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16.17 km · ~1068 m ascent · ~5–6.5 h · loop · 10 summits

Home / Routes / The Grasmoor round: Whiteside, Hopegill Head and Whiteless Pike
A sharp ridge running out to a pointed top between Hopegill Head and Sand Hill, green valley fields far below to the left and cloud shadows on the fells
Severe steepnessLoop

The Grasmoor round: Whiteside, Hopegill Head and Whiteless Pike

16.17 km
Distance
~5–6.5 h
Typical time
~1068 m
Ascent
10
Summits

Photo: © Lee McCoy

Download GPX →Walked by Lee, August 2026

Key facts

Distance 16.17 km
Ascent ~1068 m
Descent ~1066 m
Time ~5–6.5 h
Best season Late spring to autumn, in clear conditions. Gasgale Crags is narrow and rocky, and Grasmoor’s summit plateau is a blank, stony expanse that is thoroughly disorientating in cloud.
Type Loop
Ten tops and the finest ridge walking in the North Western Fells — up Whiteside, along the narrow crest of Gasgale Crags to Hopegill Head, over the great whaleback of Grasmoor, then out along Wandope and down the elegant cone of Whiteless Pike to Rannerdale. Sixteen kilometres, a thousand metres of climbing, and views over Crummock Water all the way round.

✎️ If you only do one round in the North Western Fells, this is it. Grasmoor is a bigger, wilder mountain than its modest reputation suggests, and the ridge from Whiteside over Gasgale Crags to Hopegill Head is as good as ridge walking gets outside the Langdales. Whiteless Pike at the end is a perfect little peak — and a punishing descent.

A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.

🧭 The automated detail on this page — distance, climb, pacing and a first-pass difficulty read — is live. Hand-written field notes are being added.

Difficulty profile

LengthHard16.17 km — a long day out.
SteepnessSevereSteepest sustained pull about 44% around the 1.5 km mark.
TerrainHardA savagely steep, eroded climb up Whiteside, then the narrow, loose rock of Gasgale Crags. (Editorially assessed from the documented character of the route, not computed from gradient; not yet personally walked.)
NavigationHardGrasmoor’s summit is a blank stony plateau with crags on three sides. (Editorially assessed from the documented character of the route, not computed from gradient; not yet personally walked.)
ExposureHardGasgale Crags is a narrow, airy ridge — not a scramble, but no place to slip. (Editorially assessed from the documented character of the route, not computed from gradient; not yet personally walked.)

Five independent axes, not one score — all field-checked on the ground here, with nothing left as a desk estimate.

Conditions on this route

We score every Lakeland Wainwright each morning on cloud, wind, rain and underfoot, and this route crosses 6 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.

Why this matters: 78% of Mountain Rescue call-outs come after midday — the day runs out on the way home, not on the way up. See also walking in bad weather and today’s conditions.

OpenTopoMap
Elevation profile, shaded by steepness
Elevation profile Rises from about 100 m to 844 m over 16.2 km, with the summits marked in order. The area beneath is shaded by sustained steepness over a 250 m window, in the same four bands as the route’s steepness rating: Easy under 15%, Moderate 15 to 25%, Hard 25 to 35%, Severe above 35%. 844 m 100 m 0 km 16.2 km 12345678910

1 Whiteside (Whiteside West Top)2 Whiteside East Top (Whiteside) (Gasgale Crags)3 Gasgale Crags4 Hopegill Head5 Sand Hill6 Grasmoor7 Wandope8 Thirdgill Head Man9 Whiteless Pike10 Rannerdale Knotts

Easy 55%Moderate 20%Hard 12%Severe 13%

~1068 m
Total ascent
844 m
High point
153 m
Start height

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right).

This walk covers about 16.17 km with around 1068 m of ascent, taking in 10 summits. The map above shows the line; the elevation profile and stage notes are below.

Access & barriers

Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route? A quick read from the gates and stiles mapped along the way.

