Grasmere lake circuit
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 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.
Access & barriers
Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route?
- Buggy: Not a pushchair 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
Not every line below has been assessed. The steepest stretch is a sustained descent of about 7% around the 1.5 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 9 July 2026)
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Easy – estimated from the map, not checked on the ground. Low-level path — set from the route’s own description on 24 Sep 2026, not walked for grading.
- 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 555 at Rydal, at White Moss Common, about 1.7 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: 2 gates
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).
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
Grasmere village → Finish (5.7 km, 95 m)
From Grasmere village, follow the footway south-east past Dove Cottage at Town End (about 0.3 km), then the lane south-east uphill. From about 1.7 km, by the White Moss Common bus stop, drop south-south-west on paths and the public bridleway, then follow the public bridleway north-west from about 2.8 km. From about 4 km the route follows Red Bank Road north for about 1 km into the village, facing oncoming traffic, and crosses Church Bridge back to the start.
If you need to get offThe map shows the line on roads to about 1.7 km and from about 3.9 km; between them, at about 2.9 km, a footpath and bridleway climb about 230 m west-north-west to the Red Bank road; 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.
- Grasmere, roadside layby (free) — a 540 m walk to the start
- Loughrigg Fell (layby) — joins the loop at about km 1.2 of 5.7: a 360 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Nab Scar car park (paid) — joins the loop at about km 1.7 of 5.7: a 130 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 1.7 km (Rydal, at White Moss Common, 10 m off the line). It passes again at 5.6 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 35 m from the start: pay and display. 36 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (our parking audit, from OpenStreetMap, checked 12 August 2026)
- Toilets Toilets are mapped about 75 m from the start. 76 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Refreshments Goody Blakes (about 120 m) and The Distiller’s Arms (about 160 m) are the nearest mapped, with more cafés in the village. Opening hours are not recorded here. 120 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 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: Navigation (estimated from the map, not checked on the ground); 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 | 5.7 km | 95 m | 1:18–1:43 |
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.
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.
