Red Pike by Scale Force
Start Buttermere village
Getting here Parking: Buttermere village (LDNPA, paid), 0.2 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 77 and 77A stop at Buttermere, outside Court Hotel, an 80 m walk from this start. The 77A runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. Parking & buses ↓
Hardest part Hard steepness: Steepest sustained climb about 33% around the 1.4 km mark. Hands for a few steps: the red scree up from Dodd to Red Pike (km 3.2–3.7).
Before you choose
- The climb is steep: about 33% sustained near 1.4 km, and about 38% over 250 m between Dodd and Red Pike, near 3.4 km. Just below the top of Red Pike, near 3.6 km, OpenStreetMap maps the edge of Chapel Crags about 4 m from the path.
- Near 6.15 km the line passes Scale Force, where OpenStreetMap maps crags about 13 to 18 m from the path; the descent there is about 32% over 250 m near 6.0 km.
- The line crosses the outflow of Bleaberry Tarn at a point OpenStreetMap maps as a ford, near 2.5 km.
- About 4 km of the line follows paths that OpenStreetMap does not record as public rights of way: short pieces around Dodd and the top of Red Pike (about 2.9 to 3.9 km), and about 3.2 km from about 4.5 km down past Scale Force and along to the bridleway at about 7.7 km. The rest is public bridleways and a public footpath. That is a map-data note, not a ruling on access: check the access land and rights of way maps before relying on this stretch.
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 Dodd (Buttermere)2 Red Pike (Buttermere)
Easy 43%Moderate 47%Hard 10%Severe
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
Buttermere village → Dodd (Buttermere) (3.2 km, 549 m)
From the start by the Bridge Hotel, the line goes south-south-west down the lane past the Fish Hotel and on along the public bridleway across the fields, crossing Buttermere Dubs and Sourmilk Gill near 0.8 to 0.9 km. The bridleway then climbs steeply south, about 33% sustained near 1.4 km. At about 1.5 km it turns west, and climbs on to Bleaberry Tarn, whose outflow it crosses at a mapped ford at about 2.5 km. From the tarn the line climbs on to the top of Dodd at about 3.15 km.
WaypointsThe Bridge Hotel, the Fish Hotel, Buttermere Dubs, Sourmilk Gill, the public bridleway, Bleaberry Tarn, Dodd (641 m).
Easy to get wrongThe climb from the lake is steep and rocky in places, on a bridleway OpenStreetMap maps with a rock surface. The ford at the outflow of Bleaberry Tarn at about 2.5 km.
If you need to get offBack the way you came, never more than about 3.2 km.
- 2
Dodd (Buttermere) → Red Pike (Buttermere) (0.5 km, 167 m)
From Dodd the line climbs south-west and then west-south-west, steeply, about 38% over 250 m near 3.4 km, to the top of Red Pike at about 3.7 km. Just below the top, near 3.6 km, the edge of Chapel Crags is mapped about 4 m from the path.
WaypointsDodd, the steep path up, the edge of Chapel Crags, Red Pike (755 m).
Easy to get wrongThe steepest climbing of the walk, with the crag edge close beside the path just below the top.
If you need to get offBack the way you came, past Bleaberry Tarn and down the public bridleway: about 3.2 km from the top of Red Pike, the shortest way down.
Red Pike (Buttermere) → Finish (5.6 km, 41 m)
From the top, the line goes west, down a path off the summit. It then goes north-west, down a public footpath and a path towards Scale Beck. From about 4.9 km it follows a path down beside Scale Beck, past Scale Force, a waterfall mapped about 25 m from the line near 6.15 km with crags about 13 to 18 m from the path, to a gate at about 6.2 km; the last of this descent runs north. There the line turns east-north-east along the foot of the fells. It goes on east-south-east, crossing Far Ruddy Beck and Near Ruddy Beck near 7.6 and 7.8 km, and joins a public bridleway at about 7.7 km. It crosses Buttermere Dubs again at about 8.3 km and follows a public bridleway east-north-east back to the village.
WaypointsRed Pike, the path down to the north-west, Scale Beck, Scale Force, the gate at about 6.2 km, Far Ruddy Beck and Near Ruddy Beck, Buttermere Dubs, Buttermere village (finish).
Decision pointSeveral paths leave the top; the line goes down towards Scale Force, not back down towards Dodd.
Easy to get wrongThe way down beside Scale Beck is steep, about 32% over 250 m near 6.0 km, with crags mapped beside the path at Scale Force.
If you need to get offFrom the top, back the way you came is the shortest way down, about 3.2 km; the line on is about 5.6 km.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Summits bagged (2)
- 1Dodd (Buttermere)641 m
- 2Red Pike (Buttermere)755 m
In the order you walk them — the same numbers the elevation profile, the stage notes and the pacing table use.
More about this walk
The start is in Buttermere village, by the Bridge Hotel, with bus stops, a café and toilets mapped within about 100 m.
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.
- Red Pike (Buttermere) — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:15, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:00. It waits longest in late December — about half 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.
Of the pay-and-display machine tickets sold at Buttermere from 17 August 2024 to 31 March 2026, 15% 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
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.
- High Snockrigg (verge) — a 280 m walk to the start
- Buttermere village (NT, paid) — a 380 m walk to the start
- Buttermere village, by the Bridge Hotel (roadside, free) — at the start
- By bus: buses stop at Buttermere, outside Court Hotel, an 80 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 77 and 77A stop at Buttermere, outside Court Hotel, an 80 m walk from this start. The 77A runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season. 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. Last bus: Monday to Friday 19:23 towards Cockermouth (77A) and 18:20 towards Keswick (77); Saturday 19:23 towards Cockermouth (77A) and 18:20 towards Keswick (77); Sunday 18:20 towards Keswick (77). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 September 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
The 77 passes this route at 0.1 km (Buttermere, outside Court Hotel, 20 m off the line).
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Bus stops by the Bridge Hotel and the Fish Hotel are about 30 m from the start. 28 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 17 October 2026, checked 17 October 2026)
- Toilets Paid toilets are mapped about 100 m from the start. 99 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 17 October 2026, checked 17 October 2026)
- Refreshments Croft House Farm Café is mapped about 20 m from the start, and the Buttermere Court Hotel and Syke Farm Tea Room within about 75 m. Opening hours are not recorded here. 21 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 17 October 2026, checked 17 October 2026)
- Limitation Steep, rocky paths and a ford: not a pushchair route. (OpenStreetMap contributors, Cumbria extract of 24 July 2026, checked 17 October 2026)
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: Steepness; terrain not assessed; exposure not assessed on the ground
Five independent axes, not one score. This route has not been walked yet, so none of them was set on the ground: one of the five is 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Dodd (Buttermere) | 3.2 km | 549 m | 1:33–2:03 |
| 2Red Pike (Buttermere) | 3.7 km | 715 m | 1:56–2:34 |
| Finish | 9.2 km | 756 m | 3:07–4:08 |
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: No mapped stiles, but the ground underfoot has not been assessed; not a buggy line on what we know.
- Knees: A long, steep ~32% drop over 250 m around the 6.0 km mark — hard on the knees.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: drops and exposed ground (estimated from the map). The steepest stretch is a sustained climb of about 33% around the 1.4 km mark.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Hard. 4 mapped crag feature(s) near the line — check the airy sections.
- Rock and scrambling: Hands for a few steps: the red scree up from Dodd to Red Pike (km 3.2–3.7). Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
- 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 2026-10-17)
- 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: 10 gates
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 2026-10-17. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Moss Force — 1.9 km from this start
- Walks from Scale Force — 2.4 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.
