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Written by · Route guide updated : ways off added · 171 of 214 Wainwrights with a Strava-matched summit

Moderate navigationLoopPlanned

Slater Bridge & Cathedral Cave

2.2 km
Distance
~½–1 h
Estimated time
~92 m
Ascent
A short loop from Little Langdale over the slate Slater Bridge and up to Cathedral Quarry, a disused slate quarry on National Trust land. The Trust warns of unprotected sheer drops, deep water and a chance of rockfall at the quarry, and asks visitors to bring a torch.

Start Three Shires Inn, Little Langdale

Getting here Parking: Colwith Bridge (layby), 1.5 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 516 stops at Elterwater, opposite The Britannia Inn; from there it is 2.2 km and 167 m of ascent to this start. And the same back: about 6.6 km in all, with the walk. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓

Hardest part Moderate navigation: No large featureless ground on the map; carry a map and compass for cloud. Moderate – estimated from the map, not checked on the ground

Before you choose

  • Cathedral Quarry is a disused slate quarry. The National Trust warns of unprotected sheer drops, deep water and a chance of rockfall. Going into the chamber is optional. This route does not go into any other workings. Follow any signs on site.
  • Bring a torch, as the National Trust asks, and boots with grippy soles: the Trust says the paths can be steep and slippery.
  • Keep dogs on a lead. The National Trust asks for this at all times, because the quarry is surrounded by farmland.
Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet. A route line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.
Download GPX →Planned route · not yet walked

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

OpenTopoMap
Elevation profile, shaded by steepness
Elevation profile Rises from about 103 m to 155 m over 2.2 km, with the summits marked in order. The area beneath is shaded by sustained steepness over a 500 m window, in the same four bands as the route’s steepness rating: Easy under 15%, Moderate 15 to 25%, Hard 25 to 35%, Severe above 35%. A diamond marks where the walk reaches Slater Bridge, Cathedral Quarry, described in the stage directions. 155 m 103 m 0 km 2.2 km

Slater Bridge Cathedral Quarry

Easy 100%ModerateHardSevere

155 m
High point
124 m
Start height

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. Three Shires Inn, Little Langdale → Finish (2.2 km, 92 m)

    Climb of about 92 m over 2.2 km (around 4% average).

    If you need to get off

    The map shows the line on the lane to about 0.55 km and back on it from about 1.9 km, with no shorter way to a road between them, so the way off is back or on, never more than about 0.7 km; not walked for this guide.

Download GPX

GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked

More about this walk

The Trust says there is no parking at the quarry itself; this walk starts beside the Three Shires Inn, whose car park is for its customers. Uneven, rocky ground in places.

Conditions and timing

Check live conditions in the “From the fells” panel, on MWIS and the Met Office mountain forecast before you set off.

Getting there and back

Parking

Colwith Bridge (layby) — 1.5 km from the start (straight line)
Beside the Little Langdale road, 80 m from Colwith Bridge. The 'Elterwater & Skelwith Force' route passes it; Colwith Force is 0.4 km on foot. Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Hodge Close (free) — 1.7 km from the start (straight line)
At Hodge Close Quarry, Little Langdale. The 'Holme Fell and Black Fell' route passes about 130 m away; the nearest route start is the Three Shires Inn, Little Langdale ('Slater Bridge & Cathedral Cave'), 2.3 km on foot. Free (OSM-tagged). Compacted surface (OSM-tagged). The National Trust lists it as a private car park (read 18 October 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
Lingmoor Fell car park (free) — 1.7 km from the start (straight line)
A car park on Side Gates Road, the Blea Tarn road, 0.9 km south-south-east of the Blea Tarn car park in a straight line, on the Little Langdale side. The 'Blea Tarn (Little Langdale)' route starts at that car park. Free (OSM-tagged). Compacted surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
2 more places to park near the start
High Oxen Fell Road, by the A593 (layby) — 1.7 km from the start (straight line)
Beside High Oxen Fell Road, about 40 m from the A593. The nearest route start is the Three Shires Inn, Little Langdale ('Slater Bridge & Cathedral Cave'), 1.9 km on foot; Colwith Force is 1.2 km. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Elterwater (NT, paid) — 1.8 km from the start (straight line)
For Lingmoor Fell, Silver How and lower Langdale. Fees: pay and display (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked August 2026). Free for NT members (checked August 2026).
Typically full before 11:00 on fine weekends, Apr-Oct — Lee McCoy, local observation, 9 August 2026.
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: Elterwater, Mill Row (verge) (0.3 km) a few spaces only; Elterwater, east (free) (0.4 km) a few spaces only; Elterwater Common (free) (0.5 km) a few spaces only; Silverthwaite (Lowther Estates, paid) (1.8 km, 69 m up)
Public toilets (~46 m straight line) Britannia Inn Eltermere Inn

