Home / Routes / Tarn Hows circuit

Tarn Hows ringed by pines, with the fells beyond

ModerateLoopPlanned

Tarn Hows circuit

2.92 km

Distance

~0.5–1 h

Typical time

~61 m

Ascent

Photo: © Lee McCoy

Download GPX →Maps & guidebooks

Key facts

Distance 2.92 km

Ascent ~61 m

Descent ~58 m

Time ~0.5–1 h

Difficulty Moderate overall — hardest: Terrain

Type Loop

Start Tarn Hows National Trust car park

A gentle, near-level circuit of one of the Lake District's prettiest tarns, ringed by pines with the Coniston and Langdale fells beyond. Easy underfoot and genuinely pushchair-friendly, with National Trust parking, toilets and a seasonal refreshment van.

✎️ Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet. A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass.

🧭 The automated detail on this page — distance, climb, pacing and a first-pass difficulty read — is live. Hand-written field notes are being added.

Difficulty profile

LengthEasy2.92 km — a short outing.

SteepnessEasySteepest sustained pull about 7% around the 1.6 km mark.

TerrainModerateMostly good mountain path. desk assessment — not field-verified

NavigationModerateClear line, hard to stray. desk assessment — not field-verified

ExposureNot assessedExposure (drops, scrambling, how bad a slip would be) can’t be judged from gradient data alone, so we don’t guess. A rating appears once the route is editorially assessed or walked.

Five independent axes, not one score. “Desk” ratings come from maps and guidebooks, not yet walked — treat them as a guide, not a survey.

Access & barriers

Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route? A quick read from the gates and stiles mapped along the way.

Dog

Mostly gates

Buggy

Buggy-friendly

Knees

Gentle descent

Dog: A stile of unmapped type — a dog may need lifting over.
Buggy: An off-road pushchair can do this.
Knees: No sustained steep descent — kind on the knees.

On the line: 3 gates · 1 step-over stile · 1 stile (type unmapped)

These are mapped barriers, from OpenStreetMap — coverage in the Lakes is good but not guaranteed complete. Spotted a stile or gate we’ve missed? Tell us (opens in new tab) and we’ll fix it. Barrier data as of 2026-07-09. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).

☀️ 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.

Why this matters: 78% of Mountain Rescue call-outs come after midday — the day runs out on the way home, not on the way up. See also walking in bad weather and today’s conditions.

OpenTopoMap

Elevation profile

~61 m

Total ascent

222 m

High point

209 m

Start height

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right).

This walk covers about 2.92 km with around 61 m of ascent. The map above shows the line; the elevation profile and stage notes are below.

Pacing

Summit	Cumulative	Ascent	Time (fast–steady)
Finish	2.9 km	61 m	0:41–0:55

Naismith-based estimate — a fast/steady range. Your pace will vary.

The walk, stage by stage

Tarn Hows National Trust car park → Finish (2.9 km, 61 m)

Climb of about 61 m over 2.9 km (around 2% average).

Stage-by-stage field notes coming soon.

Summits bagged (0)

🅿️ Getting there & parking

Tilberthwaite (free) — 2.4 km from the start (straight line)

Quarry car park for Wetherlam and the Tilberthwaite fells.

Directions

Coniston village (paid) — 3.1 km from the start (straight line)

Main village car parks — full Coniston round.

Directions

Positions are approximate. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.

💧 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.)