The Old Dungeon Ghyll Pub Walk (Great Langdale)
Start Old Dungeon Ghyll
Getting here Parking: Old Dungeon Ghyll (NT, paid), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 516 stops at Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, a 140 m walk from this start. 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
- Low-level but not always dry — the valley-floor paths and field sections get boggy and can flood after heavy rain.
- Working farmland: expect gates, stiles and livestock. Keep dogs on a lead and under close control near sheep.
- Great Langdale Beck and its side becks rise quickly in spate — take care at any crossing or footbridge.
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
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
Start → Finish (6.6 km, 106 m)
From the Old Dungeon Ghyll car park, take the permissive bridleway past Middle Fell Farm and join the public bridleway at about 0.15 km. Follow it east-north-east along the north side of the valley, with Great Langdale Beck well below on your right. It rises to about 140 m and crosses Dungeon Ghyll by a bridge at about 0.9 km. After a kissing gate and a stile at about 1 km, it drops to the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel. The road from the hotel leads south-east to the B5343 at about 1.4 km, by the New Dungeon Ghyll bus stop. Cross the road and take the byway past the New Dungeon Ghyll car park; it crosses Stickle Ghyll by Stickle Bridge at about 1.6 km. The byway, and then a bridleway, lead east along the valley floor through many gates to about 3.0 km, crossing a side stream on bridges at about 2.9 and 3.1 km. The bridleway then turns south-south-west to cross Great Langdale Beck by a bridge at about 3.3 km. On the far side, a track and then a path lead back west along the other side of the valley, with the beck on your right. This path crosses side streams on footbridges at about 4.3, 4.65 and 4.85 km, and rises to about 125 m on the way. At about 5.0 km a public footpath crosses a stream by a footbridge, beside a mapped ford, and reaches Side House. From Side House a track leads north-north-west over Great Langdale Beck by a bridge at about 5.25 km to the B5343 at about 5.4 km. Cross the road and take the public footpath west-south-west. It passes a stile and crosses Dungeon Ghyll by a bridge at about 5.65 km, a stream by a footbridge at about 5.8 km, a second stile at about 5.9 km, and Great Langdale Beck by a footbridge at about 6.0 km. The route then follows the B5343 west-south-west for about 0.5 km, past the Great Langdale Campsite bus stop, to the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, and crosses the bridge by the hotel back to the car park.
WaypointsOld Dungeon Ghyll car park, Middle Fell Farm, the bridge over Dungeon Ghyll, New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, the B5343 by the New Dungeon Ghyll bus stop, Stickle Bridge, the bridge over Great Langdale Beck at about 3.3 km, the footbridges over the side streams, Side House, the bridge over Great Langdale Beck at about 5.25 km, the footbridge over Great Langdale Beck at about 6.0 km, the B5343, the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel.
Decision pointGreat Langdale Beck is on your right for most of the walk: well below the bridleway on the way out, and beside the path on the way back. The route crosses it four times, each time on a bridge: at about 3.3, 5.25 and 6.0 km, and by the hotel at the finish.
Easy to get wrongThe drop to the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, about 15% near the 1.1 km mark, is the steepest ground on the walk. The route crosses the B5343 at about 1.4 and 5.4 km, and follows it for about 0.5 km from about 6.0 km: OSM maps no pavement on that stretch. Where there is no pavement, keep to the right to face oncoming traffic, stay close to the side and be ready to walk in single file; before a sharp right-hand bend, cross to the other side and cross back after it. Wear something bright, or reflective in poor light (Highway Code rules 2 and 3). Stiles of a type OSM does not record are mapped at about 1.0, 5.65 and 5.9 km.
If you need to get offFollow the route's own line to the finish.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Make it easier or harder
Harder: The same start is the launch point for the classic higher rounds — the Langdale Pikes and Bowfell — if you want a full mountain day.
More about this walk
A rare low-level circuit in a valley famous for its high fells — all the Langdale scenery, almost none of the climbing. No summits are bagged here; the appeal is the setting, and the pub at either end.
