Binsey Walk
Photo: © Lee McCoy
Start Binsey Lodge
Getting here Parking: Roadside parking for Binsey (free), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 554 stops at Bewaldeth, on road end; from there it is 3.1 km and 136 m of ascent to this start. And the same back: about 8.6 km in all, with the walk. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Moderate steepness: Steepest sustained climb about 19% around the 0.4 km mark.
Before you choose
- Binsey is exposed to the west with nothing to shelter it — it can be far windier on top than the short climb suggests.
- This is a short walk on open, exposed moorland with no shelter. It is over quickly, but Binsey stands alone on the northern edge of the Lakes and catches the weather off the Solway — a hat and a jacket are worth having even for half an hour.
Conditions on this route
We score every Lakeland Wainwright each morning on cloud, wind, rain and underfoot, and this route crosses 1 of them. The worst summit governs the verdict — a route is only as kind as its roughest top.
Modelled guidance — not a substitute for the mountain forecast or your own judgement. See how every fell ranks today →
Daylight & turnaround
Daylight is short from October to February — check today’s sunrise and sunset before you set off, and carry a head-torch and spare batteries. On short days, decide your turn-back time before you start.
See also walking in bad weather and today’s conditions.
Route map
1 Binsey
Easy 48%Moderate 52%HardSevere
Heights on this chart and its high point are read from the track itself (a terrain model sampled along the line, or a GPS recording), so a top can differ from its listed height, usually reading lower.
Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).
The elevation profile is under the map; the stage notes follow.
The walk, stage by stage
- 1
Start → Binsey (1.2 km, 174 m)
Decision pointThere is nothing to decide. Park at the foot of the fell, go through the gate and follow the obvious track straight up. One path, one top, no junctions worth the name.
Easy to get wrongYou can see the summit from the car.
© Lee McCoy · 2 photographs Binsey → Finish (1.2 km, 1 m)
Decision pointStraight back down the way you came. There is no circuit to get wrong.
Easy to get wrongThe only way to make this walk longer is to go looking for a different line down, and there is no reason to.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Walked by Lee, July 2024
Escape routes
There is no shorter way off this walk: it is one path up and the same path down, so if you need to stop, turn round and go back the way you came.
Summits bagged (1)
- 1Binsey447 m
More about this walk
Quite possibly the second-simplest Wainwright there is. It took me 33 minutes car to summit and back. You park at the bottom, walk up, and walk straight back down. If you want a Wainwright on a day with no time in it, or a first one for somebody who is not sure about hills, this is the walk.
Conditions and timing
Check live conditions in the “From the fells” panel, on MWIS (opens in new tab) and the Met Office mountain forecast (opens in new tab) before you set off.
When the sun reaches the tops
Not sunrise — the moment the sun clears the skyline from that summit, which on a fell with high ground to its east can be a good deal later.
- Binsey — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:30, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:00. It waits longest in late December — about a quarter of an hour after sunrise.
How to read these times
The two equinoxes are shown because they fall in the walking season, and late December too wherever a top keeps you waiting then; the clock gap between the equinoxes is British Summer Time, not the hill. Rounded to the nearest quarter hour and meant as a general idea, not a schedule.
Modelled from a 30 m elevation model against each summit’s own skyline — the same figures the fell pages carry, never observed. Cloud is not in it.
Getting there and back
Parking
Positions are approximate.
Vehicles are left at their owner’s risk: we list places people park and cannot vouch for any of them. Take valuables with you and leave nothing on show.
Buses
The 554 stops at Bewaldeth, on road end. From there it is 3.1 km and 136 m of ascent to this start — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 8.6 km in all, with the walk. We haven’t published last buses, Sunday or winter service yet, so check the timetable before you rely on getting back.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Roadside parking beside the start: free, with room for about three cars, as mapped. 17 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (our parking map, from OpenStreetMap, checked 5 August 2026)
- Toilets No toilets are mapped within 250 m of the start. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Refreshments No café or pub is mapped within 250 m of the start: bring what you need. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Limitation Binsey stands alone, exposed to the west with no shelter: it can be far windier on top than the short climb suggests. (our route notes (this route's own warnings), checked 28 September 2026)
No mapped drinking water or shelter on this route — that doesn’t mean there is none, and never drink untreated from a beck. (Facilities data © OpenStreetMap contributors.)
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Planning detail
How each grade on this page is set, and the timings stage by stage.
Difficulty profile
Moderate overall — hardest: Steepness
Five independent axes, not one score. Three of the five were set on the ground; the rest are computed from the recorded track and the map, which measures the line rather than surveying the ground.
How we grade: each axis is Easy, Moderate, Hard or Severe, and a route between two bands takes the higher one. Length: under 8 km, 8–14 km, 14–20 km, over 20 km. Steepness, the steepest 500 m of the track: under 15%, 15–25%, 25–35%, over 35%. Terrain, navigation and exposure are judged rather than measured, and each note says why. How we grade.
Pacing
| Summit | Cumulative | Ascent | Time (fast–steady) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Binsey | 1.2 km | 174 m | 0:31–0:42 |
| Finish | 2.4 km | 175 m | 0:46–1:01 |
A fast–steady range from Naismith’s rule, deliberately on the slow side. Breaks, weather, rough ground and the slowest person in your party all add to it. How we time walks.
Access & barriers
Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route?
- Buggy: No mapped stiles; terrain Easy – graded by Lee on the ground, but the going for wheels is not recorded; not a buggy line on what we know.
- Knees: A sustained ~20% descent over 250 m around the 1.7 km mark — a little jarring on tired knees.
With a dog
Nothing here stands out as hard for a dog.
- Stiles and gates: Only gates and kissing gates are mapped: no stile a dog can’t get through. That is the barriers alone; check the route’s steep or rocky ground before you bring a dog. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 14 July 2026)
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Easy – graded by Lee on the ground. A short grassy pull on a clear, good path.
- Drops and exposed ground: Easy – graded by Lee on the ground. No drops and no scrambling anywhere on the route.
- Ways off early: None recorded for this route.
- Livestock, shade and water: Not recorded for this route yet. We never call a stream safe for a dog to drink, so carry enough for both of you. The lead rules, and what to do around cattle, are on dogs on the fells.
On the line: 3 gates
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 14 July 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Places to stay near this start
- Puddleduck Cottages (opens in new tab) guest houseabout 2.9 km
- Bassenfell Manor Christian Centre (opens in new tab) hostelabout 3.0 km
We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from the route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).