Caudale Moor & St Raven's Edge
Start Hartsop village
Getting here Parking: Hartsop village (donation), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 508 and 509 stop at Hartsop, adjacent to road end, a 570 m walk and 28 m of ascent from this start. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Severe steepness: Steepest sustained climb about 50% around the 0.7 km mark. Hands for a few steps: small rock steps on the descent to St Raven's Edge (km 4.0–6.1).
Before you choose
- The plateau link to John Bell's Banner and the descent line are only faintly pathed — broad, featureless ground where navigation needs care in cloud.
Conditions on this route
We score every Lakeland Wainwright each morning on cloud, wind, rain and underfoot, and this route crosses 2 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 Hartsop Dodd2 Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor)3 Caudale Moor - John Bell's Banner4 St Raven's Edge
Easy 78%Moderate 13%Hard 4%Severe 5%
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
Hartsop village → Hartsop Dodd (1.3 km, 454 m)
From the Hartsop village car park, cross the small footbridge over Pasture Beck and turn right. Go through the gates and climb south straight up the northern prow of Hartsop Dodd, over a stile at about 0.3 km, with a wall on your right for the first 0.45 km. The climb averages about 35%, and around 0.7 km it reaches about 56% over 250 m, one of the steepest stretches on the site. The terrain is a steep, grassy staircase that relies on a heavily eroded, zigzagging trod. As you climb, the grass gives way to looser rock near the summit.
WaypointsStart Point: Hartsop Village parking area (approx. NY 409 130). The Northern Spur: The steep nose of the fell, beyond the Pasture Beck footbridge (about 0.1 km) and a stile (about 0.3 km). Hartsop Dodd Summit (619 m): Marked by an old wooden fence post adorned with stones.
Decision pointThe Drystone Wall: A wall is on your right for the first 0.45 km. Above that no wall runs beside the path, so the path is your guide until the ridge wall comes in on your left just below the summit. Visual Target: Looking back, Brothers Water is a useful reference point.
Easy to get wrongThe Gradient: A 35% average over 1.3 km, and about 56% over the steepest 250 m around 0.7 km: one of the steepest climbs on the site. It will max out your heart rate within minutes. Slippery Grass: In wet conditions, the polished fell grass on this angle is notoriously slick, making progress exhausting as your boots slide backward. False Summits: The convex nature of the slope hides the true summit until the very last moment, mentally draining you with a series of false horizons. Do NOT attempt to bail east off the ridge into Pasture Bottom. The flanks are dangerously steep, craggy in places, and totally pathless.
If you need to get offRetreat: Carefully reverse your steps down the grassy spur to Hartsop. Trekking poles are essential if descending this in the wet.
- 2
Hartsop Dodd → Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor) (2.0 km, 181 m)
A high-level ridge walk, and easier going after the initial climb. Leaving Hartsop Dodd, follow the wall south-south-east along the broad crest of Caudale Moor. The gradient averages about 9%. The terrain is mostly firm fell grass with stony sections: the path dips into a broad depression, then climbs steadily, about 170 m in 1.4 km, to the rocky top of Stony Cove Pike.
WaypointsThe Broad Col: The grassy saddle separating Hartsop Dodd from the main Caudale massif. Stony Cove Pike / Caudale Moor Summit (764 m): A Wainwright summit, marked by a cairn of stones.
Decision pointThe Boundary Wall: The ridge wall runs along the crest on your left, beside the path for the whole stage: follow it all the way to the summit plateau.
Easy to get wrongWind Exposure: This ridge acts as a barrier to prevailing westerlies. Expect strong, buffeting winds as you traverse the exposed crest. Peat Hags: The slight depression midway along the ridge holds water; expect some minor bog-hopping after heavy rain. Do not bail west down the steep, craggy slopes into the Kirkstone valley. Stick strictly to the ridge line.
If you need to get offRetreat: Reversing the route back over Hartsop Dodd is physically taxing, but it is the line you know.
- 3
Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor) → Caudale Moor - John Bell's Banner (0.7 km, 4 m)
A short, nearly level walk west across the highest, stoniest part of the Caudale Moor plateau: about 0.5 km beside a wall on your left, then about 170 m away from the wall to the top. The terrain here is shattered rock, scree, and sparse grass.
WaypointsThe Plateau: The broad, flat top of the fell. John Bell's Banner (755 m): A Birkett, with a cairn on the south-western lip of the plateau, overlooking the Kirkstone Pass.