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.

Buses

The 516 stops at Elterwater, opposite The Britannia Inn. From there it is 2.2 km and 167 m of ascent to this start — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 6.6 km in all, with the walk. We haven’t published last buses, Sunday or winter service yet, so check the timetable before you rely on getting back.

Stagecoach 516 “Langdale Rambler”
Ambleside – Skelwith Bridge – Elterwater – New Dungeon Ghyll – Old Dungeon Ghyll
Catch it from: Ambleside · Windermere (change at Ambleside)
The Langdale bus — Pikes, Bowfell, Crinkle Crags, Pike o' Blisco all walkable from the Dungeon Ghyll stops. Seasonal frequency varies; check before relying on the last bus back.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com or Traveline before travelling.

Toilets and refreshments

The essentials

  • Arrival The Three Shires Inn's car park, beside the start, is for the inn's customers. (Lee, 25 September 2026, checked 25 September 2026)
  • Toilets No toilets are mapped within 250 m of the start. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
  • Refreshments The Three Shires Inn is mapped beside the start. Its opening hours are not recorded. 26 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
  • Limitation Not a pushchair route. A stile at about 1.5 km, where a dog may need lifting over. (our Stile & Gate Census, from OpenStreetMap, checked 25 September 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):

Three Shires Inn

Also mapped within reach: 3 information boards.

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, ODbL.

No mapped drinking water or shelter on this route — that doesn’t mean there is none, and never drink untreated from a beck. (Facilities data © OpenStreetMap contributors.)

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

LengthEasy2.2 km — a short outing.
SteepnessEasySteepest sustained climb about 10% around the 0.7 km mark.
TerrainNot assessedThe map holds no grading for what is underfoot on this line, so we don’t guess. A rating appears once the ground is assessed.
NavigationModerateNo large featureless ground on the map; carry a map and compass for cloud. Moderate – estimated from the map, not checked on the ground
ExposureNot assessedNot assessed on the ground; the map suggests Easy. Graded from slope only (~17% max); treat exposure as unverified. Exposure (drops, scrambling, how bad a slip would be) needs the ground, so a map estimate is not given a grade here and does not count towards the overall grade.

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

SummitCumulativeAscentTime (fast–steady)
Finish2.2 km92 m0:36–0:47

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?

Dog
Mostly gates
Buggy
Not buggy-able
Knees
No steep descent mapped
  • Buggy: Not a pushchair route.
  • Knees: No sustained steep descent in the track’s height model (steepest 250 m about 17%). 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. The steepest stretch is a sustained climb of about 10% around the 0.7 km mark.

  • Stiles and gates: A stile of unmapped type at 1.5 km — a dog may need lifting over. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 9 July 2026)
  • Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
  • Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Easy. Graded from slope only (~17% max); treat exposure as unverified.
  • 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: 3 gates · 3 kissing gates · 1 step-over stile · 1 stile (type unmapped)

Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us. Barrier data as of 9 July 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).

Places to stay near this start

From Little Langdale: 2 places in Grasmere

Walks from places nearby

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.

Appears in these collections
Easy walks