Lingmoor Fell from Elterwater
Start Elterwater Village
Getting here Parking: Elterwater (NT, paid), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 516 stops at Elterwater, opposite The Britannia Inn, a 70 m walk from this start. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Moderate distance: 11.51 km round. Moderate steepness: Steepest sustained climb about 24% around the 2.5 km mark. Moderate terrain: Good paths with a knolly, rambling ridge; some rocky steps and old quarry ground. (Editorially assessed from the documented character of the route, not computed from gradient; not yet personally walked.) Moderate – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet Moderate navigation: The top is a broad, knolly ridge with several paths — easy in clear weather, fiddlier in cloud. (Editorially assessed from the documented character of the route, not computed from gradient; not yet personally walked.) Moderate – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet Moderate exposure: Fat Man's Agony — a short, tight squeeze between the crag and a boulder on the path round Side Pike. (Editorially assessed from the documented character of the route, not computed from gradient; not yet personally walked.) Moderate – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet
Before you choose
- Fat Man's Agony. The path round the south side of Side Pike squeezes through a narrow gap between the crag and a large boulder. It is short but tight, and awkward with a big pack.
- Old quarry workings on the Elterwater side. Keep to the path.
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 Lingmoor Fell (Brown How)
escape route
Easy 78%Moderate 22%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
Elterwater Village → Lingmoor Fell (Brown How) (3.7 km, 423 m)
Starting from the picturesque village of Elterwater, the route climbs west on a quarry track beside the slate workings, which walkers use by permission rather than as a right of way. The terrain begins on firm, crushed-slate quarry tracks before breaking out onto the open, uncultivated eastern ridge of Lingmoor. The 11% average gradient masks a heavily terraced ascent. The path is a relentless rollercoaster over a series of rocky knolls and through incredibly deep, woody heather, eventually depositing you on the summit plateau of Brown How.
WaypointsStart Point: Elterwater Village (approx. NY 327 047). Elterwater Quarries: The slate workings on the lower slopes, beside the track. The Eastern Ridge: The undulating, heather-clad spine. Lingmoor Fell Summit - Brown How (469 m): A Wainwright summit marked by a rocky outcrop and a small cairn, offering the definitive view of the Langdale Pikes.
Decision pointThe Great Wall of Lingmoor: As you ascend the ridge, you will intercept an immense, perfectly built drystone wall. This architectural marvel runs straight over the fell and acts as a flawless handrail all the way to the summit. Visual Targets: The Langdale Pikes are a constant, imposing visual magnet drawing you west/north-west.
Easy to get wrongFalse Summits: The eastern ridge is heavily terraced. You will crest at least three distinct rocky lips, each time thinking you have reached the summit, only to see another heather-clad knoll ahead. The Heather: The heather on Lingmoor is notoriously thick and woody. It frequently conceals ankle-twisting holes and loose rocks on the path. Adders: In the height of summer, this sun-baked, rocky, heather-clad ridge is prime adder territory. Keep dogs on a short lead and watch where you place your hands if scrambling. Do NOT attempt to bail north directly off the ridge into Great Langdale. The northern flanks of Lingmoor are defended by vertical, highly dangerous crags (Lingmoor Crags) hidden just below the ridge line.
If you need to get offRetreat: Carefully reverse your steps back down the eastern ridge through the quarries to Elterwater.
Lingmoor Fell (Brown How) → Finish (7.8 km, 66 m)
A spectacular, rugged descent, then a long valley walk-out. Leaving Brown How, you follow the great wall north-west as the ridge begins to plunge towards the Blea Tarn col. The terrain here is highly uneven, dropping via steep, rocky steps and highly eroded, slippery channels. At the base of the descent you reach Side Pike, a dramatic, craggy Birkett. The path goes round its south side, below the top, through the famous "Fat Man's Agony" rock squeeze. From the Side Pike/Blea Tarn col, the route drops sharply north into the floor of the Great Langdale valley. You then pick up the Cumbria Way/valley trails, heading east. The terrain transitions into a flat, easy march through beautiful pastoral enclosures, ancient oak woodlands (Baysbrown Wood), and alongside the meandering Great Langdale Beck, returning you to Elterwater.
WaypointsThe Descent Path: The steep, rocky trod shadowing the wall. Fat Man's Agony: A notoriously tight, narrow gap between the vertical crag and a massive detached boulder on the path around Side Pike. Side Pike (362 m): The rocky, precipitous Birkett at the western end of the Lingmoor ridge. The path passes below its top. The Col Descent: The steep grassy drop into Great Langdale. Great Langdale Valley Floor: The transition to flat, agricultural land. Baysbrown Woods / Oak Howe: The shaded woodland tracks on the southern side of the river. Great Langdale Beck: The river that guides you back to the start. Finish Point: Elterwater Village.
Decision pointThe Wall: The drystone wall remains your constant companion, plunging directly down the steep terrain. Blea Tarn: The dark, perfectly framed waters of Blea Tarn sit directly below you, acting as an unmissable visual target for the col. The River: Great Langdale Beck is a massive linear handrail. Keep the river on your left (north) and the steep slopes of Lingmoor Fell on your right (south), and you will be funneled perfectly back to Elterwater. The Valley Road: The B5343 runs parallel to your path on the opposite side of the valley, providing constant visual orientation.