Dog
Mostly gates
Buggy
Not buggy-able
Knees
Tough descent
  • Dog: A stile of unmapped type — a dog may need lifting over.
  • Buggy: Not a pushchair route.
  • Knees: A long, steep ~42% drop around the 10.0 km mark — hard on the knees.

On the line: 6 gates · 1 kissing gate · 1 stile (type unmapped)

These are mapped barriers, from OpenStreetMap — coverage in the Lakes is good but not guaranteed complete. Spotted a stile or gate we’ve missed? Tell us and we’ll fix it. Barrier data as of 2026-07-12. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).

Pacing

SummitCumulativeAscentTime (fast–steady)
1Whiteside (Whiteside West Top)2.0 km540 m1:18–1:44
2Whiteside East Top (Whiteside) (Gasgale Crags)2.5 km541 m1:25–1:52
3Gasgale Crags2.9 km541 m1:29–1:58
4Hopegill Head3.6 km621 m1:46–2:21
5Sand Hill3.9 km634 m1:51–2:27
6Grasmoor6.5 km885 m2:47–3:42
7Wandope8.5 km920 m3:13–4:17
8Thirdgill Head Man8.9 km921 m3:19–4:25
9Whiteless Pike9.7 km943 m3:31–4:40
10Rannerdale Knotts12.7 km1012 m4:13–5:37
Finish16.2 km1068 m5:01–6:40

Naismith-based estimate — a fast/steady range. Your pace will vary. These use Naismith’s textbook constants (5 km/h, 600 m of ascent an hour). Measured against a pace fitted to 41 recorded Lakeland walks they run about 8% slow, and we have left them that way deliberately: a slow estimate strands nobody.

The walk, stage by stage

  1. 1

    Start → Whiteside (Whiteside West Top) (2.0 km, 540 m)

    Climb of about 540 m over 2.0 km (around 27% average).

    Decision point

    From Lanthwaite Green, straight up the steep nose of Whiteside.

    Easy to get wrong

    The crux of the day for sheer effort. Loose, eroded, and unremittingly steep. There is no gentle way to do this.

    A wooden footbridge over a boulder-strewn beck at the foot of the fell, with gorse and scrub on the slope and the long ridge rising into morning sun above
    A deep, steep-sided valley with a beck threading its floor, sunlight raking the grassy flanks and cloud spilling over the ridge aboveLooking down a deep V-shaped valley from a heathery crag edge, a white beck threading its floor and cloud building over the ridge beyond
    © Lee McCoy · 3 photographs
  2. 2

    Whiteside (Whiteside West Top) → Whiteside East Top (Whiteside) (Gasgale Crags) (0.5 km, 1 m)

    Undulating section of about 0.5 km.

    A grassy ridge crest with a sheer drop into shadow on the left, heather and bilberry on the turf and low cloud spilling over the tops
    A grassy ridge crest with a sheer drop into shadow on the left, heather and bilberry on the turf and low cloud spilling over the tops
    © Lee McCoy · 2 photographs
  3. 3

    Whiteside East Top (Whiteside) (Gasgale Crags) → Gasgale Crags (0.3 km, 0 m)

    Undulating section of about 0.3 km.

  4. 4

    Gasgale Crags → Hopegill Head (0.7 km, 81 m)

    Climb of about 81 m over 0.7 km (around 12% average).

    Decision point

    Follow the narrow crest of Gasgale Crags east to Hopegill Head.

    Easy to get wrong

    Airy and rocky. Loose in places — test holds, and keep a group spaced out.

    A broad heather-and-grass dome rising to a tiny cairn just breaking the skyline, with bright cumulus behind it
    © Lee McCoy
  5. 5

    Hopegill Head → Sand Hill (0.3 km, 13 m)

    Undulating section of about 0.3 km.

    A steep grassy ridge falling away with a thin path along its crest, plantation and farmland in the valley beyond and cloud shadows crossing the fells
    A steep grassy ridge falling away with a thin path along its crest, plantation and farmland in the valley beyond and cloud shadows crossing the fells
    © Lee McCoy · 2 photographs
  6. 6

    Sand Hill → Grasmoor (2.6 km, 251 m)

    Climb of about 251 m over 2.6 km (around 10% average).

