Howtown to Glenridding along Ullswater
Start Hallin Fell (layby) (free)
Getting here Parking: Hallin Fell (layby), 0.6 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the UB1 stops at Howtown, at Pier, a 110 m walk from this start. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Hard navigation: Care needed in cloud — 21 path junctions near the line. Hard – 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: No mapped stiles, but the ground underfoot has not been assessed; not a buggy line on what we know.
- 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
Hardest for a dog here: drops and exposed ground (estimated from the map). The steepest stretch is a sustained descent of about 9% around the 4.2 km mark.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Hard. 4 mapped crag feature(s) near the line — check the airy sections.
- 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 31 October 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: 15 gates · 2 kissing gates
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 31 October 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
Start → Finish (10.6 km, 176 m)
From Howtown the line heads west and then south-west on the Ullswater Way, a mapped footway, past Kailpot Crag and the Poetry Stones to Sandwick, crossing Sandwick Beck near 2.8 km. From there it follows a public bridleway south-west along Ullswater, crossing Scalehow Beck, past Silver Point and Side Farm, then crosses Goldrill Beck near 9.1 km into Patterdale, and goes north past St Patrick's Well, crossing Grisedale Beck, to Glenridding.
WaypointsHowtown, Kailpot Crag, the Poetry Stones, Sandwick, Sandwick Beck, Scalehow Beck, Silver Point, Side Farm, Goldrill Beck, Patterdale, St Patrick's Well, Glenridding.
Decision pointThe Ullswater Way is the line all the way, and the public bridleway for most of 2.9-8.5 km. Walls beside the line in places, the longest near 7.2-8.7 km.
Easy to get wrongNothing steeper than Easy on the whole route. Seventeen gates, two of them kissing gates; most are in the first 2.8 km and the last 2.4 km.
If you need to get offTurn back the way you came, to Howtown; Patterdale, near 9.2 km, is the first village on the line.
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.
Buses
The UB1 stops at Howtown, at Pier, a 110 m walk from this start. Return buses leave from Glenridding, at Bus Shelter, where this walk ends (if you left a car at the start, check the bus back to it). The last bus is 17:05 towards Penrith (508), every day it runs. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 20 October 2026; that timetable runs to 21 March 2027. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
The UB1 passes this route at 0.0 km (Howtown, at Pier, 60 m off the line). Other services cross it too — 508 at 9.7 km. Seasonal: the UB1 does not run from 2 November 2026 to 21 March 2027.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
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
Hard overall — hardest: Navigation (estimated from the map, not checked on the ground); 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | 10.6 km | 176 m | 2:25–3:13 |
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.
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Aira Force — 4.4 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.
