Wrynose Pass

The road

From Fell Foot the road climbs 283 m in 1.6 miles to the summit, an average of one in nine, with the steepest stretch two-thirds of the way up: one in five (22%) over 200 m, about 1.8 km above the farm, on the bends where the valley wall steepens. More than half of the Langdale side is steeper than one in ten and a third of it steeper than one in seven. The Duddon side is a different road: 175 m in 2 miles from Cockley Beck, most of it the near-level run up Wrynose Bottom, with all the climbing in the last kilometre below the stone, where it reaches one in five (21%) over 200 m.

Those figures are measured from the terrain model along the mapped road, over 200 m windows, so they describe the road a driver feels rather than a sign; the signs say one in four. Passing places rather than two lanes for most of it, sheep on the road, and cyclists coming down from the stone at speed: drive it in a low gear and expect to reverse.

Is Wrynose Pass open?

In summer, almost always. In winter Wrynose and Hardknott close together: ice on the bends makes them impassable and they are not gritting priorities, so a clear forecast in Ambleside is not the same as an open road at 390 m. There is no open data feed that says whether the pass is open right now, and this page does not pretend to have one. Planned closures for roadworks appear on the council's roadworks map; for snow and ice, the honest answer is to ask at the Three Shires Inn in Little Langdale the morning you go.

Parking at the top

There is a lay-by at the Three Shire Stone and verge space either side of it, and nothing is signed or charged; on a fine weekend it is full by mid-morning with walkers bound for Pike of Blisco and the Coniston fells. Park on the verge only where it is firm and clear of the passing places, because a car on soft ground at the summit blocks the pass. Further down the Langdale side the National Trust's Blea Tarn car park (pay and display) is the nearest proper car park, 2.4 km back towards the Langdales, and the lay-bys near it serve Lingmoor Fell. The car parks nearest the summit are listed below with what we know about each.

The Three Shire Stone

The stone at the summit marks the point where Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire met before the counties were redrawn in 1974, which is why Wrynose was once the most contested few yards of road in the north. It is a plain pillar beside the road and takes a minute to see; the reason to stop is the view down Wrynose Bottom to the Duddon and, on the other side, Little Langdale falling away towards Elterwater.

Getting there without a car

Without a car: The nearest stations as the crow flies are Windermere (14 km away) and Foxfield (19 km away). The bus map has every stop we hold.

No bus crosses Wrynose. The 516 runs up Great Langdale to Dungeon Ghyll, one valley north over Lingmoor Fell, and the Elterwater stop on the same service is the nearest to Little Langdale; from either it is a walk of an hour or more to Fell Foot before the pass begins. In practice the summit is a place you drive to or cycle over.

The walks from the top

Starting at 393 m changes the arithmetic. From the Three Shire Stone:

• Pike of Blisco — 703 m, the shapely rocky summit above the head of Great Langdale, by the path north from the stone; about 300 m of climbing to one of the best small tops in the district.
• Cold Pike — 700 m, on the ridge between Pike of Blisco and Crinkle Crags, taken in with it. Stonesty Pike, Great Knott and Wrynose Fell makes a rough five-top round of this side from the pass.
• Wrynose Fell and Hell Gill Pike — the Birketts on the Coniston side of the road, above Wrynose Bottom.
• The Coniston skyline — by Wet Side Edge to Great Carrs, Swirl How and on: Black Sails and Great How takes six tops from the pass in 10.8 km.
• Over Hardknott — Hardknott Pass and its Roman fort are the next road west; Hard Knott and Harter Fell start from its summit.

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