Grasmere to Easdale Tarn
Photo: © Lee McCoy
Start Grasmere Village
Getting here Parking: Stock Lane Car & Coach Park (LDNPA, paid), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 555 stops at Grasmere, at School, a 110 m walk from this start. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Moderate distance: 9.52 km round. Moderate steepness: Steepest sustained climb about 18% around the 2.8 km mark. Moderate terrain: Good paths and lanes; muddy in places. Moderate – graded by Lee on the ground Moderate navigation: Graded Moderate by Lee from walking the line. Moderate – graded by Lee on the ground
Before you choose
- Sourmilk Gill and the side becks rise fast in spate — take care at crossings.
- Boggy, rougher ground around the tarn.
- Working farmland — keep dogs under close control near sheep.
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
Easedale Tarn
Easy 93%Moderate 8%HardSevere
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
Start → Finish (9.5 km, 237 m)
Begin in the centre of Grasmere village and head North-West along Easedale Road. The tarmac lane passes several farmhouses before narrowing into a stony bridleway. Pass through the gate into open sheep pastures, keeping the babbling waters of Easedale Beck on your left. Ahead, the white cascade of Sour Milk Gill is clearly visible pouring down the fellside. The path leads directly to a footbridge at the base of the falls. Cross the bridge and begin the climb. The path zig-zags up a steep staircase of pitched stones right alongside the waterfall. As you crest the top of the climb, the terrain dramatically levels out, and the stunning glacial bowl of Easedale Tarn opens up directly ahead. At the tarn, the route goes round it: west along the north shore, round the far end, and back east along the south shore to where you arrived. Then go back down the same path you came up, beside Sour Milk Gill and along Easedale Road to the village. Going round the tarn means crossing its outflow, on stepping stones, and the becks that feed it. We have not checked where the stones are or how the becks are crossed, so neither is described here. If the stones are under water, or the beck is running fast over them, do not cross: skip the circuit and go back down the way you came. If you would rather not cross running water at all, do the same.
WaypointsGrasmere Village (starting point), Easedale Road, Easedale Beck pastures, footbridge below the falls, Sour Milk Gill pitched path, Easedale Tarn. Easedale Tarn (circuit of the shore), Sour Milk Gill path, Easedale Road, Grasmere village.
Decision pointSour Milk Gill is your primary beacon. It is highly visible from the valley floor, and the path is engineered to lead you directly to and up it. On the way down, you are on the same path you came up.
Easy to get wrongThe stone-pitched climb beside Sour Milk Gill requires a short but intense burst of cardiovascular effort. The stones are heavily polished by foot traffic and can become extremely slippery after rain. The tarn circuit: the ground round the tarn is boggier and rougher than the path up, and the circuit crosses running water, the outflow on stepping stones. After heavy rain the stones can be under water; if they are, or a crossing looks deep or fast, do not attempt it; turn back the way you came.
If you need to get offAt any point during the ascent, simply turn 180 degrees. The enclosed nature of the valley means the path leads clearly back to the village road with no complex navigation required. At the tarn, if the stepping stones are under water or any crossing looks unsafe, do not attempt it; go back down the path you came up.
© Lee McCoy · 4 photographs
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Walked by Lee, June 2024
More about this walk
A there-and-back-plus-loop to a classic tarn; no summits, all about the valley and the water.
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 by car 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. The bus below is the exception: it is not limited by car-park space, though it runs to a timetable and can be full.
- Red Bank Road, Grasmere (W&F, paid) — a 190 m walk to the start
- Nab Scar (layby) — a 550 m walk to the start
- Silver How (layby) — joins the loop at about km 9 of 9.5: a 40 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- By bus: buses stop at Grasmere, at School, a 110 m walk from the start. This walk starts and ends in Grasmere, so there is no bus to catch back to the start. For anyone staying elsewhere, the last bus out of Grasmere on a weekday: 20:46 towards Keswick (555). A bus is not affected by a full car park, but check the timetable before you rely on it.
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 555 stops at Grasmere, at School, a 110 m walk from this start. This walk starts and ends in Grasmere, so there is no bus to catch back to the start. For anyone staying elsewhere, the last bus out of Grasmere: the 555 towards Keswick at 20:46 Monday to Saturday, 18:36 on Sunday. From Grasmere, at School; checked against the operator's timetable, 12 September 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
The 555 passes this route at 0.1 km (Grasmere School (near), 0 m off the line). Other services cross it too — 599 at 9.5 km.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Stock Lane Car & Coach Park in the village, about 40 m from the start: pay and display. 38 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (our parking audit, from OpenStreetMap, checked 12 August 2026)
- Toilets Toilets are mapped about 80 m from the start. 78 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Refreshments Goody Blakes (about 125 m) and The Distiller’s Arms (about 165 m) are the nearest mapped, with more cafés in the village. Opening hours are not recorded here. 123 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Limitation Sourmilk Gill and the side becks rise fast in spate, so take care at the crossings; the ground round the tarn is boggy and rougher. (our route notes (this route's own warnings), checked 28 September 2026)
Everything mapped near the start
At Stock Lane Car & Coach Park (LDNPA, 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: an information board.
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: Length, steepness, terrain (graded by Lee on the ground) and navigation (graded by Lee on the ground); exposure not assessed on the ground
Five independent axes, not one score. Two of the five were set on the ground; 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 | 9.5 km | 237 m | 2:18–3:03 |
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.
Access & barriers
Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route?
- Buggy: Not a pushchair route.
- Knees: A sustained ~21% descent over 250 m around the 6.4 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 18% around the 2.8 km mark.
- 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.
- Stiles and gates: A firm favourite with dogs; water all the way to the tarn. (Lee) (set by hand)
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Moderate – graded by Lee on the ground. Good paths and lanes; muddy in places.
- 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: 9 gates · 1 kissing gate
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 25 September 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Places to stay near this start
From Grasmere: 11 places
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Grasmere — 0.5 km from this start
- Walks from Elterwater — 2.7 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.
