Castlerigg Stone Circle (from Keswick)
Start Keswick town centre
Getting here Parking: Keswick, Bell Close (paid), 0.1 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 509, 555, X4 and X5 stop at Keswick Park Hotel (opposite), a 200 m walk from this start. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Before you choose
- Part of the way is closed while a bridge is replaced. The National Park Authority has closed the Keswick to Threlkeld trail across the bridge over the River Greta east of the old station, and this route uses that stretch at about 0.8 to 0.95 km. The Authority’s notice says the closure began on 17 September 2026 for eight weeks; its page for the trail says the bridge is closed from 22 September, with the work expected to take up to eight weeks. While it is closed, the trail east of the bridge can be joined by a ramp from the footpath behind the filling station on Penrith Road. Check the notice before you travel (National Park Authority notice, checked 3 October 2026).
GPX download suspended. Part of this walk is closed: the Keswick to Threlkeld trail is shut at the bridge over the River Greta while the bridge is replaced. The National Park Authority says it is a construction site and must not be crossed. The Authority's notice says the closure began on 17 September 2026 for eight weeks; its page for the trail says the bridge is closed from 22 September, with the work expected to take up to eight weeks. This route's line crosses that bridge, so there is no download and no line on the map until the bridge reopens. National Park Authority notice
Compare walksDaylight & 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.
Access & barriers
Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route?
- Buggy: Not a pushchair route.
- Knees: No sustained steep descent in the track’s height model (steepest 250 m about 10%). Steps, wet rock and the surface underfoot are not assessed; your own knees still matter.
With a dog
Not every line below has been assessed. The steepest stretch is a sustained climb of about 10% around the 2.2 km mark.
- 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 9 July 2026)
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Easy – estimated from the map, not checked on the ground. Low-level path — set from the route’s own description on 24 Sep 2026, not walked for grading.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Easy. Graded from slope only (~11% max); treat exposure as unverified.
- Ways off early: No path off the line is recorded, but it passes a bus stop where you could end the walk: the 509 at Keswick, at Penrith Road near Ash Tree House, about 1.7 km; the 555 at Chestnut Hill, at Lonsties, about 5.7 km. The buses section says which bus and when.
- 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: 8 gates · 1 kissing gate
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 9 July 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Route map
GPX download suspended. Part of this walk is closed: the Keswick to Threlkeld trail is shut at the bridge over the River Greta while the bridge is replaced. The National Park Authority says it is a construction site and must not be crossed. The Authority's notice says the closure began on 17 September 2026 for eight weeks; its page for the trail says the bridge is closed from 22 September, with the work expected to take up to eight weeks. This route's line crosses that bridge, so there is no download and no line on the map until the bridge reopens. National Park Authority notice
Easy 100%ModerateHardSevere
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).
No line is drawn on the map while this route’s GPX is suspended (the reason is above); the stage notes below describe the route.
The walk, stage by stage
Keswick town centre → Finish (7.3 km, 171 m)
From Packhorse Court, off the Market Square in Keswick, follow Station Street north-east and cross the A5271 (Penrith Road) by the war memorial. Station Road leads north-north-east over the River Greta. Beside Fitz Park, at about 0.45 km, join the old railway line, now a foot and cycle path, and follow it east past the old station platform. The old railway line crosses the River Greta again on a bridge at about 0.9 km. At about 1.45 km, by the Penrith Road bridge, steps lead up to the pavement beside the road. Follow the pavement east and cross the A591 at about 1.7 km into the lane called Eleven Trees. Eleven Trees climbs east past Fieldside Farm for about 1.1 km; this is the steepest part of the walk, about 11% near the 2.2 km mark. At about 2.8 km go through the gate into the field of Castlerigg Stone Circle; the route goes round the stones on the field's paths and comes back out to the lane at about 3.1 km. Follow the lane east-south-east for about 150 m. A public footpath then leads south-south-west through several gates to High Nest, at about 4.2 km, and continues as a track and a lane to the A591 at about 4.5 km. Follow the pavement beside the A591 (Nest Brow) west-north-west for about 0.8 km. Lonsties, a side road, then leads north-north-west for about 0.25 km. Rejoin the A591 (Castlerigg Brow) for about 70 m and turn off onto Manor Brow. Manor Brow descends west into Keswick. Steps at about 6.5 km lead down to Ambleside Road; follow it and Derwentwater Place past St John's Church. St John's Street leads north-north-west back to the Market Square and the start.