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
Nearest fuel to this start: Hills Garage, Ambleside, 11.6 km by road (Mon 07:00-21:00; Tue 07:00-21:00; Wed 07:00-21:00; Thu 07:00-21:00; Fri 07:00-21:00; Sat 07:00-21:00; Sun 08:00-21:00 when checked on 8 August 2026; hours change, so check on the day). Nearest shop: Langdale Co-operative Society, 4.4 km. Both measured along the road from the parking we publish at Old Dungeon Ghyll, checked 8 August 2026. Coming in from a particular direction you may pass a closer one — the last petrol before each valley →
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 no real plan B by car here. Every place we know beside this route serves the same walks and sits close together, so expect them to fill on the same mornings. Worth starting early, or having a different walk in mind before you set off. The bus below is the exception: it is not limited by car-park space, though it runs to a timetable and can be full.
- Old Dungeon Ghyll (NT, paid) — at the start
- Great Langdale, valley road verge (free) — joins the loop at about km 6 of 6.6: a 180 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- New Dungeon Ghyll (LDNPA, paid) — joins the loop at about km 1.4 of 6.6: a 80 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- By bus: buses stop at Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, a 140 m walk from the start. A bus is not affected by a full car park. Its return times are under Buses.
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 Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, a 140 m walk from this start. Last bus: Monday to Thursday 21:10 towards Ambleside (516) and 20:10 towards Kendal (516); Friday 22:30 towards Kendal (516); Saturday 22:30 towards Kendal (516); Sunday 21:10 towards Ambleside (516) and 20:10 towards Kendal (516). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 23 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
The 516 passes this route at 1.4 km (New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, 10 m off the line). It passes again at 6.5 km.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Old Dungeon Ghyll car park (National Trust), about 20 m from the start: pay and display; free for National Trust members. 21 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (National Trust, the Langdales, checked 12 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 The Old Dungeon Ghyll’s Climbers Bar is mapped about 35 m from the start. Opening hours are not recorded here. 34 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Limitation Low-level but not always dry: the valley paths get boggy and can flood after heavy rain, and the becks rise quickly in spate. Take care at the crossings. (our route notes (this route's own warnings), checked 2 October 2026)
- Miles without Stiles Between the New Dungeon Ghyll and the footbridge over Great Langdale Beck, about km 1.4-3.5, this line follows the first section of the National Park's Miles without Stiles route 43, which the park rates 'for all'. (Lake District National Park, Miles without Stiles 43: New Dungeon Ghyll to Elterwater, checked 3 October 2026)
Everything mapped near the start
At Old Dungeon Ghyll (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:
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in new tab), ODbL.
Water, shelter & getting away
Treat water from the fell before you drink it. A mapped point is not proof the water is drinkable, so carry your own or use a supply you know is safe. Never drink untreated from a beck, stream or tarn — even clear-looking hill water can carry giardia or cryptosporidium from livestock upstream and leave you seriously ill. Use a treatment method suited to what might be in the water, and follow the device’s own instructions. Boiling and ordinary filters do not make water with dissolved metals or chemicals safe: where that is possible, choose another source.
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: 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 | 6.6 km | 106 m | 1:30–2:00 |
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 15%). 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 descent of about 10% around the 1.2 km mark.
- Stiles and gates: Stiles of unmapped type at 1.0, 5.6 and 5.9 km — a dog may need lifting over. (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. Graded from slope only (~15% max); treat exposure as unverified.
- Ways off early: No path off the line is recorded, but it passes a bus stop where you could end the walk: the 516 at New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, about 1.4 km. The buses section says which bus and when.
- 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: 21 gates · 4 kissing gates · 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 9 July 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Places to stay near this start
From Great Langdale: 3 places in Grasmere
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Stickle Tarn — 1.6 km from this start
- Walks from Blea Tarn (Langdale) — 1.8 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.