Patterdale to Hartsop and Brothers Water
Start Patterdale
Getting here Parking: Patterdale Hotel Car Park (Patterdale Hotel, paid), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 508 and 509 stop at Patterdale Hotel (opp), a 60 m walk from this start. Parking & buses ↓
Hardest part Hard navigation: Care needed in cloud — 13 path junctions near the line. Hard – estimated from the map, not checked on the ground
Before you choose
- About 250 m on the A592 between Hartsop and Cow Bridge, where OpenStreetMap maps a pavement on one side.
- A step-over stile is mapped on the permissive path near Menneting Bridge, at about 9.2 km.
- OpenStreetMap marks a ford on the line at about 2.8 km.
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
Patterdale → Beckstones (1.9 km, 32 m)
We have written these directions from the map, not on foot. From the A592 by the Patterdale Hotel bus stop, take the public footpath to the A592 at about 0.45 km, and cross the road and Goldrill Bridge. Follow the lane north-east for about 0.3 km, then turn south-south-east on a public footpath along a service lane, past Rooking Gill, and on by permissive footways and a public footpath track past Crookabeck to Beckstones.
WaypointsThe Patterdale Hotel bus stop, the A592 crossing, Goldrill Bridge, the lane, Rooking Gill, Crookabeck, Beckstones.
If you need to get offThe map shows the line on the A592 crossing and the lane over Goldrill Bridge to about 0.8 km; beyond, on the service lane and the footpath track past Crookabeck to Beckstones, no mapped path reaches a road sooner, so the way off is back to that lane, never more than about 1.1 km; not walked for this guide.
Beckstones → Hartsop (2.3 km, 63 m)
Continue south-south-east on the track, a public bridleway from about 2.2 km, past the Menneting Bridge turning, across a ford OpenStreetMap marks at about 2.8 km and over Angletarn Beck at about 3.0 km. A public footpath then rises south, the longest climb of the walk, and runs south-south-east down to the lane at Hartsop at about 4.1 km. Turn along the lane into Hartsop.
WaypointsThe bridleway, the Menneting Bridge turning, the ford, Angletarn Beck, the public footpath, the lane at Hartsop.
Easy to get wrongOpenStreetMap maps a kissing gate at about 3.5 km and several gates on this stage.
If you need to get offThe map shows no way off the track and footpath between Beckstones and Hartsop shorter than back or on: back to the lane by Goldrill Bridge, or on to the lane at Hartsop at about 4.1 km; never more than about 1.7 km; not walked for this guide.
Hartsop → Cow Bridge (0.5 km, 1 m)
Follow the lane west-north-west down to the A592, then the road north-west for about 250 m to Cow Bridge. OpenStreetMap maps a pavement on one side of the road here.
WaypointsThe lane, the A592, the Cow Bridge bus stops, Cow Bridge.
Decision pointApart from crossing the A592 at Goldrill Bridge going out and coming back, this is the only stretch of the walk on a main road.
If you need to get offThe map shows the line on roads for the whole of this stage, the lane from Hartsop and the A592 to Cow Bridge, so the road is the way off; not walked for this guide.
Cow Bridge → Turning point south of Brothers Water (1.5 km, 20 m)
At Cow Bridge leave the road for the public footpath, a gravel track, and follow it south-south-west along the west shore of Brothers Water. This line turns back at about 6.3 km, where the public footpath track ends.
WaypointsCow Bridge, the shore track, Brothers Water, the turning point.
If you need to get offThe map shows the line leaving the road at Cow Bridge for the shore track; no mapped path from it reaches a road sooner than going back, so the way off is back along it to Cow Bridge, never more than about 1.3 km; not walked for this guide.
Turning point south of Brothers Water → Menneting Bridge (2.8 km, 24 m)
Walk back north-north-east along the shore track to Cow Bridge at about 7.8 km. There take the permissive path north, west of Goldrill Beck, to Menneting Bridge at about 9.2 km. OpenStreetMap maps this path as permissive: open by the landowner's leave, not a public right of way.