    Decision point

    South over Sand Hill, then the long pull west onto Grasmoor’s summit plateau.

    Easy to get wrong

    The navigation trap. A wide, stony, featureless top with crags all round. Get your bearing at the cairn.

  7. 7

    Grasmoor → Wandope (1.9 km, 35 m)

    Descent of about 83 m over 1.9 km.

    A high stony plateau looking out over Crummock Water and the green valley beyond, with heavy cloud filling the sky above the ranged fells
    A broad grassy summit with a small cairn on its crest, a dark bank of rain cloud pressing down on the fells behind it
    © Lee McCoy · 2 photographs
  8. 8

    Wandope → Thirdgill Head Man (0.5 km, 1 m)

    Undulating section of about 0.5 km.

  9. 9

    Thirdgill Head Man → Whiteless Pike (0.8 km, 22 m)

    Descent of about 89 m over 0.8 km.

    Decision point

    Back east and out over Wandope and Thirdgill Head Man to Whiteless Pike.

    Easy to get wrong

    Straightforward ridge walking, and the best views of the day down Crummock Water.

    A narrow heather-lined ridge running out to a shapely pointed top, with Crummock Water on one side and Buttermere on the other far below
    © Lee McCoy
  10. 10

    Whiteless Pike → Rannerdale Knotts (3.0 km, 69 m)

    Climb of about 69 m over 3.0 km (around 2% average).

    Ridge after ridge of steep green fells with deep valleys between them, the low country and a glimpse of sea beyond under heavy cloud
    A rocky, bracken-covered knoll with walkers standing on its top, a much larger fell rising dark behind under heavy cloud
    © Lee McCoy · 2 photographs

  11. Rannerdale Knotts → Finish (3.5 km, 55 m)

    About 3.5 km with 55 m of ascent.

    Decision point

    Descend south-west off Whiteless Pike to Rannerdale Knotts and out to the road.

    Easy to get wrong

    Steep, sustained and hard on the knees — the sting in this route’s tail. Poles earn their place here.

    Crummock Water and the Buttermere valley from the rocky top of Rannerdale Knotts, under a bright broken sky
    © Lee McCoy

Summits bagged (10)

  1. 1Whiteside (Whiteside West Top)707 mNorth Western · Wainwright, Birkett, Fellranger, Synge, Nuttall
  2. 2Whiteside East Top (Whiteside) (Gasgale Crags)719 mNorth Western · Birkett, Synge, Nuttall
  3. 3Gasgale Crags703 mNorth Western · Birkett
  4. 4Hopegill Head770 mNorth Western · Wainwright, Birkett, Fellranger, Synge, Nuttall
  5. 5Sand Hill756 mNorth Western · Birkett, Synge, Nuttall
  6. 6Grasmoor852 mNorth Western · Wainwright, Birkett, Fellranger, Synge, Nuttall, Marilyn
  7. 7Wandope774 mNorth Western · Wainwright, Birkett, Fellranger, Synge, Nuttall
  8. 8Thirdgill Head Man734 mNorth Western · Birkett
  9. 9Whiteless Pike660 mNorth Western · Wainwright, Birkett, Fellranger, Synge, Nuttall
  10. 10Rannerdale Knotts355 mNorth Western · Wainwright, Birkett, Fellranger, Synge

In the order you walk them — the same numbers the elevation profile, the stage notes and the pacing table use.

