotts–Brandreth–Green Gable ridge does most of the climbing for you before the final stony pull onto Great Gable. Four Wainwrights, a summit war memorial and the finest view in Lakeland down into Wasdale — but the top is a broad boulder plateau, and in cloud it is one of the great navigation traps.
- Dale Head Hindscarth and Robinson 4.7 km away17.5 km~808 m~4.8 hThree big Newlands tops — Dale Head, Hindscarth and Robinson — linked by a fast, airy ridge, reached by a lung-bursting pull straight off Honister Pass with no warm-up at all. A linear day rather than a round: 17.5 km and 808 m of climbing, of which the last 11.7 km is the valley walk-out to Keswick after the final summit.
Fells within about 5 km
- High Crag (Buttermere) 1.7 km away745 m~5 h🚌 BusSave it · 20Too windy for the topsHigh Crag at 744m (2,441ft) is the south-eastern anchor of the Buttermere ridge, its dramatic Gamlin End providing the steepest descent in the three-peak circuit.
- High Stile 1.8 km away806 m~4.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 20Too windy for the topsHigh Stile is the highest of the three great fells of the Buttermere ridge, and one of the finest summits in the Western Fells.
- Robinson 2.2 km away738 m~3 h🚌 BusSave it · 18Too windy for the topsRobinson at 737m (2,418ft) is the north-western bastion of the Newlands Horseshoe — the great classic ridge walk that circuits the Newlands valley.
- Red Pike (Buttermere) 2.3 km away755 m~3.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 20Too windy for the topsRed Pike is the shapely, warm-hued peak at the Buttermere end of the High Stile ridge — its name from the red Ennerdale granophyre that colours its screes and summit.
- Fleetwith Pike 2.7 km away649 m~2.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 20Too windy for the topsFleetwith Pike at 648m (2,126ft) stands above Honister Pass, its northern face falling in the famous Honister Crags that Wainwright described as giving one of the most dramatic fell profiles in the Western Fells.
- Haystacks (Buttermere) 2.7 km away597 m~4 h🚌 BusSave it · 19Too windy for the topsHaystacks at 597m (1,959ft) is the fell Wainwright loved above all others — not for its height, but for its character.
- Rannerdale Knotts 3 km away355 m~1.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 20Too windy for the topsRannerdale Knotts at 355m (1,165ft) is a small, delightful ridge of rocky knolls above Crummock Water, giving some of the finest views of the lake from any fell in the North Western Fells.
- Whiteless Pike 3.3 km away660 m~3 h🚌 BusSave it · 20Too windy for the topsWhiteless Pike at 660m (2,165ft) is the southern sentinel of the Grasmoor ridge above Buttermere, a sharp, pointed summit giving excellent views of the Buttermere valley and Crummock Water.
- Hindscarth 3.3 km away727 m~3 h🚌 BusSave it · 20Too windy for the topsHindscarth at 727m (2,385ft) is an elegant summit on the Newlands Horseshoe between Dale Head and Robinson, its pointed profile visible from the Newlands valley below.
- Knott Rigg 3.5 km away556 m~2.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 18Too windy for the topsKnott Rigg at 556m (1,824ft) is a pleasant, grassy ridge summit above the Newlands valley between Ard Crags and the Buttermere road, giving fine views of the Grasmoor and Newlands Horseshoe ranges.
- Pillar 3.8 km away892 m~5.5 hSave it · 20Too windy for the topsPillar at 892m (2,927ft) is one of the great mountains of Lakeland, its tremendous eastern face — dominated by the famous Pillar Rock — home to some of the longest rock climbs in England.
- Dale Head 4 km away754 m~3.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 20Too windy for the topsDale Head at 753m (2,470ft) is the highest summit of the Newlands Horseshoe, a broad, rocky top above the head of the Newlands valley giving outstanding views of the full horseshoe circuit and south to the Borrowdale fells.
- Wandope 4.1 km away774 m~3.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 19Too windy for the topsWandope at 772m (2,533ft) is the western arm of the Grasmoor massif, a high ridge with outstanding views of Crummock Water and the coastal plain beyond.
- Starling Dodd 4.1 km away633 m~4.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 17Too windy for the topsStarling Dodd at 633m (2,077ft) is a broad, grassy summit above Ennerdale between Red Pike and Great Borne, giving fine views of Ennerdale Water and the remote Ennerdale valley.
- Mellbreak (Mellbreak South Top) 4.5 km away511 m~3.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 19Too windy for the topsMellbreak at 512m (1,680ft) is a distinctive double-summited ridge above the western shore of Crummock Water, its steep flanks rising directly from the lake edge.
- Grey Knotts 4.6 km away697 m~4.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 20Too windy for the topsGrey Knotts at 697m (2,287ft) is the first summit above Honister Pass, a pleasant rocky summit giving fine views of the Gable group and across Borrowdale.
- Ard Crags 4.7 km away581 m~2.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 19Too windy for the topsArd Crags at 581m (1,906ft) is a craggy ridge summit above the head of the Newlands valley, its rocky west face giving the fell its name.
- Crag Hill (Eel Crag) 4.7 km away839 m~3.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 20Too windy for the topsCrag Hill at 839m (2,753ft), also known as Eel Crag, is the highest point of the Coledale Horseshoe ridge in the North Western Fells, a broad, rocky summit connecting Grasmoor to Sail and Hopegill Head.
- Grasmoor 4.7 km away852 m~3.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 20Too windy for the topsGrasmoor at 852m (2,795ft) is the highest and most massive of the North Western Fells, a great dome of a mountain above Crummock Water that Wainwright described as one of the finest viewpoints in the district — the panorama from Grasmoor's summit takes in the full sweep of the northern and western fells, with the two great lakes of Crummock Water and Buttermere gleaming in the valley far below.
- Steeple 4.8 km away819 m~6 hSave it · 20Too windy for the topsSteeple at 819m (2,687ft) is a pointed, dramatic summit on the ridge between Scoat Fell and Red Pike (Wasdale), its crags dropping steeply into Mirk Cove above Ennerdale.
- Sail 4.8 km away773 m~3.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 20Too windy for the topsSail at 773m (2,536ft) is an elegant, pointed summit on the Coledale Horseshoe between Eel Crag and Causey Pike, its attractive profile one of the defining features of the skyline above Braithwaite.
- Brandreth 4.9 km away715 m~4.5 h🚌 BusSave it · 20Too windy for the topsBrandreth at 715m (2,346ft) is a broad, grassy summit on the Gable ridge above Honister, giving excellent views of Great Gable and the Scafells from the north.
- Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell) 4.9 km away841 m~6 hSave it · 20Too windy for the topsScoat Fell at 841m (2,759ft) is the broad, high ridge connecting Pillar to Red Pike (Wasdale) and Haycock, a summit of wide views but modest individual character.
0 of the fells here are rated good to climb on 12 September — see live conditions →
A prediction from our daily fell score, not a guarantee — always check the mountain forecast before you go.
Map
● routes · ● fells within ~5 km
An interactive map of the route start points and the fells within about 5 km. Each marker links to its page; the same routes and fells are listed below.
Distances are straight-line from the centre of Buttermere — ‘within ~5 km’ means as the crow flies, not that the walk necessarily starts there. Always plan your own route and check the bus before you travel.