Latrigg from the Gale Road car park
Photo: © Lee McCoy
Start Gale Road car park (Underscar), Keswick
Getting here Parking: Latrigg car park, 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 553, 554, X4 and X5 stop at Keswick, opposite The Pheasant; from there it is 2.6 km and 300 m of ascent to this start. And the same back: about 7.6 km in all, with the walk. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
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 Latrigg
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
- 1
Gale Road car park (Underscar), Keswick → Latrigg (0.8 km, 79 m)
From the car park, go through the gate and follow the path south-south-west up the grassy slope to the top of Latrigg (369 m), at about 0.8 km.
© Lee McCoy Latrigg → Finish (1.7 km, 27 m)
From the top, follow the path down the fell's western end and north. The path crosses a stream at a mapped ford at about 1.5 km: after heavy rain, judge it before you step in. Beyond the ford the path heads north past Mallen Dodd; at about 2.0 km join the public bridleway and follow it east, climbing gently back to the car park.
© Lee McCoy · 2 photographs
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Walked in part · km 1.5–2.5 from the map
Summits bagged (1)
- 1Latrigg369 m
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.
- 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.
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.
Buses
The 553, 554, X4 and X5 stop 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. And the same back: about 7.6 km in all, with the walk. As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Keswick (554): Tuesday to Friday 17:49; Saturday 20:19; Sunday 17:50. 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). Seasonal: the 509 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.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Latrigg car park at the very top of Gale Road, where the walk starts: free. Gale Road is long and people park along it; the car park is at the top. (Lee, confirmed in person, checked 9 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)
- Miles without Stiles The National Park's Miles without Stiles route 38 climbs from this car park to the summit viewpoint on a graded path, rated 'for some' and steep at first, about 1 km each way. This line shares only part of it, around km 1.0-1.5. (Lake District National Park, Miles without Stiles 38: Latrigg, checked 3 October 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: a bench.
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.
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.)
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
Easy overall — hardest: Length, steepness and navigation (graded by Lee on the ground, on the stretches he walked); terrain not assessed; exposure not assessed on the ground
Walked in part. Up the direct path, over the top and down to the ford in July 2024; from the ford, the path past Mallen Dodd and the bridleway back to the car park were 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 1.5–2.5 is 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Latrigg | 0.8 km | 79 m | 0:17–0:23 |
| Finish | 2.5 km | 106 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: No sustained steep descent in the track’s height model (steepest 250 m about 10%). Steps, wet rock and the surface underfoot are not assessed; your own knees still matter.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: stiles and gates. The steepest stretch is a sustained climb of about 14% around the 0.3 km mark.
- Stiles and gates: A stile of unmapped type at 0.1 km — a dog may need lifting over. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 9 July 2026)
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Easy. No mapped crags on or beside the line.
- 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: 2 gates · 1 kissing gate · 1 stile (type unmapped)
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
From Underscar: 10 places in Keswick
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Keswick — 2.4 km from this start
- Walks from Portinscale — 3.5 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.
