Honister Pass

The road

From Seatoller the road climbs 241 m in 1.4 miles to the summit at 357 m, an average of one in ten, through hairpins between drystone walls. The steepest stretch is low down: one in five (19%) over 200 m, about half a kilometre up from the car park, and more than half the climb is steeper than one in ten. There are passing places rather than two lanes for much of it, and cyclists come down it fast. From the Buttermere side the climb from Gatesgarth is longer and, on average, gentler: 239 m in 2.2 miles, one in fifteen overall, up the open fellside with the Honister crags above; but it saves its steepest part for the top, one in five (20%) over the last 200 m below the summit. These figures are measured, not quoted from a sign: the road's line from OpenStreetMap, sampled every ten metres and draped on the 30-metre Copernicus terrain model, so they are right to a few metres of height and a few percent of gradient.

Drive it in a low gear both ways. In winter it is one of the first roads in the district to close, and it is not a gritting priority, so a clear forecast is not the same as an open road.

Is Honister Pass open?

Most of the year, yes. It closes for snow and ice, for occasional roadworks and, rarely, for events. There is no open data feed that says whether the pass is open right now, so this page does not pretend to: before a winter journey look at the slate mine's webcam, which shows the road at the summit, and the council's roads pages for a planned closure.

Parking at the top

The car park at the summit belongs to the slate mine and is pay-and-display; it is the start for Dale Head, Fleetwith Pike, Grey Knotts and Brandreth. There is no free parking at the top and the verges are not an option. At either foot, the National Trust car parks at Seatoller and Gatesgarth serve the same fells from below with the extra climb. The car parks nearest the summit are listed below with what they charge, and the parking map shows every option on both sides of the pass.

The bus over the pass

The 77/77A Honister Rambler is the bus that crosses the pass, in season, on a loop from Keswick through Borrowdale, over Honister, down to Buttermere and back by Whinlatter (the 77A runs the loop the other way). It stops at the youth hostel by the summit, which makes a linear walk possible: up from one side, down the other, bus home. The times and the days it runs are on the bus map and the fells by bus collection, from the operator's own data.

The slate mine

Honister Slate Mine at the top is a working mine and a visitor attraction: underground tours, a via ferrata on the crags above the pass, the infinity bridge, a café and a shop. It also runs the webcam that shows the state of the pass. It is somebody else's business and this page does not review it; its own site has the prices and the opening times.

The walks from the top

Starting at 356 m changes the arithmetic. From the car park:

• Dale Head — the most direct big view in the district for the effort: 400 m of climbing on a clear path to the cairn above the Newlands valley. Dale Head, Hindscarth and Robinson continues along the ridge.
• Fleetwith Pike — the pyramid above Buttermere, from behind, with the lake appearing at the top. Honister Crag and Black Star takes in Brandreth and Grey Knotts too.
• Grey Knotts and Brandreth — the short way onto the Gable group.
• Great Gable — by the old tramway and the drum house to Grey Knotts, then over Brandreth and Green Gable: Great Gable from Honister.
• Haystacks — along the tramway and across to Wainwright's favourite, returning by the same way or down to Gatesgarth for the bus.
• Over the top to Keswick — the linear walk the bus makes possible: Honister to Keswick over the Newlands fells.

The box below lists the fells nearest the summit with a line about each.