Tarn Hows circuit
Photo: © Lee McCoy
Start Tarn Hows National Trust car park
Getting here Parking: Tarn Hows (NT, paid), 0.1 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 505 stops at Holling Brow (near); from there it is 1.4 km and 108 m of ascent to this start. And the same back: about 5.7 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
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
Tarn Hows
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
Tarn Hows National Trust car park → Finish (2.9 km, 61 m)
From the National Trust car park, follow the path north-east down to the tarn, then the public footpath round it: north-east at first, east round the far end, then south-west back along the other side. At about 2.6 km a path and then the lane lead west-south-west back to the car park.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Walked in part · km 0.3–1.2, km 1.4–1.9 from the map
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 no real plan B here. Every place we know beside this route serves the same walks and sits close together, so expect them to fill on the same mornings. Worth starting early, or having a different walk in mind before you set off.
- Tarn Hows (NT, paid) — at the start
- N.T. Disabled Parking (NT, paid) — joins the loop at about km 2.5 of 2.9: a 220 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 505 stops at Holling Brow (near). From there it is 1.4 km and 108 m of ascent to this start — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 5.7 km in all, with the walk. As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Coniston (505): Tuesday to Sunday 20:05. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival The National Trust car park, where the walk starts. Pay and display: £7 for 2 hours, £8.50 for 4 hours, £10 all day; free for National Trust members. (National Trust, Tarn Hows, checked 11 August 2026)
- Toilets Public toilets are mapped near the car park, marked wheelchair-accessible and free. 125 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Refreshments No café or kiosk is mapped near the start: bring what you need. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Limitation Not offered as a pushchair walk until two mapped stiles on the line are checked, at about 0.2 km and 1.3 km. (our Stile & Gate Census, from OpenStreetMap, checked 25 September 2026)
- Miles without Stiles The circuit of the tarn is a National Park Miles without Stiles route, rated 'for some': compacted stone, with some rougher and steeper stretches. This line follows it nearly all the way round. (Lake District National Park, Miles without Stiles: Tarn Hows, checked 3 October 2026)
Everything mapped near the start
At Tarn Hows (NT, paid), the closest parking we hold to where this route starts:
Distances are straight lines from the car park, not walking routes. Opening hours change; none of this is checked daily.
Mapped as nearby on OpenStreetMap too, as of 13 September 2026, within 250 m of the start and not already listed above:
Also mapped within reach: an information board.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in new tab), 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); exposure not assessed on the ground
Walked in part, on a Holme Fell and Black Fell day in June 2023: from the car park to the dam, the north tip of the tarn, and the east side back to the car park. The west side and the north end, and part of the north-east side, were not walked for this guide.
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 | 2.9 km | 61 m | 0:41–0:55 |
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: Suspended 25 Sep 2026: the Stile & Gate Census places a stile of unmapped type at about 0.2 km and a step-over stile at about 1.3 km on this line. They may sit beside the path rather than on it; until the line is checked on the ground, this is not offered as a pushchair route.
- Knees: No sustained steep descent in the track’s height model (steepest 250 m about 7%). 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 6% around the 1.6 km mark.
- Stiles and gates: A stile of unmapped type at 0.2 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: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Easy. Graded from slope only (~7% 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 · 1 step-over stile · 1 stile (type unmapped)
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 Tarn Hows: 6 places in Ambleside
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Tom Gill waterfalls (Glen Mary) — 0.5 km from this start
- Walks from Tarn Hows — 0.6 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.