Stock Ghyll Force from Ambleside
Photo: © Lee McCoy
Start Ambleside (Stock Ghyll Lane, behind the Salutation)
Getting here Parking: Ambleside, King Street (paid), 0.1 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 505, 516 and 555 stop at Ambleside, at Hayes Garden Centre, an 810 m walk and 43 m of ascent from this start. 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
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: Not a pushchair route.
- Knees: No sustained steep descent in the track’s height model (steepest 250 m about 14%). 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 12% around the 1.3 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 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: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Easy. Graded from slope only (~14% 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: 2 gates
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).
Route map
Stock Ghyll Force
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
Ambleside (Stock Ghyll Lane, behind the Salutation) → Finish (1.9 km, 89 m)
Start in Ambleside town centre on Stock Ghyll Lane, directly behind the Salutation Hotel. Follow the narrow tarmac lane gently uphill past cottage gardens to a red Victorian post box and the wooden sign marking the entrance to Stock Ghyll Woods. Enter through the kissing gate and take the woodland path upstream along Stock Ghyll beck, following the red-arrowed trail markers as it climbs gently through ancient trees by wooden and stone steps. At the upper gorge, cross the high footbridge to the railed viewing platforms overlooking the 70-foot cascade of Stock Ghyll Force. To complete the loop, continue on the marked path across the top of the woods, descending gently past the old revolving turnstile onto Stock Ghyll Lane for the easy stroll back into Ambleside.
WaypointsStock Ghyll Lane (behind the Salutation Hotel), Stock Ghyll Woods entrance gate & Victorian post box, Stock Ghyll Beck stream-side path, Stock Ghyll Force viewing platforms & high footbridge, old turnstile / woodland exit, return to Ambleside town centre.
Decision pointThe woodland trail is well waymarked with colour-coded wooden posts (follow the red trail markers for the waterfall loop). Stock Ghyll beck acts as a continuous handrail.
Easy to get wrongVery minor physical effort. The woodland paths and tree roots can be slick when wet, and there are several flights of uneven stone and wooden steps near the waterfall gorge. There are railings at the viewing points, but do not rely on railings at every drop into the ravine.
If you need to get offA short, self-contained 1.9 km loop next to Ambleside: you are never far from town. If needed, turn back at any point and follow the main path down to Stock Ghyll Lane.
© Lee McCoy
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Walked by Lee, April 2026
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
This walk starts in a town with 5 council car parks. They are within 1 km of the start in a straight line, not a walking distance. The places below overlap in our model, so expect them to fill on the same mornings; the town’s other car parks are more places to try. The bus below is not limited by car-park space at all, though it runs to a timetable and can be full.
- Ambleside, King Street (paid) — a 370 m walk to the start
- Ambleside, Lake Road (paid) — a 540 m walk to the start
- By bus: buses stop at Ambleside, at Hayes Garden Centre, an 810 m walk from the start. This walk starts and ends in Ambleside, so there is no bus to catch back to the start. For anyone staying elsewhere, the last bus out of Ambleside on a weekday: 22:43 towards Grasmere (555), 20:29 towards Keswick (555). A bus is not affected by a full car park, but check the timetable before you rely on it.
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 505, 516 and 555 stop at Ambleside, at Hayes Garden Centre, an 810 m walk and 43 m of ascent from this start. This walk starts and ends in Ambleside, so there is no bus to catch back to the start. For anyone staying elsewhere, the last bus out of Ambleside: the 555 towards Grasmere at 22:43 Monday to Saturday, 19:09 on Sunday; the 555 towards Keswick at 20:29 Monday to Saturday, 18:15 on Sunday. From Ambleside, at Hayes Garden Centre; 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 505 passes this route at 0.0 km (Ambleside bus interchange (Stand 1), 140 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 Ambleside’s King Street car park, about 130 m from the start: pay and display; on Wednesdays, market day, only its designated spaces from 06:00 to 16:00. 131 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (Westmorland and Furness Council, King Street car park, checked 11 August 2026)
- Toilets Toilets are mapped about 120 m from the start. 119 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Refreshments The walk starts in the middle of Ambleside: the Royal Oak is mapped about 10 m away, with dozens of cafés and restaurants within 250 m. 11 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 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):
Also mapped within reach: an information board.
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
Moderate overall — hardest: Navigation (estimated from the map, not checked on the ground); 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 | 1.9 km | 89 m | 0:32–0:42 |
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.
Places to stay near this start
From Ambleside or Grasmere: 11 places
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Ambleside — 0.1 km from this start
- Walks from Stock Ghyll Force — 0.7 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.