The short answers
Is Latterbarrow a Wainwright?
Latterbarrow is one of Wainwright's Outlying Fells, not one of the 214 in the Pictorial Guides.
Where do you park for Latterbarrow?
The nearest car park we hold is Latterbarrow (layby, south), about 1.5 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Latterbarrow (layby, north), 1.7 km out. We only look within 2.5 km, measured straight-line: over longer distances a road may cross a pass and the drive bears no relation to the line.
How hard is Latterbarrow?
The shortest way up we hold is Hawkshead into the woods — 7.5 km, 283 m of ascent, about 2 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Hard.
All axes: steepness: Hard · navigation: Moderate · terrain: Moderate · exposure: Easy · length: Easy.
Parking & buses for Latterbarrow
Best parking to hike Latterbarrow
Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).
Wray Castle (NT, paid) — 2.1 km from summit (straight line)
2.1 km from Latterbarrow. Fees: pay and display (LDNP directory, checked Aug 2026). £7 for 2 hours; £8.50 for 4 hours; £10 all day. Cash at machine (NT, checked Aug 2026). Free for NT members (checked Aug 2026). Cash at machine or JustPark app (code 80715) (NT, checked Aug 2026).
Directions ↗ (opens in new tab)Something changed here?Positions are approximate — zoom the map to confirm. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.
Tip: pan and zoom the interactive map at the top of this page to spot other potential parking near your route.
Vehicles are left entirely at their owner’s risk. We list places people park; we cannot vouch for any of them. Judge it on the day: take valuables with you, leave nothing on show, and if a spot feels wrong when you get there, park somewhere else.
Getting to Latterbarrow by bus
The 505 stops at Hawkshead, at Tourist Information Centre, 90 m from the start of Hawkshead into the woods — a route we rate Easy. The last bus is 20:43 towards Kendal (505) and 19:55 towards Coniston (505) and 19:03 towards Ambleside (505), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
Stagecoach 505 “Coniston Rambler”
Windermere – Ambleside – Skelwith Bridge – Hawkshead – Coniston
Catch it from: Windermere · Ambleside
Daily in season (reduced winter service). Best access for the Coniston fells (Old Man, Wetherlam group).
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
Map & nearby Birketts
Skip map
Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: Latterbarrow (layby, south), about 1.5 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Latterbarrow (within 3 km)
No bonus Birketts within 3 km — every Birkett near here is already a Wainwright summit, so just enjoy the walk.
Routes over Latterbarrow
7.54 km · ~283 m ascent · loop · ~2–2.5 h · Easy
Summits: Latterbarrow
✎️ Bags Latterbarrow (244 m) and its landmark cairn — a modest top with a view out of all proportion to its height.
⬇️ Download GPX
Best season: Year-round; a good foul-weather or hot-day choice under the trees. Forest tracks get muddy.
⚠️ Warnings: Forest tracks branch and re-cross — follow the waymarks. Muddy after rain; occasional forestry operations. Lanes near Hawkshead; livestock in the fields.
Full route guide ↗
✎️ Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet.
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.
Places to stay near this fell
about 3.8 km from the start, in a straight line
Third on usefulness rather than distance. It is the only property in the whole 60-candidate cluster whose own page names high chairs, cots AND stair gates, and one of only two with an EV charger; six en-suite B&B rooms plus cottages sleeping two to sixteen means one family or four can book the same place. The reason to read it before booking is the dog rule: dogs stay on the farm, in kennels, not in the house.
Worth knowing: “Pets are more than welcome on the farm, we have purpose built five star accommodation so that you can bring the whole family along, however with the exception of assistant dogs, no pets are allowed inside the cottages and farmhouses. Please click here to see more details about our kennel facilities.”
Arthur Ransome set Swallows and Amazons at this farm, and the original film was shot here in the 1970s; there are on-site kennels because dogs are welcome on the land but not inside the houses.
