Patterdale to Silver Point and Back
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 Moderate navigation: No large featureless ground on the map; carry a map and compass for cloud — 9 path junctions near the line. Moderate – estimated from the map, not checked on the ground
Before you choose
- OpenStreetMap marks a ford on the line at about 0.85 km, crossed going out and coming back.
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: No mapped stiles, but the ground underfoot has not been assessed; not a buggy line on what we know.
- Knees: No sustained steep descent in the track’s height model (steepest 250 m about 8%). 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 5.4 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 2026-10-08)
- 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: 5 gates
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).
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 → Goldrill Bridge (0.5 km, 10 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.
WaypointsThe Patterdale Hotel bus stop, the public footpath, the A592 crossing, Goldrill Bridge.
If you need to get offThe map shows the line leaving the A592 by the Patterdale Hotel bus stop for a public footpath and meeting the A592 again at about 0.45 km, by Goldrill Bridge; the way off is back or on to the A592, never more than about 0.25 km; not walked for this guide.
Goldrill Bridge → Silver Point (2.8 km, 61 m)
Over the bridge, take the public footpath north-north-east, across a ford OpenStreetMap marks at about 0.85 km, to the public bridleway at about 1.0 km. Follow the bridleway north-north-west and then north along the east side of Ullswater, a track to about 1.8 km, past the bench OpenStreetMap names Artists' Seat at about 2.0 km. At about 3.2 km a path leaves the bridleway and loops round Silver Point.
WaypointsGoldrill Bridge, the public footpath, the ford, the public bridleway, Artists' Seat, Silver Point.
If you need to get offThe map shows the line reaching a road only at Goldrill Bridge, at about 0.5 km, until it comes back there. Between, on the footpath and the bridleway to Silver Point, no usable way off is mapped: the ways up from them to the lane above pass mapped quarry. So the way off is the walk's own way back to Goldrill Bridge, never more than about 2.7 km; not walked for this guide.
Silver Point → Finish (3.3 km, 47 m)
The path round Silver Point rejoins the bridleway at about 3.3 km. Walk back south the way you came: the bridleway to about 5.5 km, then the public footpath south-south-west across the ford to Goldrill Bridge, and the public footpath west to the finish by the Patterdale Hotel bus stop.
WaypointsThe bridleway, the public footpath, the ford, 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. The turn at Silver Point is a short loop on a path round the point, off the bridleway.
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.
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).
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
Moderate 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 | 6.5 km | 118 m | 1:30–1:59 |
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.
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.
