Elterwater & Skelwith Force
Start Elterwater village (NT car park)
Getting here Parking: Elterwater (NT, paid), 0.1 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 516 stops at Elterwater, opposite The Britannia Inn, a 30 m walk from this start. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Moderate navigation: No large featureless ground on the map; carry a map and compass for cloud. Moderate – estimated from the map, not checked on the ground
Before you choose
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
Skelwith Force
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).
The elevation profile is under the map; the stage notes follow.
The walk, stage by stage
Elterwater village (NT car park) → Finish (7.6 km, 164 m)
From Elterwater village, by the Britannia Inn, follow the public bridleway south-east and east, past Skelwith Force at about 2.3 km, to the main road. Cross it with care and take the public footpath west, past Elterwater Park and the Barn Tea Rooms at about 3.6 km, then down to Colwith Bridge at about 4.2 km. From there the route follows the road west and north-west for about 1.5 km to Little Langdale: watch for traffic. At about 5.7 km turn north on the public footpath, climbing to about 175 m, then return north-east and east down a gravel track to Elterwater.
If you need to get offThe map shows the line crossing a road at about 2.3 km, near Skelwith Force, and on the road from Colwith Bridge to Little Langdale, about 4.1 to 5.6 km; elsewhere, on the bridleways, footpaths and the gravel track back to Elterwater, the way off is back or on, never more than about 1.1 km; not walked for this guide.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
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.
- Elterwater, Mill Row (verge) — a 300 m walk to the start
- Colwith Bridge (layby) — joins the loop at about km 4 of 7.6: a 20 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Silverthwaite (Lowther Estates, paid) — joins the loop at about km 1.8 of 7.6: a 230 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
The 516 stops at Elterwater, opposite The Britannia Inn, a 30 m walk from this start. We haven’t published last buses, Sunday or winter service yet, so check the timetable before you rely on getting back.
The 516 passes this route at 0.9 km (Chapel Stile, at Guide Stone turn, 280 m off the line). It passes again at 7.6 km.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Elterwater’s National Trust car park, where the walk starts: pay and display, free for National Trust members. (Lake District National Park car-parks directory; National Trust, the Langdales, checked 11 August 2026)
- Toilets Toilets are mapped beside the start. 12 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Refreshments Slates Coffee and Kitchen (about 35 m) and the Britannia Inn (about 50 m) are mapped by the start. Opening hours are not recorded here. 37 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Miles without Stiles The first 2.4 km of this line, beside Great Langdale Beck and Elter Water towards Skelwith Force, is the National Park's Miles without Stiles route 11, rated 'for many', on a rough stone-slab surface in places. (Lake District National Park, Miles without Stiles 11: Elterwater to Skelwith Bridge, checked 3 October 2026)
Everything mapped near the start
At Elterwater (NT, 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: a bench, 2 information boards, 2 shelters.
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
Moderate overall — hardest: Navigation (estimated from the map, not checked on the ground); 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | 7.6 km | 164 m | 1:48–2:23 |
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: Only part of this suits a buggy, and we have not identified which part: do not plan on it for the whole walk.
- Knees: No sustained steep descent in the track’s height model (steepest 250 m about 15%). Steps, wet rock and the surface underfoot are not assessed; your own knees still matter.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: stiles and gates. The steepest stretch is a sustained descent of about 14% around the 6.9 km mark.
- Stiles and gates: 1 ladder/squeeze stile(s), but a dog gate alongside — most dogs get round. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 9 July 2026)
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Easy. No mapped crags on or beside the line.
- 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: 15 gates · 6 kissing gates · 2 dog gates · 1 squeeze stile · 3 step-over stiles · 1 stile (type unmapped)
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).
Places to stay near this start
From Elterwater: 5 places in Grasmere
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Elterwater — 0.0 km from this start
- Walks from Little Langdale — 2.2 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.