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7.41 km · ~66 m ascent · ~1.5–2 h · loop

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Moderate terrainLoopPlanned

Buttermere lake circuit

7.41 km
Distance
~1.5–2 h
Typical time
~66 m
Ascent
Download GPX →Planned route · not yet walked

Key facts

Distance 7.41 km
Ascent ~66 m
Descent ~66 m
Time ~1.5–2 h
Type Loop
Start Buttermere village (NT / Syke Farm car parks)
The classic low-level lap of Buttermere — a flat, well-made path right around the lake beneath High Stile and Fleetwith Pike, passing the famous lone tree and a short rock-cut tunnel. One of the great easy walks in the Lakes.
✎️ 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. How to use this guide.

🧭 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

LengthEasy7.41 km — a short outing.
SteepnessEasySteepest sustained pull about 5% around the 0.9 km mark.
TerrainModerateMostly good mountain path. desk assessment — not field-verified
NavigationModerateClear line, hard to stray. desk assessment — not field-verified
ExposureNot assessedExposure (drops, scrambling, how bad a slip would be) can’t be judged from gradient data alone, so we don’t guess. A rating appears once the route is editorially assessed or walked.

Five independent axes, not one score. “Desk” ratings come from maps and guidebooks, not yet walked — treat them as a guide, not a survey.

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
Gates only
Buggy
Buggy: in part
Knees
Gentle descent
  • Dog: Gates and kissing gates only — a dog can do the whole route.
  • Buggy: Only part of this suits a buggy.
  • Knees: No sustained steep descent — kind on the knees.

On the line: 17 gates · 5 kissing gates

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 2026-07-09. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).

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, shaded by steepness
Elevation profile Rises from about 102 m to 120 m over 7.4 km, with the summits marked in order. The area beneath is shaded by sustained steepness over a 250 m window, in the same four bands as the route’s steepness rating: Easy under 15%, Moderate 15 to 25%, Hard 25 to 35%, Severe above 35%. 120 m 102 m 0 km 7.4 km

Easy 100%ModerateHardSevere

~66 m
Total ascent
120 m
High point
113 m
Start height

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

This walk covers about 7.41 km with around 66 m of ascent. The map above shows the line; the elevation profile and stage notes are below.

Pacing

SummitCumulativeAscentTime (fast–steady)
Finish7.4 km66 m1:36–2:07

Naismith-based estimate — a fast/steady range. Your pace will vary. These use Naismith’s textbook constants (5 km/h, 600 m of ascent an hour). Measured against a pace fitted to 41 recorded Lakeland walks they run about 8% slow, and we have left them that way deliberately: a slow estimate strands nobody.

The walk, stage by stage

  1. Buttermere village (NT / Syke Farm car parks) → Finish (7.4 km, 66 m)

    Climb of about 66 m over 7.4 km (around 1% average).

Stage-by-stage field notes coming soon.

Getting there & parking

⛽ Nearest fuel to this start: Oakhurst, Cockermouth, 17.0 km by road (24h daily). Nearest shop: Lorton Village Shop, 10.1 km. Both measured along the road from the parking we publish at Buttermere village, checked 8 August 2026. Coming in from a particular direction you may pass a closer one — the last petrol before each valley →

