Glaramara, Allen Crags via Stockley Bridge
Start Seathwaite Farm
Getting here Parking: Seathwaite Farm, Borrowdale (farm field, paid), 0.1 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 77 and 78 stop at Seatoller, at National Trust car park; from there it is 2.1 km and 75 m of ascent to this start. The 77 runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Severe steepness: Steepest sustained climb about 50% around the 1.4 km mark. Hands for a few steps: between Glaramara's top and Red Beck Top (km 2.9–4.0).
Before you choose
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 Glaramara2 Looking Steads (Glaramara)3 Red Beck Top (Glaramara South Top) (Lincomb Head - Glaramara)4 High House Tarn Top (High House - Allen Crags)5 Allen Crags
Easy 55%Moderate 30%Hard 4%Severe 11%
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
Start → Glaramara (2.9 km, 652 m)
Climb of about 652 m over 2.9 km (around 22% average).
- 2
Glaramara → Looking Steads (Glaramara) (0.5 km, 13 m)
Undulating section of about 0.5 km.
- 3
Looking Steads (Glaramara) → Red Beck Top (Glaramara South Top) (Lincomb Head - Glaramara) (0.6 km, 20 m)
Descent of about 56 m over 0.6 km.
- 4
Red Beck Top (Glaramara South Top) (Lincomb Head - Glaramara) → High House Tarn Top (High House - Allen Crags) (0.6 km, 15 m)
Descent of about 41 m over 0.6 km.
- 5
High House Tarn Top (High House - Allen Crags) → Allen Crags (0.9 km, 123 m)
Climb of about 123 m over 0.9 km (around 14% average).
Allen Crags → Finish (4.3 km, 3 m)
Descent of about 630 m over 4.3 km.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Summits bagged (5)
- 1Glaramara783 m
- 2Looking Steads (Glaramara)775 m
- 3Red Beck Top (Glaramara South Top) (Lincomb Head - Glaramara)720 m
- 4High House Tarn Top (High House - Allen Crags)683 m
- 5Allen Crags785 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.
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
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.
- Seathwaite Farm, Borrowdale (farm field, paid) — at the start
- Thornythwaite Fell, north-west (layby) — a 1.0 km walk to the start
- Thornythwaite Fell (layby) — a 260 m walk to the start
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 77 and 78 stop at Seatoller, at National Trust car park. From there it is 2.1 km and 75 m of ascent to this start — a walk in before the walk. The 77 runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season. As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Keswick (78): Tuesday to Sunday 20:00. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
At Seathwaite Farm, Borrowdale (free verge), 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.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Glaramara | 2.9 km | 652 m | 1:40–2:13 |
| 2Looking Steads (Glaramara) | 3.4 km | 666 m | 1:47–2:23 |
| 3Red Beck Top (Glaramara South Top) (Lincomb Head - Glaramara) | 4.0 km | 685 m | 1:57–2:36 |
| 4High House Tarn Top (High House - Allen Crags) | 4.6 km | 700 m | 2:05–2:47 |
| 5Allen Crags | 5.5 km | 823 m | 2:28–3:17 |
| Finish | 9.7 km | 826 m | 3:19–4:25 |
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: No mapped stiles, but the ground underfoot has not been assessed; not a buggy line on what we know.
- Knees: A sustained ~27% descent over 250 m around the 6.7 km mark — a little jarring on tired 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 1.4 km mark.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Hard. From gradient only (~50% max) — mapped crag data unavailable; treat exposure as unverified.
- Rock and scrambling: Hands for a few steps: between Glaramara's top and Red Beck Top (km 2.9–4.0). Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
- 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 24 October 2026)
- 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: 8 gates
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 24 October 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Taylor Gill Force — 1.5 km from this start
- Walks from Honister Pass — 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.