The full circuit of Derwentwater from Keswick
Start Keswick, the lakeside landing stages
Getting here Parking: Lakeside long stay car park, Keswick (paid), 0.2 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 78 stops at Keswick, outside Daleview Hotel, a 530 m walk from this start. Parking & buses ↓
Hardest part Hard distance: 14.38 km — a long day out.
Before you choose
- The flat ground at the head of the lake, by the Chinese Bridge over the River Derwent (about 5.65 km), is boardwalk over bog and floods after heavy rain. If the path is under water, turn back rather than wade.
- Near Lodore, at about 4.9 to 5.1 km, the line follows the Borrowdale road (B5289) for about 0.15 km, over Lodore Bridge. OpenStreetMap does not record a pavement on that stretch.
- At Nichol End, between about 11.1 and 11.4 km, about 0.15 km of the line is on a footway and a service road that OpenStreetMap tags for customers only. The public footpath there runs along a private road. That is a map-data note, not a ruling on access: check the rights of way map before relying on this stretch.
- Between about 11.4 and 12.1 km the line follows the road through Portinscale for about 0.7 km; OpenStreetMap records a pavement on one side for most of it.
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.
Access & barriers
Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route?
- Buggy: No mapped stiles, but the ground underfoot has not been assessed; not a buggy line on what we know.
- Knees: No sustained steep descent in the track’s height model (steepest 250 m about 5%). 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 4% around the 9.0 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 2026-10-15)
- 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: No path off the line is recorded, but it passes a bus stop where you could end the walk: the 78 at Ashness, opposite Derwentwater Youth Hostel, about 3.5 km; the 77 at Portinscale House (o/s), about 11.9 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: 30 gates · 2 kissing gates
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).
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
Keswick, the lakeside landing stages → Finish (14.4 km, 103 m)
From the landing stages, follow Lake Road south to its end, then public footpaths round the shore past the Ruskin Monument near Friar's Crag. The line then heads south along the east shore on footpaths and National Trust permissive paths for about 3.5 km, past the Centenary Stone, Calfclose Bay and the Barrow Bay jetty. At about 4.9 km it joins the Borrowdale road (B5289) south-west for about 0.15 km, over Lodore Bridge, then leaves it for footpaths that cross the flat ground at the head of the lake, over the River Derwent on a footbridge at about 5.65 km. On the far side, turn north and follow the west shore on public footpaths past the old Brandelhow mine workings and the High and Low Brandelhow landing stages, then a track and footpaths north by Hawes End to Nichol End at about 11 km. From there the line goes north on the road through Portinscale, over the River Derwent on a footbridge at about 12.15 km, and east on a footpath into Keswick. Cross the town past the bus station and follow Crow Park Road and a footway south back to Lake Road and the start.
WaypointsThe Keswick landing stages, Friar's Crag, Calfclose Bay, the Barrow Bay jetty, Lodore Bridge, the footbridge over the River Derwent at the head of the lake, High Brandelhow, Low Brandelhow, Hawes End, Nichol End, Portinscale, the footbridge over the River Derwent, Keswick bus station, Crow Park Road, the start (finish).
Easy to get wrongMany paths are mapped along both shores: the desk count for the whole line is 72 path junctions near it, so check each turn against the map, especially where paths leave the shore for the road.
If you need to get offThe Borrowdale road runs close to the east shore, and the line passes near bus stops at Calfclose Bay, the Barrow Bay jetty and Lodore, and at Portinscale on the way back; the Keswick Launch calls at landing stages round the lake, but not every stage is open every day and winter sailings are fewer: check the operator's landing-stage status and timetable before relying on a boat, and the bus timetable before relying on a bus.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
More about this walk
The start is by the Keswick landing stages at the lake end of Lake Road; the Lakeside long stay car park is about 200 m away.
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.
- Car park for Skelgill Bank (free) — joins the loop at about km 9.4 of 14.4: a 420 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Keswick, Otley Road (paid) — joins the loop at about km 13.3 of 14.4: a 500 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Ashness Bridge, south (verge) — joins the loop at about km 4.1 of 14.4: a 630 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 78 stops at Keswick, outside Daleview Hotel, a 530 m walk from this start. This walk starts and ends in Keswick, so there is no bus to catch back to the start.
The 77 passes this route at 8.0 km (Brandelhow Park (o/s), 380 m off the line) and again at 11.9 km (Portinscale House (o/s), 40 m off the line) — one bus, two stops, 3.4 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. Seasonal: the 77 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
- Arrival The Landing Stage bus stop on Lake Road is about 10 m from the start; the line also passes Keswick bus station at about 13.5 km. 6 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 15 October 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
- Toilets Paid toilets are mapped about 120 m from the start; more are mapped beside the line near Lodore (about 5.25 km) and in Keswick (about 13.4 km). 122 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 15 October 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
- Refreshments Cafes are mapped within about 70 m of the start. Opening hours are not recorded here. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 15 October 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
- Limitation About 30 gates are mapped on the line, and short stretches of road near Lodore and through Portinscale. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 15 October 2026, checked 15 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
Hard overall — hardest: Length; terrain not assessed; 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: one of the five is 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 | 14.4 km | 103 m | 3:03–4:03 |
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.
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Keswick — 0.7 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.