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Written by · Route guide updated : directions and summary changed · 170 of 214 Wainwrights with a Strava-matched summit

Hard navigationOut and backPlanned

The Borrowdale Hotel to Bowder Stone and Back

6.2 km
Distance
~160 m
Ascent
~1½–2 h
Estimated time
An out-and-back of about 6.2 km from the Borrowdale Hotel to the Bowder Stone, with about 160 m of up and down: about 600 m of the B5289 at each end, then a track and public bridleways with short stretches of footpath, and back the same way.

Start King's How (layby) (free)

Getting here Parking: King's How (layby), 0.7 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 78 stops at Borrowdale, outside Hotel, a 40 m walk from this start. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓

Hardest part Hard navigation: Care needed in cloud — 11 path junctions near the line. Hard – estimated from the map, not checked on the ground

Before you choose

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.

Access & barriers

Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route?

Dog
Gates only
Buggy
Not buggy-able
Knees
No steep descent mapped
  • Buggy: No mapped stiles, but the ground underfoot has not been assessed; not a buggy line on what we know.
  • 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 climb of about 11% around the 4.2 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 31 October 2026)
  • Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
  • Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Easy. No mapped crags on or beside the line.
  • Ways off early: No path off the line is recorded, but it passes a bus stop where you could end the walk: the 77 at Grange, at Bowder Stone, about 2.6 km. The buses section says which bus and when.
  • 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: 1 gate

Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us. Barrier data as of 31 October 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).

Route map

OpenTopoMap
Elevation profile, shaded by steepness
Elevation profile Rises from about 78 m to 157 m over 6.2 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%. 157 m 78 m 0 km 6.2 km Elevation profile Rises from about 78 m to 157 m over 6.2 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%. 157 m 78 m 0 km 6.2 km

Easy 100%ModerateHardSevere

157 m
High point
80 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. Start → Finish (6.2 km, 160 m)

    Climb of about 160 m over 6.2 km (around 3% average).

    From the Borrowdale Hotel the line heads south-west along the road, mapped as a secondary road, for about 600 m, then on a track and a public bridleway, and on bridleways and paths to the Bowder Stone near 3.1 km. It comes back the same way, to the road and the hotel.

    Waypoints

    The Borrowdale Hotel, the Bowder Stone.

    Decision point

    Walls beside the road at both ends.

    Easy to get wrong

    Nothing steeper than Easy on the whole route. The line is on the road for the first and last 600 m. One gate near 2.5 km.

    If you need to get off

    At any point, turn back the way you came, to the hotel.

Download GPX

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

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

King's How (layby) — 0.7 km from the start (straight line)
The 'Bowder Stone' route starts 896 m away. Free (OSM-tagged). Ground surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Grange village car park (by the chapel) — 1.1 km from the start (straight line)
In Grange, beside the Methodist chapel near Grange Bridge. The 'Bowder Stone' route starts 677 m away. Fee not verified — check signage on arrival.
Directions Something changed here?
Surprise View (NT) — 1.1 km from the start (straight line)
The National Trust's car park at Surprise View, on the road up to Watendlath. The 'Watendlath & the packhorse bridge' route and the 'Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, High Tove and Armboth Fell' route pass within 10 m; the nearest start on foot is Ashness Gate on the B5289, 1.5 km (the Walla Crag round), and the Watendlath walk starts on the B5289 by the Lodore Falls Hotel, 1.9 km. Fees: pay and display (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked August 2026). £7 up to 2 hours; £8 up to 4 hours; £9.50 all day. Free for NT members (checked August 2026). Charges apply at all times. Cash at machine; JustPark app at some car parks; card/phone payment not available in all car parks (NT, checked August 2026). JustPark location 80521 (National Trust, checked August 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
2 more places to park near the start
Kettlewell, Derwentwater (NT, paid) — 1.4 km from the start (straight line)
On the Borrowdale road by the lake, near Ashness Bridge. Fees: pay and display (LDNP directory, checked August 2026). £7 up to 2 hours; £8 up to 4 hours; £9.50 all day. Free for NT members (checked August 2026). Charges apply at all times. Cash at machine; JustPark app at some car parks; card/phone payment not available in all car parks (NT, checked August 2026). JustPark location 80520 (National Trust, checked August 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
Quay Foot Quarry, Borrowdale (NT, paid) — 1.6 km from the start (straight line)
Old quarry car park below the Bowder Stone and Castle Crag; the National Trust and the LDNPA directory call it the Bowder Stone car park (read 5 October 2026). Fees: £7 up to 2 hours; £8 up to 4 hours; £9.50 all day. Free for NT members (checked August 2026). Charges apply at all times. Cash at machine; JustPark app at some car parks; card/phone payment not available in all car parks (NT, checked August 2026).
Directions Something changed here?

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.

  • Quay Foot Quarry, Borrowdale (NT, paid) — joins the loop at about km 2.5 of 6.2: a 60 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
  • Grange village car park (by the chapel) — joins the loop at about km 4.2 of 6.2: a 530 m walk to the line, climbing about 50 m, and you walk the round from there
  • King's How (layby) — joins the loop at about km 0.6 of 6.2: a 180 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 78 stops at Borrowdale, outside Hotel, a 40 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 77 passes this route at 2.6 km (Grange, at Bowder Stone, 20 m off the line). Seasonal: the 77 does not run from 2 November 2026 to 21 March 2027.

Stagecoach 78 “Borrowdale Rambler”
Keswick – Lodore – Grange – Rosthwaite – Seatoller
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 or X4/X5)
Year-round, frequent in season. Serves all the Borrowdale starts — Glaramara, the Scafells and Great Gable via Seathwaite (alight Seatoller, about 2 km up the lane).

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

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

Hard overall — hardest: Navigation (estimated from the map, not checked on the ground); terrain not assessed; exposure not assessed on the ground

LengthEasy6.2 km — a short outing.
SteepnessEasySteepest sustained climb about 11% around the 4.2 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.
NavigationHardCare needed in cloud — 11 path junctions near the line. Hard – estimated from the map, not checked on the ground
ExposureNot assessedNot assessed on the ground; the map suggests Easy. No mapped crags on or beside the line. 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)
Finish6.2 km160 m1:30–2:00

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.

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.