Hallin Fell from Howtown
Photo: © Lee McCoy
Start St Peter's Church, Howtown (The Hause)
Getting here Parking: Hallin Fell, south-east car park (free), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the UB1 stops at Martindale Cattle Grid (near), a 530 m walk and 74 m of ascent from this start. Seasonal: the UB1 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Moderate steepness: Steepest sustained climb about 25% around the 0.3 km mark.
Before you choose
Conditions on this route
We score every Lakeland Wainwright each morning on cloud, wind, rain and underfoot, and this route crosses 1 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 Hallin Fell
Easy 42%Moderate 58%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
- 1
St Peter's Church, Howtown (The Hause) → Hallin Fell (0.8 km, 162 m)
From St Peter's Church at the Hause, take the path north-north-west straight up the fell, steep from the start, to the summit and its stone monument (388 m) at about 0.8 km.
If you need to get offThe map shows other paths down the fell, but each passes mapped crag or scree, so the way off is back down the way you came, to the road by St Peter's Church, never more than about 0.8 km; not walked for this guide.
© Lee McCoy Hallin Fell → Finish (1.2 km, 3 m)
From Hallin Fell's summit, carry on north-east along the top for about 200 m, then come back to the monument and down the way you came up, to the road by the church at about 2 km.
© Lee McCoy · 2 photographs
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Walked in part · km 0.0–0.8, km 1.2–2.0 from the map
Summits bagged (1)
- 1Hallin Fell388 m
More about this walk
Small hill, enormous view, and one of the best short days in the Lakes you can do without a car — the Ullswater Steamer pier at Howtown is about 1 km from this start as the crow flies, and further on foot, so allow for that walk both ways on top of the climb before you plan to sail back. Worth knowing, because parking at The Hause is limited and the lane in is narrow. If you are going back by boat, pick your return sailing before you set off and leave a margin. (Timetable is seasonal; checked 4 Aug 2026.)
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.
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.
- Hallin Fell — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:45, about half an hour later. In late September, about 07:30. It waits longest in late December — about an hour after sunrise.
How to read these times
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.
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.
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.
- Martindale, St Peter's church (free, limited) — at the start
- Hallin Fell (layby) — a 460 m walk to the start, climbing about 90 m
- Hallin Fell car park (free) — at 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 UB1 stops at Martindale Cattle Grid (near), a 530 m walk and 74 m of ascent from this start. Seasonal: the UB1 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. It returns on 22 March 2027. Confirmed with the operator: its last day on 9 October 2026, its return on 16 October 2026. We haven’t published its last bus times, so check the timetable before you rely on getting back — times here are a guide, not a promise.
The UB1 passes this route at 0.2 km (Martindale, at Cattle Grid, 460 m off the line).
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Free parking beside St Peter’s Church at The Hause, where the walk starts. Spaces are limited. (Lee, who has parked here, checked 8 August 2026)
- Toilets No toilets are mapped within 250 m of the start. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Refreshments No café or pub is mapped within 250 m of the start: bring what you need. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
Everything mapped near the start
Mapped as nearby on OpenStreetMap, as of 13 September 2026, within 250 m of where this route starts (information boards within 150 m; benches and shelter within 50 m):
Also mapped within reach: an information board.
Distances are straight lines from where this route starts, not walking routes. Opening hours are as mapped and change; none of this is checked daily.
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: Steepness; terrain not assessed; exposure not assessed on the ground
Walked in part. Up a line a little east of this one, and on along the top, in September 2024; the path drawn here from the church was not walked for this guide.
Five independent axes, not one score. One of the five was set on the ground; the rest are computed from the recorded track and the map, which measures the line rather than surveying the ground. This line was walked in part, so a grade set on the ground covers the stretches Lee walked; km 0.0–0.8, km 1.2–2.0 are from the map.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Hallin Fell | 0.8 km | 162 m | 0:25–0:34 |
| Finish | 2.0 km | 165 m | 0:40–0:54 |
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 ~29% descent over 250 m around the 1.6 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 25% around the 0.3 km mark.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Moderate. Graded from slope only (~29% max); treat exposure as unverified.
- 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: Not assessed.
- 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: 1 gate
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).
Places to stay near this start
- Low Gale (opens in new tab) self-cateringabout 0.9 km
- Howtown Cottages (opens in new tab) self-cateringabout 0.8 km
We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from the route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Aira Force — 3.9 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.
