Latrigg
Photo: © Lee McCoy
Key facts
Difficulty profile
Five independent axes, not one score. “Desk” ratings come from maps and guidebooks, not yet walked — treat them as a guide, not a survey.
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.
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.
1 Latrigg
Easy 91%Moderate 9%HardSevere
Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right).
This walk covers about 2.48 km with around 103 m of ascent, taking in 1 summit. 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: A stile of unmapped type — a dog may need lifting over.
- Buggy: Not a pushchair route.
- Knees: No sustained steep descent — kind on the knees.
On the line: 2 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 (opens in new tab) and we’ll fix it. Barrier data as of 2026-07-09. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Pacing
| Summit | Cumulative | Ascent | Time (fast–steady) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Latrigg | 0.8 km | 76 m | 0:17–0:22 |
| Finish | 2.5 km | 103 m | 0:40–0:53 |
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
Gale Road car park (Underscar), Keswick → Latrigg (0.8 km, 76 m)
© Lee McCoy Latrigg → Finish (1.7 km, 27 m)
© Lee McCoy · 2 photographs
Summits bagged (1)
- 1Latrigg369 m
Getting there & parking
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 →
💧 No mapped drinking water or shelter on this route — that doesn’t mean there is none, and never drink untreated from a beck. (Facilities data © OpenStreetMap contributors.)
Buses
The X4 stops at Keswick, opposite The Pheasant. From there it is 2.6 km and 300 m of ascent to this start — a walk in before the walk. Last bus: Monday to Friday 17:49 towards Keswick (554); Saturday 20:19 towards Keswick (554); Sunday 17:50 towards Keswick (554). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 8 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
The 509 passes this route at 1.0 km (Keswick, at Latrigg Close, 750 m off the line).
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
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 if one is full the others usually are too. Worth starting early, or having a different walk in mind before you set off.
- Latrigg car park
- Latrigg car park (free)
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.
- Latrigg — 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 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
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.
Places to stay near this start
From Underscar: 10 places in Keswick