Red Screes from Kirkstone Pass
Start Kirkstone Pass (Red Pit car park)
Getting here Parking: Red Pit (LDNPA, free), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 508 stops at Kirkstone, outside Pass Inn, a 920 m walk from this start. Parking & buses ↓
Hardest part Severe steepness: Steepest sustained descent about 44% around the 3.3 km mark. Hands for a few steps: rocky steps on the path up the ridge the OS map names Kilnshaw Chimney (about km 1.5).
Before you choose
- Red Screes: The summit plateau drops away into steep, loose scree and crags on more than one side. A simple slip near the edge — especially in wind, cloud or with tired legs on descent — can turn into a long, uncontrolled fall over broken ground. Keep back from the rim and don't shortcut down the screes.
- From Middle Dodd the line descends a very steep ridge: about 44% sustained near 3.3 km, with a crag mapped within about 10 m of the line near 3.6 km.
- Kilnshaw Chimney (a harder gully beside the direct path): A steep, narrow gully of loose scree that collects water and stays muddy and slippery. Around two-thirds of the way up there is an awkward, near-vertical slippery rock step. Manageable for confident walkers in dry conditions but unpleasant and exposed when wet — not a good descent route.
Conditions on this route
We score every Lakeland Wainwright each morning on cloud, wind, rain and underfoot, and this route crosses 2 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 Red Screes2 Middle Dodd
Easy 46%Moderate 17%Hard 10%Severe 27%
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
Kirkstone Pass (Red Pit car park) → Red Screes (1.9 km, 394 m)
From Red Pit car park, follow a path south, on the west side of the A592, for about 0.85 km to the top of Kirkstone Pass, opposite the Kirkstone Pass Inn. There the line takes a public footpath and climbs north up the steep side of Red Screes. Scree and bare rock are mapped on both sides of the path from about 0.9 km almost to the top. At about 1.5 km the path climbs rocky steps where hands help, on the ridge the OS map names Kilnshaw Chimney. The climbers' gully of the same name, which UKClimbing lists as a Grade 2 scramble, is not this route: if the way ahead becomes a gully with a head-high rock wall, you have left the path. Between about 1.25 and 1.75 km the line climbs about 200 m. The top, at about 1.9 km, has a trig pillar and a shelter beside the path, with Red Screes Tarn about 20 m off the line.
WaypointsRed Pit car park, the top of Kirkstone Pass by the Kirkstone Pass Inn, the public footpath, the rocky steps on the ridge the OS map names Kilnshaw Chimney, the trig pillar and shelter on Red Screes.
Easy to get wrongThe climb is steep and rough from about 1.0 km to the top, among mapped scree and bare rock: about 200 m of height in half a kilometre. At about 1.5 km the path climbs rocky steps where hands help.
If you need to get offBelow the rocky steps, the way off is back the way you came: about 0.65 km down to the top of the pass and the road.
- 2
Red Screes → Middle Dodd (0.9 km, 19 m)
From the top, the line heads north-north-west and then north-north-east on a path along the ridge OpenStreetMap names Smallthwaite Band, with a crag mapped about 20 m from the line near 2.4 km. Middle Dodd's top, with a cairn beside the path, is at about 2.85 km.
WaypointsRed Screes, Smallthwaite Band, the cairn on Middle Dodd.
Middle Dodd → Finish (3.0 km, 189 m)
From Middle Dodd the line drops north-north-east down the ridge, losing about 400 m in about 1.2 km. It crosses a wall at about 3.5 km and passes within about 10 m of a mapped crag near 3.6 km. Near 4.0 km, at the foot of the ridge, it crosses the valley floor. A path then leads south up the valley, west of the A592, over a stile in a wall at about 4.6 km. Near 5.45 km it fords the Kirkstone Cove stream, where OpenStreetMap maps a ford, passes close to what OpenStreetMap records as the abandoned Kirkstone Pass Copper Mine, and crosses a wall by a stile and a gate at about 5.6 km for the last stretch south to Red Pit car park.
WaypointsMiddle Dodd, the wall at about 3.5 km, the valley floor near 4.0 km, the stile at about 4.6 km, the Kirkstone Cove ford, the stile and gate at about 5.6 km, Red Pit car park (finish).
Easy to get wrongThe descent off Middle Dodd is the steepest ground of the walk: about 44% sustained near 3.3 km, and about 48% over 250 m near 3.5 km on the knees measure.
If you need to get offOnce the line reaches the valley floor near 4.0 km, the A592 is within about 200 m of it all the way back to the car park.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Summits bagged (2)
- 1Red Screes779 m
- 2Middle Dodd654 m
In the order you walk them — the same numbers the elevation profile, the stage notes and the pacing table use.
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 Screes — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:15, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:00.
- Middle Dodd — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:30, about a quarter of an hour later. In late September, about 07:15. It waits longest in late March — about a quarter of 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.
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.
- St Raven's Edge (layby) — joins the loop at about km 0.9 of 5.8: a 880 m walk to the line, climbing about 80 m, and you walk the round from there
- A592 south of Windy Corner (car park) — joins the loop at about km 4 of 5.8: a 510 m walk to the line, climbing about 30 m, and you walk the round from there
- Middle Dodd, north-east car park (free) — joins the loop at about km 4.8 of 5.8: a 150 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 508 stops at Kirkstone, outside Pass Inn, a 920 m walk from this start. We haven’t published last buses, Sunday or winter service yet, so check the timetable before you rely on getting back.
The 508 passes this route at 0.9 km (Kirkstone, outside Pass Inn, 100 m off the line) and again at 4.1 km (Hartsop Windy Corner (near), 660 m off the line) — one bus, two stops, 3.2 km apart on the ground. We haven’t walked a shortened version, so the distance, grading and escape routes on this page describe the walk end to end.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival The bus stops by the Kirkstone Pass Inn are about 60 m from the line at about 0.85 km, at the top of the pass; the start, Red Pit car park, is about 0.85 km north of them. 857 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap contributors, Cumbria extract of 24 July 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
- Limitation Stiles at about 4.6 and 5.6 km, a ford near 5.45 km and steep, rough ground: not a pushchair route. (OpenStreetMap contributors, Cumbria extract of 24 July 2026, checked 15 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
Severe overall — hardest: Steepness; 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Red Screes | 1.9 km | 394 m | 1:02–1:23 |
| 2Middle Dodd | 2.8 km | 413 m | 1:15–1:40 |
| Finish | 5.8 km | 602 m | 2:10–2:53 |
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: A long, steep ~48% drop over 250 m around the 3.5 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 descent of about 44% around the 3.3 km mark.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Hard. 3 mapped crag feature(s) near the line — check the airy sections.
- Stiles and gates: Stiles of unmapped type at 4.6 and 5.6 km — a dog may need lifting over. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 2026-10-15)
- Rock and scrambling: Hands for a few steps: rocky steps on the path up the ridge the OS map names Kilnshaw Chimney (about km 1.5). Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
- 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: 2 gates · 2 stiles (type unmapped)
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 2026-10-15. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (local extract).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Kirkstone Pass — 0.7 km from this start
- Walks from Stock Ghyll Force — 4.8 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.