WaypointsThe shore track, Cow Bridge, the permissive path, Menneting Bridge.
Easy to get wrongA step-over stile is mapped on the permissive path near Menneting Bridge, at about 9.2 km.
If you need to get offThe map shows no shorter way off than back along the shore track to Cow Bridge, at about 7.8 km; on the permissive path north from Cow Bridge, the way off is back to Cow Bridge or on over Menneting Bridge to the lane by Goldrill Bridge; never more than about 1.4 km; not walked for this guide.
Menneting Bridge → Finish (2.3 km, 29 m)
Cross Menneting Bridge and turn north-north-west on the public bridleway and the public footpath track you walked out on, back past Crookabeck and Rooking Gill. Follow the lane back to Goldrill Bridge, cross the A592 and take the public footpath to the finish by the Patterdale Hotel bus stop.
WaypointsMenneting Bridge, the bridleway, Crookabeck, Rooking Gill, the lane, Goldrill Bridge, the Patterdale Hotel bus stop (finish).
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
More about this walk
A planned line, drawn from the map; not yet walked. Between Patterdale and Menneting Bridge, about 2.3 km, the line is walked out and back on the same tracks. The path north from Cow Bridge is mapped as permissive: open by the landowner’s leave, not a public right of way.
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.
Of the pay-and-display machine tickets sold at Glenridding from 17 August 2024 to 31 March 2026, 34% were bought before 10am (our count of FOI/2026.500 ticket data). Contains public sector information provided by the Lake District National Park Authority and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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.
- Hartsop village (donation) — joins the loop at about km 4.1 of 11.5: a 140 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Patterdale Hotel Car Park (Patterdale Hotel, paid) — at the start
- Bridgend, south (layby) — joins the loop at about km 8.7 of 11.5: a 430 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- By bus: buses stop at Patterdale Hotel (opp), a 60 m walk from the start. This walk starts and ends in Patterdale, so there is no bus to catch back to the start. For anyone staying elsewhere, the last bus out of Patterdale on a weekday: 19:46 towards Windermere (508), 15:09 towards Hartsop (509). A bus is not affected by a full car park, but check the timetable before you rely on it.
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 508 and 509 stop at Patterdale Hotel (opp), a 60 m walk from this start. This walk starts and ends in Patterdale, so there is no bus to catch back to the start. For anyone staying elsewhere, the last bus out of Patterdale: the 508 towards Windermere at 19:46 every day; the 509 towards Hartsop at 15:09 every day. From Patterdale Hotel (opp); checked against the operator's timetable, 7 September 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
The 508 passes this route at 0.0 km (Patterdale Hotel (opp), 30 m off the line). It passes again at 4.8 km and 8.6 km.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
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
Hard overall — hardest: Navigation (estimated from the map, not checked on the ground); terrain not assessed; 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 | 11.5 km | 169 m | 2:35–3:26 |
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: No sustained steep descent in the track’s height model (steepest 250 m about 11%). Steps, wet rock and the surface underfoot are not assessed; your own knees still matter.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: drops and exposed ground (estimated from the map). The steepest stretch is a sustained descent of about 8% around the 4.1 km mark.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Hard. 5 mapped crag feature(s) near the line — check the airy sections.
- Stiles and gates: A step-over stile at 9.2 km — a dog may need lifting over. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 2026-10-08)
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
- Ways off early: No path off the line is recorded, but it passes a bus stop where you could end the walk: the 508 at Hartsop, opposite Cow Bridge, about 4.8 km, on its summer timetable (to 1 November 2026); from 2 November the 508 is registered to run only between Penrith and Patterdale, so it will not stop here. 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: 11 gates · 1 kissing gate · 1 step-over stile
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 2026-10-08. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (local extract).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Patterdale — 0.1 km from this start
- Walks from Glenridding — 1.4 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.