WaypointsMarket Square, Station Street, the war memorial, the Station Road bridge over the River Greta, Fitz Park, the old railway line and the old station platform, the old railway line's bridge over the River Greta, the steps up to Penrith Road, Eleven Trees, Fieldside Farm, Castlerigg Stone Circle, High Nest, the A591 (Nest Brow), Lonsties, Manor Brow, St John's Church, St John's Street, Market Square (finish).
Decision pointApart from the stone circle's field and the public footpath from about 3.3 to 4.2 km, the route is on streets, lanes, pavements and the old railway line.
Easy to get wrongThe route crosses the A5271 near the start and the A591 at about 1.7 km. From about 4.5 km it follows the A591 back towards Keswick: OSM maps a pavement beside Nest Brow to about 5.3 km, but none on the two short stretches of Castlerigg Brow either side of Lonsties, at about 5.4 and 5.8 km. Where there is no pavement, keep to the right to face oncoming traffic, stay close to the side and be ready to walk in single file; before a sharp right-hand bend, cross to the other side and cross back after it. Wear something bright, or reflective in poor light (Highway Code rules 2 and 3). There are steps at about 1.45 km and 6.5 km.
If you need to get offFollow the route's own line to the finish.
GPX download suspended. Part of this walk is closed: the Keswick to Threlkeld trail is shut at the bridge over the River Greta while the bridge is replaced. The National Park Authority says it is a construction site and must not be crossed. The Authority's notice says the closure began on 17 September 2026 for eight weeks; its page for the trail says the bridge is closed from 22 September, with the work expected to take up to eight weeks. This route's line crosses that bridge, so there is no download and no line on the map until the bridge reopens. National Park Authority notice
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
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
If the first one is full, these overlap least in our model. The 3 below sit in different places or are different kinds of parking, so a busy morning at one does not mean a busy morning at all of them.
- Keswick, Central Car Park (paid) — a 200 m walk to the start
- Roadside parking for Latrigg (free) — joins the loop at about km 2.8 of 7.3: a 20 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Latrigg (verge) — joins the loop at about km 0.5 of 7.3: a 310 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- By bus: buses stop at Keswick Park Hotel (opposite), a 200 m walk from the start. This walk starts and ends in Keswick, so there is no bus to catch back to the start; a bus is not affected by a full car park, but check the timetable before you rely on it.
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.
Buses
The 509, 555, X4 and X5 stop at Keswick Park Hotel (opposite), a 200 m walk from this start. This walk starts and ends in Keswick, so there is no bus to catch back to the start.
The 554 passes this route at 0.0 km (Keswick, opposite Crosthwaite Road, 670 m off the line). Other services cross it too — 555 at 0.2 km, 509 at 1.7 km. Seasonal: the 509 does not run from 2 November 2026 to 21 March 2027.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Toilets Public toilets are mapped near the start, in Keswick town centre. 104 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Refreshments Keswick town centre: 23 cafés and 16 pubs are mapped within 250 m of the start. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Limitation The Keswick to Threlkeld trail is closed across the River Greta bridge, at about 0.8 to 0.95 km, while the bridge is replaced: from September 2026 for about eight weeks. Check the notice before you travel. (the National Park Authority's closure notice, checked 3 October 2026, checked 3 October 2026)
Everything mapped near the start
At Keswick, Bell Close (paid), the closest parking we hold to where this route starts:
Distances are straight lines from the car park, not walking routes. Opening hours change; none of this is checked daily.
Mapped as nearby on OpenStreetMap too, as of 13 September 2026, within 250 m of the start and not already listed above:
Also mapped within reach: 2 benches, an information board, somewhere to eat without a name on the map.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in new tab), ODbL.
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
Easy overall — hardest: Length, steepness, terrain (estimated from the map, not checked on the ground) and navigation (estimated from the map, not checked on the ground); 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | 7.3 km | 171 m | 1:44–2:19 |
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.
Places to stay near this start
From Keswick: 28 places
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Keswick — 0.1 km from this start
- Walks from Portinscale — 1.7 km from this start
Straight-line distance from this walk’s start. Those lists hold the routes we have mapped and every Wainwright and Outlying fell within about 5 km of the town, ranked nearest first.