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Walks from Windermere

6 routes and 10 fells within about 5 km of Windermere, nearest first. Two walks start within 1 km of the town: Windermere Station to Brockhole and Back (9.12 km) and Orrest Head (4.16 km). Route mapping from here is still thin, so the fell list is doing most of the work. Each fell carries today’s conditions and the bus where there is one. Planning the trip? See the full Windermere guide for parking, buses and where to stay.

I've walked part of one of the five routes here, over Capple Howe and Sallows in April 2025; the other four are planned lines. Hammarbank, the nearest National Park car park to the Orrest Head start in the FOI figures, takes about eight times as many paid parking payments in August as in January.

Starting in Windermere

Two routes start within 1 km of the centre of Windermere in a straight line, nearer Windermere than any other town or 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.

• Windermere Station to Brockhole and Back →Start 0.2 km away9.12 km~153 m~2–3 hModerate effort Moderate: distance🏞️ Easy & familyPlannedOut and back · Park: Windermere Station car park (Northern, paid) · Bus: 505 at the startAn out-and-back of about 9.1 km from Windermere railway station to Brockhole on the shore of Windermere, through Troutbeck Bridge and along the shared cycle path beside the A591, with about 150 m of climbing.
• Orrest Head →Start 0.2 km away4.16 km~173 m~1–1½ hModerate: navigation🏞️ Easy & familyPlannedPark: Windermere Station car park (Northern, paid) · Bus: 505 at the startWainwright's first Lakeland summit and still the best short introduction to the fells — a steady wooded climb from Windermere to a rocky crown with a sweeping panorama over the lake to the Coniston and Langdale skyline.

More walking routes within about 5 km

Few routes mapped near this start so far (6); the fells within about 5 km are below.

• Brant Fell from Bowness →Start 2.3 km away2.86 km~161 m~¾–1¼ hEasy effort Moderate: steepness and navigationPlannedPark: Bowness, Glebe Road (paid) · Bus: 508 at the startA short loop of about 2.9 km from Bowness Pier to the top of Brant Fell, with about 160 m of climbing: up Brantfell Road, a public footpath and a track to the Post Knott viewpoint, paths to the top, and down past Brantfell Farm on a public footpath that OpenStreetMap maps as part of the Dales Way.
• Along Windermere's Western Shore →Start 3.7 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.
• Capple Howe & Sallows →Start 4 km away8.68 km~490 m~2½–3½ hModerate effort Hard: steepness and navigationWalked in partPark: Church Bridge, Troutbeck (limited) (free) · Bus: 508 at the startSour Howes, Capple Howe and Sallows above Troutbeck — three modest tops in 8.7 km with 490 m of climbing and one stage averaging 16%. Rated hard to navigate; about 2½–3½ hours.Measured from the GPX track: the steepest sustained climb, about 26%. Navigation: estimated from the map, not checked on the ground. Summary checked by Lee McCoy, 26 August 2026.
• Wray Castle & the Windermere west shore →Start 4.4 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.

Fells within about 5 km

• Orrest Head →0.6 km away238 mOrrest Head at 238m (781ft) is the famous viewpoint above Windermere, the first fell the young Alfred Wainwright climbed when he arrived in Lakeland — and the view that changed his life.
• School Knott →1.8 km away232 mAt 232 m (760 ft), School Knott is a listed Lakeland top east of Windermere.
• Grandsire →2.4 km away251 mGrandsire is a low, grassy fell of 251m (823ft) in the gentle country south-east of Windermere, near Ings.
• Unnamed top (School Knott) →2.6 km away247 m
• Brant Fell →2.6 km away191 mBrant Fell at 191m (627ft) is the rocky little top rising directly behind Bowness-on-Windermere, and among the most accessible of all Wainwright's Outlying Fells.
• Claife Heights →3.3 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.
• High Knott →4.4 km away275 mHigh Knott at 275m (902ft) rises above Staveley in the South Lakeland fells, and appears on some Ordnance Survey maps under the name of the structure on its summit.
• Latterbarrow →4.5 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.
• Sour Howes →4.7 km away483 m~2½–3 h🚌 BusMarginal · 40 · rated on 27 OctoberSummit likely clagged inSour Howes at 483m (1,585ft) is a broad, grassy summit above Troutbeck with good views south to Windermere.
• Reston Scar →4.7 km away255 mReston Scar at 255m (837ft) is an Outlying Fell above Staveley, its rocky scarp edge giving views across the pastoral valley towards Windermere and the Lake District fells.

None of the fells here are rated good to climb on 27 October — see fells to save for a bad day →
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 9 Outlying fells here have no rating. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab).

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