Round Ennerdale Water from Bowness Knott
Start Bowness Knott car park
Getting here Parking: Bowness Knott, Ennerdale (Forestry, paid), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Parking & buses ↓
Hardest part Moderate distance: 10.9 km round. Moderate terrain: Mostly good path; OpenStreetMap grades a short stretch past Angler's Crag (about 6.3 km) as demanding mountain hiking, and Forestry England calls it a short scramble. Moderate – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet Moderate navigation: Care needed in cloud — 30 path junctions near the line. Moderate – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet Hands for a few steps: the rocky stretch below Angler's Crag, which Forestry England's trail map describes as a short, difficult section crossed by a scramble (km 6.3–6.3).
Before you choose
- Between about 6.3 and 6.4 km, past Angler's Crag, OpenStreetMap grades a short stretch of path as demanding mountain hiking, the roughest grade on the line, with a mapped crag about 12 m away and scree mapped across the path. Forestry England’s trail map calls it a short, difficult section where the rocks are crossed by a scramble. This is not a uniformly easy lakeside path.
- OpenStreetMap maps a ford on the south shore path at about 3.7 km, and fords on the bridleway on the way back at about 9.5, 10.2 and 10.5 km. Read about crossing streams in spate before you go.
- The National Trust asks walkers in Ennerdale to keep dogs on a short lead: there are often livestock in the fields and on the fells, ‘including a herd of Galloway cattle’, and ground-nesting birds. If cattle approach, the Trust’s advice is to let your dog off the lead.
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
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
Bowness Knott car park → Finish (10.9 km, 92 m)
From the Bowness Knott car park, follow the forest road and then the track east-south-east along the north shore of the lake, a public bridleway, for about 2.5 km. Near the head of the lake turn south to cross the River Liza on a bridleway bridge at about 2.5 km, then west onto the south shore path, a public footpath, over a series of stiles between about 3.0 and 5.9 km. Follow it west and west-north-west along the shore. At about 6.3 km the path passes below Angler's Crag on its roughest stretch, then carries on west to the foot of the lake. At about 7.75 km cross the River Ehen on a bridleway bridge, then follow footpaths and bridleways back past Bowness to the car park.
WaypointsBowness Knott car park, the north shore track, the River Liza, the south shore path and its stiles, Angler's Crag, the foot of the lake, the bridge over the River Ehen, Bowness, the car park (finish).
Easy to get wrongThe path past Angler's Crag, at about 6.3 km, is the roughest ground on the line: OpenStreetMap grades it demanding mountain hiking, with scree mapped across it. The desk count for the whole line is 30 path junctions near it, so check each turn against the map.
If you need to get offNo road runs along the lake, so every way off is on foot along the line: back the way you came, or on round the lake, which is the shorter way only after about 5.5 km. If the going is what is turning you back before Angler's Crag (about 6.3 km), go back the way you came. Do not cross a ford that is running high.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
More about this walk
The start is the Bowness Knott car park, above the north shore of the lake. Forestry England’s notice that the Memorial Bridge opposite Pillar is closed (21 October 2025) does not affect this walk: it crosses the Liza near the head of the lake, far below that bridge.
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
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
There is no real plan B here. Every place we know beside this route serves the same walks and sits close together, so expect them to fill on the same mornings. Worth starting early, or having a different walk in mind before you set off.
- Bowness Knott, Ennerdale (Forestry, paid) — at the start
- Bleach Green, north-west (free) — joins the loop at about km 8 of 10.9: a 490 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Bleach Green, Ennerdale (free) — joins the loop at about km 7.7 of 10.9: a 350 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
No bus we hold serves this start. The nearest stop we hold is the 77 and 77A stop at Buttermere, outside Court Hotel, 8.9 km away on foot: a walk of its own, not a way to the start. It is a seasonal service too: 1 November 2026 is its last day of the year (confirmed with the operator, 29 August 2026); it returns on 22 March 2027.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival The Bowness Knott car park is at the start. 43 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (hikes.guide parking pins (parking.js), checked 15 October 2026)
- Toilets No toilets are mapped at the start or on the line. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 15 October 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
- Refreshments No cafe or pub is mapped at the start or on the line. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 15 October 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
- Limitation Six stiles on the south shore path and a rough stretch past Angler's Crag: not a pushchair route. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 15 October 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
No mapped drinking water or shelter on this route — that doesn’t mean there is none, and never drink untreated from a beck. (Facilities data © OpenStreetMap contributors.)
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: Length, terrain (our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet) and navigation (our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet); exposure not assessed on the ground
Five independent axes, not one score. This route has not been walked yet, so none of them was set on the ground: two of the five are our judgement from the map and the route’s record, and the rest 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 | 10.9 km | 92 m | 2:20–3:06 |
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: No sustained steep descent in the track’s height model (steepest 250 m about 9%). 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 climb of about 5% around the 10.7 km mark.
- Stiles and gates: Stiles of unmapped type at 3.0, 3.4, 3.5, 3.7, 5.1 and 5.9 km — a dog may need lifting over. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 2026-10-15)
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Moderate. 2 mapped crag feature(s) near the line — check the airy sections.
- Rock and scrambling: Hands for a few steps: the rocky stretch below Angler's Crag, which Forestry England's trail map describes as a short, difficult section crossed by a scramble (km 6.3–6.3). Ground underfoot: Moderate – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet. Mostly good path; OpenStreetMap grades a short stretch past Angler's Crag (about 6.3 km) as demanding mountain hiking, and Forestry England calls it a short scramble.
- 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: 2 gates · 6 stiles (type unmapped)
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 2026-10-15. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Scale Force — 4.4 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.