- Dogs “Pets are more than welcome on the farm, we have purpose built five star accommodation so that you can bring the whole family along, however with the exception of assistant dogs, no pets are allowed inside the cottages and farmhouses. Please click here to see more details about our kennel facilities.”
- Family rooms “The traditional farm buildings have been converted into cottages of different sizes, sleeping two to sixteen. They make an ideal base for a romantic getaway, a gathering with the gang or a family break.”
- Evening meal “Let our fab chefs prepare you lovely meals, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner.”
- Children “High chairs, cots and stair gates are available on request.”
about 4.8 km from the start, in a straight line
Ninth, and it sits at the very edge of the radius at 4.82 km, but it is the only property in the cluster with a HEATED launderette and a drying room together - the difference between a salvageable and a ruined second walking day. Add a children's playground, a woodland adventure course and a fenced-free area to run a dog off the lead, and it is the strongest wet-weather option here for a family that is camping or in a touring van.
The park holds more than 400 pitches and 320 privately owned static caravans across 130 acres of woodland, laid out in small glades so it reads as a much smaller site, and it keeps a free lending library on site.
- Drying room “Our heated launderette and drying room will help you clean up after your latest lakeland adventure, or dry out your clothes after a wet day out.”
- Dogs “You can also exercise your dog off the lead here.”
- Children “Younger members of the family will love our recreation field, woodland adventure course and recently revamped children's playground.”
about 2.7 km from the start, in a straight line
Eleventh, and it is a single-fact record on purpose: it is the ONLY property among the 29 cached pages in this cluster whose owner states, in her own voice, that the accommodation is fully accessible for a wheelchair user. For a walking party with someone who cannot do stairs, that one sentence outranks a dozen better-furnished pages. Everything else about it is unstated.
The self-catering unit is a converted stable inside the farm steading, and the owner states it was fitted out to be fully usable by a wheelchair user - the only such claim on any property page in this cluster.
about 1.3 km from the start, in a straight line
Second despite not being independent, because on the cluster's own published evidence it is the single most family-and-walker-shaped bed within 1.5 km: it is the only property inside 3 km that publishes a drying room, a cot, a high chair, ground-floor rooms and free parking together, and it serves breakfast at 07:30 - two hours earlier than anywhere else here. The catch a family must know first is that a dog can only come if you are camping or hiring the whole place.
Worth knowing: “Dogs: Pets are not permitted at YHA Hawkshead, except in our Camping & Cabins accommodation or when hiring the whole hostel or courtyard through YHA Exclusive Hire. Assistance dogs are welcome - please notify us at the time of booking.”
The hostel is Esthwaite Lodge, a Regency house above Esthwaite Water, and its grounds now hold a glamping village of pods, cabins and tipis - which is also the only part of the site where a dog may stay.
- Drying room “Shared drying room”
- Family rooms “Cot available”
- Evening meal “Under 10s eat for £1 with our special offer (see menu for details).”
- Packed lunch “With tasty breakfasts, packed lunches and evening meals, groups are sure to find something delicious to eat at YHA Hawkshead (see sample menu ).”
- Parking “Parking: There is free parking on site and an overflow car park for use during busy times.”
- Children “Guests under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 years or over to stay at YHA.”
about 4.1 km from the start, in a straight line
Thirteenth. Recorded mainly for the two rules that will otherwise bite at checkout: a two-night minimum, and a four-adult cap that applies even if two families book separate pitches - so a group of six adults cannot use this site at all. Against that it offers a laundry, a play area, showers, campfires and one of the very few genuinely wheelchair-accessible sleeping options in the cluster.
It caps every booking at four adults - even across separately booked pitches - to keep the site quiet, and its lake-view cabin is a wheelchair-friendly pod with adjustable beds and 1.5 m turning circles.
- Dogs “Dogs welcome per pitch 2”
- Children “They sleep two adults and two children, or three adults. Some of these pods are dog friendly.”