Black Combe from Silecroft station
Start Silecroft station
Getting here Train: this walk starts at Silecroft station. Parking: Whicham (layby) 2, 0.3 km from the start (straight line). Parking & buses ↓
Hardest part Hard steepness: Steepest sustained descent about 27% around the 6.8 km mark.
Before you choose
- The line crosses the A5093 main road about 0.4 km from the start, and again on the way back.
- About 0.45 km near the top, between about 4.05 and 4.5 km, follows a path that OpenStreetMap does not record as a public right of way; the rest is public footpaths, a public bridleway and village streets. The top itself is open access land in Natural England’s access layer. That is a map-data note, not a ruling on access: check the access land and rights of way maps before relying on this stretch.
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 Black Combe
Easy 49%Moderate 47%Hard 5%Severe
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
Silecroft station → Black Combe (4.2 km, 592 m)
From Silecroft station, walk north-east along Main Street, then cross the A5093 main road at about 0.37 km to a kissing gate. A public footpath heads north across fields past Whicham, through kissing gates and gates, to a lane at about 1.0 km. The public bridleway leaves the lane west-north-west, through gates at about 1.2 km, then turns north up the hillside; the steepest climbing is about 29% near 1.75 to 2.0 km. It keeps on north and north-north-east, then north-east, climbing all the way. At about 4.05 km the line leaves the bridleway for a grass path for the last stretch to the top, the trig pillar and cairn on Black Combe at about 4.2 km.
WaypointsSilecroft station, Main Street, the A5093 crossing, the field path past Whicham, the public bridleway, the trig pillar on Black Combe (600 m).
If you need to get offThe way off is back down the bridleway the way you came, never more than about 4.2 km to the station.
Black Combe → Finish (4.3 km, 3 m)
From the trig pillar, go back south-west down the grass path to the bridleway at about 4.5 km, and follow the bridleway back down the way you came up, now heading south-south-east and south. The steepest descent is about 27% sustained near 6.8 km. Leave the bridleway at the lane at about 7.5 km and take the field path south past Whicham, cross the A5093 again at about 8.15 km, and follow Main Street back south-south-west to the station.
WaypointsBlack Combe, the grass path, the public bridleway, the lane, the field path past Whicham, the A5093 crossing, Silecroft station (finish).
Decision pointOn the way down, keep to the bridleway you came up: it is the line back to the lane at about 7.5 km.
If you need to get offThe descent is the line itself: the bridleway back down, about 4.3 km from the top to the station.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Summits bagged (1)
- 1Black Combe600 m
More about this walk
Silecroft station, on the Cumbrian Coast line, is beside the start. The line goes up and comes back down the same bridleway.
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.
Getting there and back
Train: this walk starts at Silecroft station. Northern lists the station as unstaffed, with no car park and no toilets, and says it is “not suitable for the extremely mobility impaired”. (Northern’s station page, read 17 October 2026.)
Parking
2 more places to park near the start
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.
If the parking is full
There is no real plan B here. Every place we know beside this route serves the same walks and sits close together, so expect them to fill on the same mornings. Worth starting early, or having a different walk in mind before you set off.
- Whicham church, Silecroft road (verge) — joins the loop at about km 7.6 of 8.5: a 350 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Whicham (layby) 2 — joins the loop at about km 0.4 of 8.5: a 170 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Whicham (layby) — joins the loop at about km 7.6 of 8.5: a 430 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
We never say whether anywhere has spaces today. Walks to the line are measured along mapped paths (OpenStreetMap), not in a straight line. How we choose these places.
No signal when you get there? RoutePark keeps this list on your phone: choose this walk’s GPX at home, keep it, and it opens offline.
Buses
This walk starts at a railway station.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Silecroft station, on the Cumbrian Coast line, is beside the start, about 30 m away. 30 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap contributors, Cumbria extract of 24 July 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
- Refreshments The Miners Arms is mapped beside the start. Opening hours are not recorded here. 35 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 15 October 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
- Limitation Field paths with gates and kissing gates, then a hill bridleway: not a pushchair route. (OpenStreetMap contributors, Cumbria extract of 24 July 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
Water, shelter & getting away
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors — an absent marker does not mean the facility isn’t there.
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
Hard overall — hardest: Steepness; terrain not assessed; exposure not assessed on the ground
Five independent axes, not one score. None of them was set on the ground: they 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Black Combe | 4.2 km | 592 m | 1:50–2:26 |
| Finish | 8.5 km | 595 m | 2:42–3:35 |
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, but the ground underfoot has not been assessed; not a buggy line on what we know.
- Knees: A sustained ~29% descent over 250 m around the 6.5 km mark — a little jarring on tired knees.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: drops and exposed ground (estimated from the map). The steepest stretch is a sustained descent of about 27% around the 6.8 km mark.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Moderate. 1 mapped crag feature(s) near the line — check the airy sections.
- 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 2026-10-15)
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
- 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: 5 gates · 3 kissing gates
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 2026-10-15. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).