The Royal Oak Pub Walk (Ambleside)
Start Ambleside
Getting here Parking: Ambleside, Rydal Road (paid), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 555 and 599 stop at Ambleside, at Vicarage Road, a 260 m walk from this start. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Before you choose
- The Rothay riverside paths flood after heavy rain and can be muddy underfoot.
- A few short stretches on lanes and roads through and around Ambleside — take care with traffic.
- Field and park gates along the way; keep dogs under control near livestock.
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 (5.9 km, 68 m)
From the Rydal Road car park, cross Stock Ghyll and follow Rydal Road, the A591, west-north-west for about 50 m to Stoney Lane. Stoney Lane and then a public footpath lead west-south-west to Miller Bridge over the River Rothay at about 0.65 km. Over the bridge, turn onto Under Loughrigg Road and follow this lane, a public bridleway, north-west for about 1 km, with the River Rothay on your right, past Fox How. The lane then bends north, over cattle grids, towards Pelter Bridge. At Pelter Bridge, about 2.6 km, the route stays on this side of the river. A lane climbs west-north-west past the Rydal Pelter Bridge car park, the steepest part of the walk at about 7% near the 2.7 km mark. At about 2.9 km a public footpath leads north-north-east through Steps End Wood to a footbridge over the River Rothay, and on to the A591 by the Badger Bar at about 3.1 km. Cross the A591 and follow the permissive path through Dora's Field to a lane at about 3.3 km. A permissive track leads east-north-east past the Formal Garden and over Rydal Beck by a bridge at about 3.5 km. A public footpath then continues east-south-east past a step-over stile at about 3.7 km. It becomes a track that runs south-south-east for about 1.2 km to the A591 at Scandale Bridge. Follow the pavement beside the A591 (Rydal Road) south-east for about 0.6 km into Ambleside. The route goes through the car park you started from, then along Rydal Road and Compston Road to the finish, about 100 m from the Royal Oak on Market Place.
WaypointsRydal Road car park, Stoney Lane, Miller Bridge over the River Rothay, Under Loughrigg Road, Fox How, Pelter Bridge, Rydal Pelter Bridge car park, Steps End Wood, the footbridge over the River Rothay, the A591 by the Badger Bar, Dora's Field, the bridge over Rydal Beck, the step-over stile, Scandale Bridge, Rydal Road, Compston Road (finish).
Decision pointFrom Miller Bridge to Pelter Bridge the River Rothay is on your right. The route crosses the river twice: by Miller Bridge at about 0.65 km and by a footbridge at about 3.05 km.
Easy to get wrongThe route crosses the A591 at about 3.1 km, by the Badger Bar, and follows it for about 0.6 km from Scandale Bridge into Ambleside; OSM maps a pavement for most of that stretch, but none over Scandale Bridge itself. 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). A step-over stile is mapped at about 3.7 km. The paths through Dora's Field and past the Formal Garden are permissive in OSM, not public rights of way.
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: Extend up onto Loughrigg Fell for a bigger view over the two lakes.
More about this walk
A low, gentle circuit rather than a summit day — the appeal is the river, the parkland and the town. Start and finish are both in central Ambleside (a couple of hundred metres apart), so it walks as a near-loop.
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.
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.
- Ambleside, Rydal Road (paid) — at the start
- Under Loughrigg Road (verge), Ambleside — joins the route at about km 0.6 of 5.9: a 50 m walk to the line; the route does not come back here
- Ambleside, Market Place (4 on-street bays) — joins the route at about km 5.8 of 5.9: a 140 m walk to the line; the route does not come back here
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 555 and 599 stop at Ambleside, at Vicarage Road, a 260 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 505 passes this route at 0.7 km (Clappersgate, outside Croft Lodge, 960 m off the line). It passes again at 5.9 km. Other services cross it too — 555 at 5.0 km.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Rydal Road car park, Ambleside, beside the start. Pay and display: 1 hour £2.60, 2 hours £4.40, 3 hours £5.80, 4 hours £7.40, 6 hours £8.80, all day £10.60; cash, card or contactless. Charges apply 08:00 to 20:00. 22 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (Westmorland and Furness Council, Rydal Road car park, checked 11 August 2026)
- Toilets Toilets are mapped about 40 m from the start. 39 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Refreshments The Flying Fleece (about 75 m) and the Ambleside Tap Yard (about 85 m) are the nearest mapped pubs, with cafés in the town within 250 m. Opening hours are not recorded here. 75 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Limitation The Rothay riverside paths flood after heavy rain and can be muddy, and a few short stretches are on lanes and roads: take care with traffic. (our route notes (this route's own warnings), checked 2 October 2026)
Everything mapped near the start
Mapped as nearby on OpenStreetMap, as of 13 September 2026, within 250 m of where this route starts (information boards within 150 m; benches and shelter within 50 m):
Distances are straight lines from where this route starts, not walking routes. Opening hours are as mapped and change; none of this is checked daily.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in new tab), ODbL.
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
Easy overall — hardest: Length, steepness, terrain (estimated from the map, not checked on the ground), navigation (our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet) and exposure (our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet)
Five independent axes, not one score. This route has not been walked yet, so none of them was set on the ground: two of the five are 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | 5.9 km | 68 m | 1:18–1:44 |
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 4%). 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.
- Stiles and gates: A step-over stile at 3.7 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: Easy – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet. Low riverside and parkland — no exposure.
- 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: 11 gates · 2 kissing gates · 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 9 July 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Places to stay near this start
From Ambleside or Grasmere: 11 places
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Ambleside — 0.2 km from this start
- Walks from Stock Ghyll Force — 0.9 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.
