Home › Collections › Walks from Hawkshead

Walks from Hawkshead

10 routes and 5 fells within about 5 km of Hawkshead, nearest first. One walk starts within 1 km of the village: Hawkshead into the woods, 7.54 km. Each fell carries today’s conditions and the bus where there is one. Planning the trip? See the full Hawkshead guide for parking, buses and where to stay.

I've walked the round over Holme Fell and Black Fell and part of the Tarn Hows walk, both on 8 June 2023. Hawkshead's own car park took about 75,700 paid parking payments a year, more than any of the other 19 National Park car parks in the FOI figures.

Starting in Hawkshead

One route starts within 1 km of the centre of Hawkshead in a straight line, nearer Hawkshead than any other village.

Effort is the size of the day, from the distance and the climb; each route’s own page grades the steepness, navigation, exposure and ground underfoot, and names the hardest.

• Hawkshead into the woods →Start 0.3 km away7.54 km~283 m~1¾–2¾ hModerate: steepness, terrain and navigation🏞️ Easy & familyPlannedPark: Hawkshead Car & Coach Park (paid) · Bus: 505 at the startA woodland circuit from Beatrix Potter’s Hawkshead that climbs to the great cairn on Latterbarrow — a little fell with a big reward, looking clean down Windermere and across to the Coniston fells — then drops back through the trees. Dappled and dog-friendly, with a proper viewpoint in the middle.

More walking routes within about 5 km

• Holme Fell and Black Crag from Tarn Hows →Start 2.8 km away12.91 km~785 m~3¾–5¼ hModerate effort Hard: steepnessPlannedPark: Tarn Hows (NT, paid) · Bus: 505, 1.2 km walk from Holling Brow (near)
• Holme Fell and Black Fell →Start 2.8 km away13.74 km~614 m~3¾–5¼ hModerate effort Moderate: distance and steepnessWalked June 2023Park: Tarn Hows (NT, paid) · Bus: 505, 1.2 km walk from Holling Brow (near)Two low wooded tops between Coniston and Tarn Hows, and a fine half-day when the high fells are under cloud — nothing above 323 m, though 50 path junctions near the line mean it pays to keep track of which one you are on.
• Tarn Hows circuit →Start 2.9 km away2.92 km~61 m~½–1 hModerate: navigation🏞️ Easy & familyWalked in partPark: Tarn Hows (NT, paid) · Bus: 505, 1.4 km walk from Holling Brow (near)A gentle circuit of one of the Lake District's prettiest tarns, ringed by pines with the Coniston and Langdale fells beyond. Easy underfoot, with National Trust parking, toilets and a seasonal refreshment van.
• Wray Castle & the Windermere west shore →Start 3.5 km away9.58 km~114 m~2–3 hModerate effort Moderate: distance🏞️ Easy & familyPlannedPark: Wray Castle (NT, paid) · Bus: 505, 1.6 km walk from Low Wray, at Wray Castle Road EndA roughly 6-mile circular taking in the mock-Gothic Wray Castle and the western shore of Windermere. A varied, low-level day — flat underfoot but a fair distance.Measured from the GPX track: the distance.
• Carron Crag from Grizedale →Start 4.5 km away10.99 km~392 m~2¾–4 hModerate effort Hard: navigationPlannedPark: Grizedale Forest Visitor Centre (paid) · Bus: 505, 4.8 km walk from Hawkshead, at Tourist Information CentreThe high point of Grizedale Forest, a loop of 11 km with 392 m of climbing averaging about 9% with a 21% pull over 250 m at the start. Rated hard to navigate — forest tracks all look alike. About 2¾–4 hours.Measured from the GPX track: the steepest sustained climb, about 18%. Navigation: estimated from the map, not checked on the ground. Summary checked by Lee McCoy, 26 August 2026.
• West Side of Coniston →Start 4.6 km away5.8 km~27 m~1–1¾ hModerate: navigation🏞️ Easy & familyPlannedOut and back · Park: Coniston (layby) · Bus: 505, 660 m walk from Coniston, outside John Ruskin SchoolAn out-and-back of about 5.8 km from the lake end of Lake Road in Coniston, with a short loop where it turns, on permissive cycle paths, surfaced and compacted tracks and lanes, with almost no climbing (about 30 m).
• Along Windermere's Western Shore →Start 4.6 km away7.57 km~94 m~1½–2¼ hModerate: navigation🏞️ Easy & familyPlannedOut and back · Park: Harrowslack (NT, paid)An out-and-back of about 7.6 km from Ferry House, where the Windermere Ferry from Bowness lands, north along the western shore of Windermere and back: a lane, then a compacted track that is a restricted byway, with about 90 m of up and down.
• The Old Man of Coniston, up and down from Coniston →Start 4.9 km away8.81 km~759 m~3–4¼ hModerate effort Severe: steepnessWalked in partPark: Coniston, Ruskin Avenue (paid) · Bus: 505 at the startA loop of about 8.8 km from the middle of Coniston to the top of the Old Man of Coniston (802 m) and back, with about 760 m of climbing: out along the Walna Scar Road and up the fell's south side by Little Arrow Edge, then down the main path past Low Water Quarry and Coniston Waterfall into the village.
• The Sun Pub Walk (Coniston) →Start 5 km away6.42 km~202 m~1½–2¼ hModerate: terrain🏞️ Easy & familyPlannedPark: Coniston, Ruskin Avenue (paid) · Bus: 505 at the startA short circuit from the door of The Sun in Coniston: 6.4 km with around 200 m of climbing, on the east side of the village. Our description of the way round is being rewritten to match the track; until then, follow the map and the GPX.

Fells within about 5 km

• Latterbarrow →1.7 km away244 mLatterbarrow at 244m (801ft) is a delightful, craggy little summit above Hawkshead, its rocky top — marked by a tall stone obelisk — giving outstanding views of Esthwaite Water and the surrounding wooded country.
• Claife Heights →3.1 km away270 mClaife Heights at 270m (885ft) is the long, forested ridge on the western shore of Windermere, giving fine views of the lake through the trees.
• Black Fell →3.5 km away323 m~2–2½ h🚌 BusDecent · 68 · rated on 27 OctoberDry, firm underfootBlack Fell at 323m (1,060ft) is a small, heathery summit above Tarn Hows, its top giving fine views of this most popular of Lakeland beauty spots.
• Holme Fell →4.4 km away316 m~2–2½ h🚌 BusDecent · 66 · rated on 27 OctoberDry, firm underfootHolme Fell at 316m (1,036ft) is a delightful, craggy little summit above Yewdale near Coniston, its rocky outcrops of Uskdale Gap and Ivy Crag providing surprisingly varied and interesting walking for such a modest height.
• Carron Crag →4.8 km away314 mCarron Crag at 314m (1,030ft) is a Birkett top in the Grizedale Forest above the Furness Fells, its summit giving views across Esthwaite Water and south to Morecambe Bay.

2 of the fells here are rated good to climb on 27 October — see live conditions →
A prediction from our daily fell score, not a guarantee — always check the mountain forecast before you go. Our daily score covers the Wainwrights only, so the 3 Outlying fells here have no rating. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab).

Distances are straight-line from the centre of Hawkshead — ‘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.