Decision pointVisual Target: The cairn of John Bell's Banner is usually visible from Stony Cove Pike in clear conditions. Handrails: A wall runs beside the path on your left heading west from Stony Cove Pike for about 0.5 km. The top is about 170 m north-west of the wall, and the route comes back to the wall from it.
Easy to get wrongWhiteout Navigation: While short, this broad, featureless plateau is highly disorienting in mist. The sheer drop-offs are not immediately obvious until you are close to the edge.
If you need to get offRetreat: Stay on the plateau. Do not attempt a descent until you have reached the correct spur at John Bell's Banner.
- 4
Caudale Moor - John Bell's Banner → St Raven's Edge (2.1 km, 41 m)
From the top, go back about 170 m to the wall. Then descend southward beside it on the footpath towards the heights of the Kirkstone Pass: about 200 m down in 1.5 km, steepest (around 20%) by Pike How, to a col at about 550 m, then about 40 m up to St Raven's Edge. You descend via a series of steep, rocky steps and stony paths down the spine of Pike How, leading onto the undulating, craggy ridge of St Raven's Edge. The terrain is highly uneven, requiring careful foot placement on loose, shattered rock.
WaypointsThe Steep Descent: The rocky drop off the main Caudale Moor plateau. Pike How: A minor, rocky bump on the descent ridge. St Raven's Edge (593 m): A rugged, craggy Birkett above the Kirkstone Pass Inn.
Decision pointVisual Targeting: In clear weather, the A592 and the Kirkstone Pass Inn mark the pass in the gap below you. Boundary Wall: A wall runs beside the path on your right for most of the way down to the col below St Raven's Edge.
Easy to get wrongLoose Scree & Rock: The path down towards the pass is heavily eroded in places, with ball-bearing scree making slips highly likely. Steep Steps: Several small rock steps require you to use your hands for balance on the descent.
If you need to get offRetreat: The Kirkstone Pass road sits just below St Raven's Edge, on the route's own line. The inn at the pass may not be open: do not plan around it for shelter. If you cannot move safely, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Police, then Mountain Rescue.
St Raven's Edge → Finish (6.8 km, 52 m)
Instead of finishing at the pass, this long final stage returns down the valley to Hartsop. From St Raven's Edge, follow the path along the top to a cairn, then descend west, steeply and over rock, about 140 m in 0.6 km and around 35% at its steepest, through a gate to the A592 by the Kirkstone Pass Inn. Cross the road. The route then follows the path down the west side of the valley, past Red Pit car park, following the line of Kirkstone Beck northward with the road and the beck on your right. At about 10 km cross Kirkstone Beck by a footbridge. At Windy Corner go through a gate onto the A592, follow the road for about 80 m to a gate on the far side, and take the path beside it, over Caudale Beck by a footbridge next to Caudale Bridge. Cross the road again by the Brotherswater Inn and continue to the east shore of Brothers Water. About halfway along the lake, cross the road once more and take the footpath north-east, over Pasture Beck, into Hartsop. The terrain changes from rocky fellside to grassy valley paths and a gravel path by the lake.
WaypointsKirkstone Pass Descent: The steep, rocky drop off St Raven's Edge to the A592 at the Kirkstone Pass Inn (about 7 km). Kirkstone Beck Path: The valley trail running parallel to the road, on its west side, with a ford over a side stream at about 8.3 km. Caudale Bridge: Where the route crosses Caudale Beck (about 10.9 km), by a footbridge beside the road bridge. Brothers Water: The lake; the route follows a flat path along its east shore. Finish Point: Hartsop Village.
Decision pointHandrails: From the pass to the Kirkstone Beck footbridge (about 10 km), the route keeps to the west side of the valley, with the A592 and Kirkstone Beck on your right. Along Brothers Water the lake is on your left and the road on your right.
Easy to get wrongDistance Fatigue: After the brutal climbs and steep descents, this nearly 7 km walk-out can feel like a slog. Descent to the Pass: The descent from St Raven's Edge to the Kirkstone Pass Inn is the steepest on the route, around 35% at its steepest, on a path mapped as rock with scree beside it, and small crags are mapped 6-15 m either side of the path at about 6.6 km: take it slowly, and in cloud keep to the path. Valley Bogs: The path running parallel to Kirkstone Beck can be deeply muddy and marshy after heavy rain, especially in the sections before you reach the firmer tracks near Brothers Water. The A592: The route crosses the A592 four times, at the Kirkstone Pass Inn (about 7 km), at Windy Corner (about 10.5 km), by the Brotherswater Inn (about 11.3 km) and beside Brothers Water (about 12.3 km). At Windy Corner it follows the road itself for about 80 m, where there is no pavement, then a path beside it for about 350 m. It is a fast road with blind bends: take care.
