Revised
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Key facts
- Distance 12.34 km
- Ascent ~829 m
- Descent ~830 m
- Time ~3.8 h
- Difficulty Moderate
- Direction Anti-clockwise
- Best season Any season in good conditions; the plateau behind the Pikes is featureless in cloud.
- Type Loop
- Start Great Langdale (New Dungeon Ghyll)
Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right).
Elevation profile
The walk
A grand round of the Langdale Pikes and the fells behind them. From Great Langdale it climbs past Stickle Tarn to take in Pavey Ark (by the walkers' line, not Jack's Rake), Harrison Stickle, Pike of Stickle and Loft Crag, then loops over Thunacar Knott, High Raise and Sergeant Man before dropping back to the valley. It's a simpler line than my previous version, which added Blea Rigg — boggy on the approach from Sergeant Man. Handily, there are toilets at the car park at the end.
Summits bagged (8)
- Thorn Crag 644 m · Central
- Loft Crag 682 m · Central
- Pike of Stickle 708 m · Central
- Harrison Stickle 735 m · Central
- Pavey Ark 702 m · Central
- Thunacar Knott 723 m · Central
- High Raise (High White Stones) 762 m · Central
- Sergeant Man 736 m · Central
🅿️ Getting there & parking
Old Dungeon Ghyll (NT, paid) — 0.4 km from the start (straight line)
Head of Great Langdale — Bowfell, Crinkle Crags, Pike o' Blisco, the Langdale Pikes.
Directions ↗Stickle Ghyll / New Dungeon Ghyll (NT, paid) — 0.7 km from the start (straight line)
Direct start up Stickle Ghyll for the Langdale Pikes.
Directions ↗Positions are approximate. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.
🚌 Buses
Stagecoach 516 “Langdale Rambler”
Ambleside – Skelwith Bridge – Elterwater – New Dungeon Ghyll – Old Dungeon Ghyll
Catch it from: Ambleside · Windermere (change at Ambleside)
The Langdale bus — Pikes, Bowfell, Crinkle Crags, Pike o' Blisco all walkable from the Dungeon Ghyll stops. Seasonal frequency varies; check before relying on the last bus back.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com or Traveline before travelling.
⚠️ Safety & conditions
- Avoid Jack's Rake on Pavey Ark unless you're a confident scrambler — the walkers' route reaches the same summit.
- Boggy ground and confusing navigation on the High Raise and Sergeant Man plateau in mist.
- Steep, rocky ground around the Pikes.
Hazard & incident notes: Thorn Crag · Loft Crag · Pike of Stickle · Harrison Stickle · Pavey Ark · Thunacar Knott · High Raise (High White Stones) · Sergeant Man
Check live conditions in the “From the fells” panel, on MWIS and the Met Office mountain forecast before you set off.
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass.