Loweswater circuit
Start Maggie's Bridge car park, Loweswater
Getting here Parking: Maggie's Bridge, Loweswater (NT, paid), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 77 stops at Lanthwaite Green Farm (opposite); from there it is 3.2 km and 121 m of ascent to this start. And the same back: about 12.3 km in all, with the walk. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Moderate navigation: No large featureless ground on the map; carry a map and compass for cloud. Moderate – 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: The first 2 km, from Maggie’s Bridge towards the shore in Holme Wood, is the National Park’s Miles without Stiles route 26, graded for all: with a pushchair, turn back there. The rest of the loop is not checked for one, and we have not pushed one along it.
- Knees: No sustained steep descent in the track’s height model (steepest 250 m about 6%). Steps, wet rock and the surface underfoot are not assessed; your own knees still matter.
With a dog
Not every line below has been assessed. The steepest stretch is a sustained descent of about 4% around the 5.7 km mark.
- 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 9 July 2026)
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Easy – estimated from the map, not checked on the ground. Low-level path — set from the route’s own description on 24 Sep 2026, not walked for grading.
- 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: 13 gates · 1 kissing gate
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).
Route map
Holme Wood
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
Maggie's Bridge car park, Loweswater → Finish (5.9 km, 56 m)
From Maggie's Bridge car park, follow the public bridleway west to about 2.4 km, then on the bridleway and a short footpath to the road at about 2.9 km. The return follows the road east-south-east for about 2.3 km, with short stretches of path beside it at about 3.4 and 4 km: walk facing oncoming traffic. At about 5.5 km turn west-south-west down the public bridleway lane back to the start.
If you need to get offThe map shows no path from the lakeshore bridleway to a road until the line meets the road itself near Waterend at about 2.9 km, so before that the way off is back or on; not walked for this guide.
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.
If the parking is full
There is a fallback here, but it is a weak one. Some of the 3 below tend to fill for the same reasons at the same time. Treat the list as one-and-a-bit options rather than 3.
- Maggie's Bridge, Loweswater (NT, paid) — at the start
- Darling Fell (layby) — joins the loop at about km 3 of 5.9: a 60 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Darling Fell, south-west (layby) — joins the loop at about km 4.2 of 5.9: a 130 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 77 stops at Lanthwaite Green Farm (opposite). From there it is 3.2 km and 121 m of ascent to this start — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 12.3 km in all, with the walk. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. It returns on 22 March 2027. Confirmed with the operator: its last day on 29 August 2026, its return on 16 October 2026. As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Keswick (77): Tuesday to Sunday 18:03. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Maggie's Bridge car park (National Trust), where the walk starts. Paid; free for National Trust members. (National Trust, coast and countryside car parks, checked 11 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)
- Limitation Beyond the first 2 km the loop has more gates and a kissing gate mapped, and is not checked for a pushchair. (our Stile & Gate Census, from OpenStreetMap, checked 3 October 2026)
- Miles without Stiles The first 2 km of this line, from Maggie's Bridge towards the shore in Holme Wood, is the National Park's Miles without Stiles route 26, rated 'for all'. (Lake District National Park, Miles without Stiles 26: Loweswater, checked 3 October 2026)
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
Moderate overall — hardest: Navigation (estimated from the map, not checked on the ground); 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 | 5.9 km | 56 m | 1:16–1:41 |
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.
Places to stay near this start
- Crummockwater Cottages (opens in new tab) guest houseabout 0.9 km
We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from the route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Scale Force — 4.3 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.