If you need to get offRetreat: Once you are down at the Kirkstone Pass Inn you are off the high fells, and the valley path is the way back to Hartsop. The route itself crosses the A592 (the Kirkstone Pass road) four times; we have not checked any other line to it, and it has blind bends, so none is offered here.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Summits bagged (4)
- 1Hartsop Dodd619 m
- 2Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor)764 m
- 3Caudale Moor - John Bell's Banner755 m
- 4St Raven's Edge593 m
In the order you walk them — the same numbers the elevation profile, the stage notes and the pacing table use.
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.
- Hartsop Dodd — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:30, about a quarter of an hour later. In late September, about 07:15. It waits longest in late December — about half an hour after sunrise.
- Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor) — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:15, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:00.
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
2 more places to park near the start
Positions are approximate.
Of the pay-and-display machine tickets sold at Cow Bridge from 17 August 2024 to 31 March 2026, 34% were bought before 10am (our count of FOI/2026.500 ticket data). Contains public sector information provided by the Lake District National Park Authority and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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.
- Caudale Bridge (layby) — joins the loop at about km 10.9 of 13: a 70 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Kirkstone Pass summit (private, paid) — joins the loop at about km 7 of 13: a 60 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Hartsop village (donation) — at the start
- By bus: buses stop at Hartsop, adjacent to road end, a 570 m walk from the start. A bus is not affected by a full car park. Its return times are under Buses.
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
The 508 and 509 stop at Hartsop, adjacent to road end, a 570 m walk and 28 m of ascent from this start. The last bus is 19:51 towards Windermere (508), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
The 508 passes this route at 6.9 km (Kirkstone, outside Pass Inn, 0 m off the line) and again at 11.3 km (Hartsop, outside Brotherswater Inn, 0 m off the line) — one bus, two stops, 3.8 km apart on the ground. We haven’t walked a shortened version, so the distance, grading and escape routes on this page describe the walk end to end.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Hartsop village car park, about 30 m from the start: it asks an optional donation, not a charge. 30 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (Lee, who walked past it on 14 August 2026, checked 14 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 One stage averages 35%, which ties the steepest on the site, and the plateau link to John Bell’s Banner is only faintly pathed: navigate with care in cloud. (our route notes (this route's own warnings), checked 2 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
Severe 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Hartsop Dodd | 1.3 km | 454 m | 1:01–1:22 |
| 2Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor) | 3.4 km | 634 m | 1:44–2:18 |
| 3Caudale Moor - John Bell's Banner | 4.1 km | 639 m | 1:53–2:30 |
| 4St Raven's Edge | 6.2 km | 680 m | 2:22–3:09 |
| Finish | 13.0 km | 732 m | 3:49–5:04 |
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: Stiles or rough going on the route.
- Knees: A long, steep ~35% drop over 250 m around the 6.5 km mark — hard on the knees.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: drops and exposed ground (estimated from the map). The steepest stretch is a sustained climb of about 50% around the 0.7 km mark.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Hard. Graded from slope only (~56% max); treat exposure as unverified.
- Stiles and gates: Stiles of unmapped type at 0.3, 8.2, 9.2, 10.9 and 11.1 km — a dog may need lifting over. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 26 July 2026)
- Rock and scrambling: Hands for a few steps: small rock steps on the descent to St Raven's Edge (km 4.0–6.1). Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
- Ways off early: No path off the line is recorded, but it passes a bus stop where you could end the walk: the 508 at Kirkstone, outside Pass Inn, about 6.9 km; the 508 at Hartsop, outside Brotherswater Inn, about 11.3 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: 15 gates · 2 kissing gates · 5 stiles (type unmapped)
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 26 July 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Places to stay near this start
- Greenbank Farm Bed and Breakfast (opens in new tab) guest houseabout 1.8 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).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Angle Tarn (Patterdale) — 1.5 km from this start
- Walks from Patterdale — 3.4 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.
