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13.09 km · ~802 m ascent · ~4–5.5 h · loop · 3 summits

Home / Routes / The Borrowdale Fells (Rosthwaite Fell round)
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The Borrowdale Fells (Rosthwaite Fell round)

13.09 km
Distance
~4–5.5 h
Typical time
~802 m
Ascent
3
Summits
Download GPX →Maps & guidebooks

Key facts

Distance 13.09 km
Ascent ~802 m
Descent ~800 m
Time ~4–5.5 h
Best season Late spring to autumn, in clear, dry weather. This is emphatically a fine-weather round.
Type Loop
A wild, little-trodden round of the rough Borrowdale fells above Rosthwaite and Stonethwaite — Bessyboot, Dovenest Top and Thornythwaite Fell — a maze of rocky knolls, hidden tarns and peat hags with huge views to the Scafells. Quiet and full of character, but pathless and boggy: a fair-weather fell day, not a wet-day plod.

✎️ One of the quietest corners of Borrowdale — but pathless, boggy and easy to lose your way. A round for a clear, dry day with the map out, not a wet or misty one.

✎️ 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.

🧭 The automated detail on this page — distance, climb, pacing and a first-pass difficulty read — is live. Hand-written field notes are being added.

Difficulty profile

LengthModerate13.09 km round.
SteepnessSevereSteepest sustained pull about 50% around the 3.1 km mark.
TerrainHardBoggy, tussocky and pathless in stretches; slow, and much worse after rain.
NavigationHardFaint or absent paths through a maze of knolls and hags — genuinely hard in poor visibility. Fine-weather round only.
ExposureModerateRocky knolls and the odd crag (Dove Nest) — no sustained exposure on the walkers’ line.

Five independent axes, not one score — all field-checked on the ground here, with nothing left as a desk estimate.

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.

Why this matters: 78% of Mountain Rescue call-outs come after midday — the day runs out on the way home, not on the way up. See also walking in bad weather and today’s conditions.

OpenTopoMap
Elevation profile
Elevation profile Rises from about 90 m to 766 m over 13.1 km, with the summits marked in order. 766 m 90 m 0 km 13.1 km 123

1 Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot2 Dovenest Top (Dovenest Crag) (Stonethwaite Fell)3 Thornythwaite Fell

~802 m
Total ascent
766 m
High point
90 m
Start height

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right).

This walk covers about 13.09 km with around 802 m of ascent, taking in 3 summits. The map above shows the line; the elevation profile and stage notes are below.

Access & barriers

Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route? A quick read from the gates and stiles mapped along the way.

Dog
Mostly gates
Buggy
Not buggy-able
Knees
Tough descent
  • Dog: A stile of unmapped type — a dog may need lifting over.
  • Buggy: Not a pushchair route.
  • Knees: A long, steep ~32% drop around the 9.4 km mark — hard on the knees.

On the line: 13 gates · 4 stiles (type unmapped)

These are mapped barriers, from OpenStreetMap — coverage in the Lakes is good but not guaranteed complete. Spotted a stile or gate we’ve missed? Tell us and we’ll fix it. Barrier data as of 2026-07-12. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).

Pacing

SummitCumulativeAscentTime (fast–steady)
Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot4.2 km448 m1:35–2:07
Dovenest Top (Dovenest Crag) (Stonethwaite Fell)6.1 km607 m2:14–2:58
Thornythwaite Fell9.2 km787 m3:09–4:11
Finish13.1 km802 m3:57–5:16

Naismith-based estimate — a fast/steady range. Your pace will vary.

The walk, stage by stage

Start (Stonethwaite / Rosthwaite) → Bessyboot (Rosthwaite Fell) (4.2 km, 448 m)

Climb from the valley onto Rosthwaite Fell and its top, Bessyboot, entering the knolly upland.

Easy to get wrong: Paths fade on the fell — in poor visibility this is where route-finding gets hard. Turn back if the cloud is down.

Bessyboot → Dovenest Top (1.8 km, 159 m)

Weave across the maze of knolls and hags to Dovenest Top, above Dove Nest Crag.

Decision point: A confusing tangle of little tops and hollows — keep the map and compass out.

Dovenest Top → Thornythwaite Fell (3.1 km, 180 m)

Continue over rough, pathless ground to Thornythwaite Fell.

Thornythwaite Fell → Finish (3.9 km, 16 m)

Descend back to the valley and the start.

Summits bagged (3)

🅿️ Getting there & parking

Rosthwaite (NT, paid) — 0.3 km from the start (straight line)
Village car park for the central Borrowdale fells and Watendlath ridge.
Directions
Stonethwaite (roadside, limited) — 0.9 km from the start (straight line)
Small roadside area near the hamlet — Eagle Crag, Sergeant's Crag, Langstrath approaches.
Directions

Positions are approximate. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.

💧 Water, shelter & getting away

💧 possible water source (4 m)🛖 map (7 m)🚌 General Store (N bound) (92 m)🚌 General Store (S bound) (109 m)🚌 Howe Lane End (S bound) (317 m)🚌 Howe Lane End (N bound) (318 m)

💧 Treat water from the fell before you drink it. A mapped point is usually a tap or public supply, but never drink untreated from a beck, stream or tarn — even clear-looking hill water can carry giardia or cryptosporidium from livestock or a carcass upstream and leave you seriously ill. Run it through a filter or purifier (a LifeStraw, Sawyer Squeeze or HydraPak) or bring it to a rolling boil first.

On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors — an absent marker does not mean the facility isn’t there.

🚌 Buses

Stagecoach 78 “Borrowdale Rambler”
Keswick – Lodore – Grange – Rosthwaite – Seatoller
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 or X4/X5)
Year-round, frequent in season. Serves all the Borrowdale starts — Glaramara, the Scafells and Great Gable via Seathwaite (alight Seatoller, 20 min walk up the lane).
Stagecoach 77 / 77A “Honister Rambler”
Keswick – Portinscale – Hawse End (Catbells) – Grange – Seatoller – Honister Pass – Buttermere – Lorton – Whinlatter – Keswick (circular)
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 from Windermere/Ambleside or X4/X5 from Penrith)
Seasonal (roughly Easter–October). Brilliant for the North Western fells: Catbells, Dale Head from Honister, the Buttermere fells and Whinlatter.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com or Traveline before travelling.

⚠️ Safety & conditions

  • Paths are faint or absent for much of this round, through a confusing maze of knolls, hags and hollows. Only attempt it in good visibility — in cloud or mist the navigation here is genuinely hard and it’s easy to get lost. Carry map and compass (or GPS) and know how to use them.
  • Boggy, tussocky and rough underfoot — slow going, and much worse after rain. Save it for a dry spell.
  • A committing round with little quick escape — start early and allow more time than the distance suggests.
  • Livestock on the lower fields; keep dogs under close control.

Check live conditions in the “From the fells” panel, on MWIS and the Met Office mountain forecast before you set off.

Make it easier or harder

Easier and harder options coming soon.

⬇️ Download

Download GPX

GPX track for your GPS or phone.

📚 Maps & guidebooks for The Borrowdale Fells (Rosthwaite Fell round)

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