Easy to get wrongSteep Rock Steps: The descent off Lingmoor requires careful foot placement. The rock is highly polished by boot traffic and lethally slick after rain. The Squeeze: Fat Man's Agony is genuinely tight. If you have a large 60L+ rucksack or are of a broader build, you will likely need to take your pack off and push it through the gap ahead of you. Distance Fatigue: After the steep, rugged terrain of Lingmoor, 6.3 km of valley walking can feel surprisingly long on tired feet. Flooding / Mud: The paths immediately adjacent to Great Langdale Beck are prone to severe flooding in winter or after heavy rain. The sections through Baysbrown Wood can become deep, inescapable mud baths. Do not try to climb directly down the front (north/west) faces of Side Pike. They are vertical climbing crags. You must use the established paths to bypass or descend it.
If you need to get offRetreat: Once at the col near Side Pike, dropping west/south-west delivers you immediately to the Blea Tarn road, where you can easily walk to the National Trust car park. Retreat: Once in the valley, the rest of the walk is itself the escape route. Emergency: If the southern valley paths (Oak Howe/Baysbrown side) are flooded, do not wade; turn back. A way round by the bridges and the B5343 has not been checked for this guide, and the road has traffic.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Escape routes
- At about 5.0 km: descend to the Blea Tarn road
This route has not been walked; these escape lines are checked on the map only. In poor visibility a marked descent can be safer than retracing a ridge.
Summits bagged (1)
More about this walk
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.
- Lingmoor Fell (Brown How) — 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 a quarter of 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
If the first one is full, these overlap least in our model. The 3 below sit in different places or are different kinds of parking, so a busy morning at one does not mean a busy morning at all of them.
- New Dungeon Ghyll (LDNPA, paid) — joins the loop at about km 7.3 of 11.5: a 510 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- B5343, 0.5 km E of Elterwater (layby) — a 580 m walk to the start
- Side Pike (layby) — joins the loop at about km 5.6 of 11.5: a 70 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
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 516 stops at Elterwater, opposite The Britannia Inn, a 70 m walk from this start. We haven’t published last buses, Sunday or winter service yet, so check the timetable before you rely on getting back.
The 516 passes this route at 0.0 km (Elterwater, opposite The Britannia Inn, 40 m off the line) and again at 7.5 km (New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel (opposite), 350 m off the line) — one bus, two stops, 3.6 km apart on the ground. We haven’t walked a shortened version, so the distance, grading and escape routes on this page describe the walk end to end.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Elterwater’s National Trust car park, about 35 m from the start: pay and display, free for National Trust members. 34 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (Lake District National Park car-parks directory; National Trust, the Langdales, checked 11 August 2026)
- Toilets Toilets are mapped about 25 m from the start. 25 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Refreshments Slates Coffee and Kitchen (about 55 m) and the Britannia Inn (about 70 m) are mapped by the start. Opening hours are not recorded here. 55 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Limitation Fat Man’s Agony, on the south side of Side Pike, squeezes through a narrow gap between crag and boulder: short but tight, and awkward with a big pack. Keep to the path by the old quarry workings. (our route notes (this route's own warnings), checked 2 October 2026)
Everything mapped near the start
At Elterwater (NT, paid), the closest parking we hold to where this route starts:
Distances are straight lines from the car park, not walking routes. Opening hours change; none of this is checked daily.
Mapped as nearby on OpenStreetMap too, as of 13 September 2026, within 250 m of the start and not already listed above:
Also mapped within reach: a bench, 2 information boards, 2 shelters.
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: Length, steepness, terrain (our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet), navigation (our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet) and exposure (our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet)
Five independent axes, not one score. This route has not been walked yet, so none of them was set on the ground: three of the five are our judgement from the map and the route’s record, and the rest 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Lingmoor Fell (Brown How) | 3.7 km | 423 m | 1:27–1:56 |
| Finish | 11.5 km | 489 m | 3:07–4:09 |
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: Stiles or rough going on the route.
- Knees: A sustained ~29% descent over 250 m around the 5.4 km mark — a little jarring on tired knees.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: stiles and gates.
- Stiles and gates: Stiles of unmapped type at 2.4, 3.7 and 4.6 km — a dog may need lifting over. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 14 July 2026)
- Drops and exposed ground: Moderate – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet. Fat Man's Agony — a short, tight squeeze between the crag and a boulder on the path round Side Pike. (Editorially assessed from the documented character of the route, not computed from gradient; not yet personally walked.)
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Moderate – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet. Good paths with a knolly, rambling ridge; some rocky steps and old quarry ground. (Editorially assessed from the documented character of the route, not computed from gradient; not yet personally walked.)
- Ways off early: Marked on this route at about 5.0 km: the Blea Tarn road. The escape routes section below has the detail.
- 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: 13 gates · 1 kissing gate · 3 stiles (type unmapped)
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 14 July 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Places to stay near this start
From Elterwater: 5 places in Grasmere
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Elterwater — 0.0 km from this start
- Walks from Little Langdale — 2.2 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.