Getting there & parking

Lanthwaite Green (NT) — 0.1 km from the start (straight line)
At the foot of Grasmoor and Whiteside, Crummock Water.
Directions Something changed here?
Car park for Whiteside — 0.1 km from the start (straight line)
1.6 km from Whiteside. Added from the 5 Aug 2026 OSM candidate review. Fees: £7 up to 2 hours; £8 up to 4 hours; £9.50 all day. Charges apply at all times. Cash at machine; card/phone payment not available in all car parks (NT, checked Aug 2026). Free for NT members (checked Aug 2026). Charges apply at all times. Cash at machine; JustPark app at some car parks; card/phone payment not available in all car parks (NT, checked Aug 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
Grasmoor (verge) — 0.4 km from the start (straight line)
1.6 km from Grasmoor.
Directions Something changed here?
Grasmoor (layby) — 0.5 km from the start (straight line)
Nearest fells: Grasmoor (1.6 km), Lad Hows (1.7 km), Mellbreak North Top (1.8 km). Fee not verified — check signage on arrival.
Directions Something changed here?
Lad Hows, north-west (layby) — 0.9 km from the start (straight line)
Nearest fells: Lad Hows (1.4 km), Grasmoor (1.5 km), Mellbreak North Top (1.8 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.

Vehicles are left entirely at their owner’s risk. We list places people park; we cannot vouch for any of them. Judge it on the day: take valuables with you, leave nothing on show, and if a spot feels wrong when you get there, park somewhere else.

Every option near this start, on the parking map →

Water, shelter & getting away

🛖 map (5 m)🚌 Lanthwaite Green Farm (58 m)

On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors — an absent marker does not mean the facility isn’t there.

Buses

The 77 stops at Lanthwaite Green Farm (opp), 110 m from this start. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day, and it is not daily before then — a bus on 31 of the 56 days from 7 September. We don’t know when it returns. Confirmed with the operator, 29 August 2026. The last bus is 18:03 towards Keswick (77), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

The 77 passes this route at 11.3 km (Buttermere Youth Hostel (near), 860 m off the line) and again at 16.1 km (Lanthwaite Green Farm (opp), 10 m off the line) — one bus, two stops, 4.3 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.

Stagecoach 77 / 77A “Honister Rambler”
Keswick – Portinscale – Hawse End (Catbells) – Grange – Seatoller – Honister Pass – Buttermere – Lorton – Whinlatter – Keswick (circular)
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 from Windermere/Ambleside or X4/X5 from Penrith)
Seasonal (roughly Easter–October). Brilliant for the North Western fells: Catbells, Dale Head from Honister, the Buttermere fells and Whinlatter.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com or Traveline before travelling.

If the parking is full

If the first one is full, these do not all fill together. 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.

  • Lanthwaite Green (NT)
  • High Snockrigg, north-west (layby)
  • Rannerdale Knotts (layby)

Worked out from the parking we hold within walking reach of this route and the other walks each place serves — two places that serve the same walks fill for the same reasons. We are not saying whether anywhere has spaces today, and we never will: this is what exists, not what is free.

When the sun reaches the tops

Not sunrise — the moment the sun clears the skyline from that summit, which on a fell with high ground to its east can be a good deal later. The two equinoxes are shown because they fall in the walking season, and late December too wherever a top keeps you waiting then; the clock gap between the equinoxes is British Summer Time, not the hill. Rounded to the nearest quarter hour and meant as a general idea, not a schedule.

  • Whiteside (Whiteside West Top) — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:30, about a quarter of an hour later. In late September, about 07:15. It waits longest in late December — about half an hour after sunrise.
  • Hopegill Head — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:15, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:00.
  • Grasmoor — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:15, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:00.
  • Wandope — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:15, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:00.
  • Whiteless Pike — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:15, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:00. It waits longest in midsummer — about half an hour after sunrise. In late December, not until about 08:45.
  • Rannerdale Knotts — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:30, about a quarter of an hour later. In late September, about 07:15. It waits longest in midsummer — well over an hour after sunrise. In late December, not until about 09:00.

Modelled from a 30 m elevation model against each summit’s own skyline — the same figures the fell pages carry, never observed. Cloud is not in it.