Buttermere village LDNP car park (east) (paid) — 0.0 km from the start (straight line)
The 'Buttermere lake circuit' route starts 49 m away. Also serves 'Crummock Water shore circuit'. Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged). Toilets on site. Fees: pay and display; coins and cards; RingGo ID 37311 (LDNPA, checked Aug 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
Buttermere (free) — 0.2 km from the start (straight line)
Walking base for Red Pike (Buttermere), High Stile, High Stile (Grey Crag - High Stile) and High Crag (Buttermere) — the 'High Stile, Seat via Buttermere' route starts 5 m away. Also serves 'Great Bourne & Starling Dodd'. Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Buttermere village (NT, paid) — 0.3 km from the start (straight line)
For Red Pike, High Stile, Robinson, Rannerdale Knotts. Fees: pay and display (LDNP directory, checked Aug 2026). £7 up to 2 hours; £8 up to 4 hours; £9.50 all day. Charges apply at all times. Cash at machine; card/phone payment not available in all car parks (NT, checked Aug 2026). Free for NT members (checked Aug 2026). Charges apply at all times. Cash at machine; JustPark app at some car parks; card/phone payment not available in all car parks (NT, checked Aug 2026).
🕑 Typically full before 10:00 on fine weekends, Apr-Oct — Lee McCoy, local observation, 2026-08-09.
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: High Snockrigg (verge) (0.4 km, 28 m up); Car park for Rannerdale Knotts (2.1 km, 146 m up)
🚺 Buttermere village (~285 m straight line) — Accessible☕ Syke Farm Tea Room☕ Croft House Farm Café🍺 The Buttermere Court Hotel
High Snockrigg (verge) — 0.4 km from the start (straight line)
1.0 km from High Snockrigg.
Directions Something changed here?
High Snockrigg (layby) — 0.6 km from the start (straight line)
Walking base for High Snockrigg, Whiteless Pike, Thirdgill Head Man and Crag Hill (Eel Crag) — the 'High Snockrigg, Eel Crag & Lad Hows' route starts 250 m away. Also serves 'Great Bourne & Starling Dodd'. Free (OSM-tagged). Compacted surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate.

Vehicles are left entirely at their owner’s risk. We list places people park; we cannot vouch for any of them. Judge it on the day: take valuables with you, leave nothing on show, and if a spot feels wrong when you get there, park somewhere else.

Every option near this start, on the parking map →

Water, shelter & getting away

🚌 The Fish Hotel (119 m)🚌 Bridge Hotel (166 m)🚌 Mountain Road junction (318 m)🚌 Buttermere Youth Hostel (N bound) (448 m)⛺ Syke Farm Campsite (91 m)

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

Buses

The 77 stops at Buttermere, outside Court Hotel, 180 m from this start. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day, and it is not daily before then — a bus on 31 of the 56 days from 7 September. We don’t know when it returns. Confirmed with the operator, 29 August 2026. Last bus: Monday to Friday 19:23 towards Cockermouth (77A) and 18:20 towards Keswick (77); Saturday 19:23 towards Cockermouth (77A) and 18:20 towards Keswick (77); Sunday 18:20 towards Keswick (77). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

The 77 passes this route at 0.1 km (Buttermere, outside Court Hotel, 10 m off the line). It passes again at 3.8 km.

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.

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 if one is full the others usually are too. Worth starting early, or having a different walk in mind before you set off.

  • Gatesgarth Farm, Buttermere (paid)
  • Buttermere (free)
  • High Snockrigg car park (free)

Worked out from the parking we hold within walking reach of this route and the other walks each place serves — two places that serve the same walks fill for the same reasons. We are not saying whether anywhere has spaces today, and we never will: this is what exists, not what is free.

Safety & conditions

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.

Places to stay near this start

Bridge Hotel hotel

about 0.0 km from the start, in a straight line

It is 20 m from where all five Buttermere routes begin and it is the only hotel in the valley that says it takes dogs, in a cluster where three of the other four beds state a pet restriction. It also states its own size - "21 EN-SUITE BEDROOMS AND 6 SELF-CATERING APARTMENTS" - and its own food and ales, so a party coming off Red Pike at six can eat and sleep without moving the car. Set against that: only its home page is in the cache and that page answers nothing about parking, drying, children or family rooms, and it publishes no email and no phone at all, so this is a place you book online or ring on OSM's number, not one you email.

The bedrooms are deliberately unwired - no television, no radio, and no mobile signal to lose.

  • Dogs “A true dog-friendly hotel in the Lake District”
  • Evening meal “Exceptionally friendly and professional service, homemade food, carefully selected local real ales with our staff who naturally go the extra mile to ensure your needs meet your expectations.”

Worth knowing before you book

These places state on their own site that they do not take children.

What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. Distances are straight lines from the route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap.

Appears in these collections
Dog-friendly walksEasy walks