Safety & conditions

  • The climb straight up Whiteside from Lanthwaite is brutally steep — a relentless, loose, eroded pull with little respite. It is the hardest 500 m on this route and it comes first.
  • Gasgale Crags is a narrow, rocky ridge. It is not a scramble in the Sharp Edge sense, but it is airy, the rock is loose in places, and it wants care in wind or wet.
  • Grasmoor’s summit is a featureless stony plateau with crags on three sides. In cloud it is a genuine navigation trap — take a bearing before you leave the cairn.
  • The descent off Whiteless Pike is a knee-breaker — steep, sustained and relentless, right at the end of a long day. It is one of the steepest sustained descents in the Lakes.
  • A long day with 1,068 m of ascent and ten tops. Navigation is graded hard: the high ground is broad and the drops are real.

Check live conditions in the “From the fells” panel, on MWIS and the Met Office mountain forecast before you set off.

Make it easier or harder

Why this direction: Clockwise: the savage climb up Whiteside is taken on fresh legs, the fine ridge is walked in the middle of the day, and Whiteless Pike gives a shapely finish — at the cost of a steep descent.

Sun and shade: Going clockwise puts more of the walk in sun for a start between about 06:00 and 07:00, every day of the year.

Short version: turn back at about 8.0 km (drop to Start) — roughly half the distance.

Download

Download GPX

GPX track for your GPS or phone.

Places to stay near this start

High Swinside Holiday Cottages guest house

about 3.9 km from the start, in a straight line

The only property in this cluster that states how to put a large family under one roof: The Farmhouse sleeps 9 in four bedrooms and links to Little Swinside through a lockable connecting door for 11-12, so a Grasmoor-round party that arrives as two households can still eat together. Dogs are taken, there is a 7kw EV charger for the drive back over Whinlatter, and the site sorts its own walk suggestions into four bands (Gentle Strolls, Wonderful Rambles, Intermediate Fells, High Peaks & Horseshoes) - useful when half the party wants Whiteside and half wants the valley.

One of the three cottages started life in the 1800s as housing for the farm's workers; it still has the beamed ceilings, and the owners keep hens and sell guests their eggs.

  • Dogs “Three Holiday Cottages sleeping 2, 5, or 9 (2 of the cottages can be connected to sleep 11-12) Dog friendly 7kw EV Charger Good Wi-fi Hot tubs in a superb setting 20-35 mins walk to village shop & pub Fresh free range eggs”
  • Family rooms “It sleeps 9 in its four bedrooms. Alternatively it can be linked to Little Swinside to sleep 11 overall (via lockable connecting door).”

Crummockwater Cottages guest house

about 1.8 km from the start, in a straight line

Three self-catering cottages 1.82 km from the start, and the only place here whose owner has written down her own judgements rather than a list: go up Melbreak's Nose rather than down it, take Low Fell from Thackthwaite rather than straight up the fence line, walk Loweswater out and back on the far side using the old coffin route. For this start in particular, the fells she names in the view from the front of the house open with Whiteside, Grassmoor and Whiteless Pike - the three summits of the Grasmoor round - though she describes them as a view from the door, not as a walk she writes up. Her own walk pages cover Buttermere, Crummock, Loweswater, Low Fell, Melbreak, Blake Fell and three waterfalls.

The cottages are the converted barn and stables of a 16th-century manor house, reached through a carriage arch with 1797 cut into it.

Bridge Hotel hotel

about 4.2 km from the start, in a straight line

The largest bed stock in the radius and the only hotel here that publishes both a restaurant and a dog policy - 21 en-suite bedrooms plus 6 self-catering apartments in Buttermere village, with an EV point in the car park. Two things a family should know before booking rather than after: the bedrooms are deliberately unplugged, with no television, no radio and no mobile signal, and the hotel publishes a late-January closure. There is no email address and no contact form anywhere on the cached site, so the only route in is the phone or the booking engine.

It sells the absence of a signal as the point: the bedrooms have no television, no radio and no mobile reception.

  • Dogs “A true dog-friendly hotel in the Lake District”
  • Evening meal “Exceptionally friendly and professional service, homemade food, carefully selected local real ales with our staff who naturally go the extra mile to ensure your needs meet your expectations.”

Worth knowing before you book

These places state on their own site that they do not take children.

What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. Distances are straight lines from the route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap.

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