The Greendale Horseshoe
Start Greendale
Getting here Parking: Greendale (layby), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Parking & buses ↓
Hardest part Severe steepness: Steepest sustained climb about 38% around the 3.6 km mark.
Before you choose
- Middle Fell: The Wastwater-facing side falls away in tiers of crag. Don't be tempted to drop straight off the ridge — descend by the established lines at the ends. In cloud keep to the ridge crest and well back from the eastern edge.
- Seatallan: The way up is not obvious from below and the path is faint and indistinct in places; the wide, flat summit gives little to navigate by. In cloud, take a compass bearing to find the top and to choose the right line down.
- OpenStreetMap marks a ford on the line at about 7.7 km, on the way down from Buckbarrow.
- OpenStreetMap maps crag edges within about 50 m of the line in several places: beside Middle Fell’s top (about 1.6–2.2 km), below Seatallan’s top (about 3.7 and 4.1 km), at Buckbarrow’s top (about 6.8 km) and on the way down to Greendale (about 7.8–8.1 km, the nearest about 10 m from the path).
Conditions on this route
We score every Lakeland Wainwright each morning on cloud, wind, rain and underfoot, and this route crosses 3 of them. The worst summit governs the verdict — a route is only as kind as its roughest top.
Modelled guidance — not a substitute for the mountain forecast or your own judgement. See how every fell ranks today →
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
1 Middle Fell2 Seatallan3 Glade How4 Buckbarrow
Easy 42%Moderate 31%Hard 26%Severe 2%
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
Greendale → Middle Fell (2.1 km, 510 m)
We have written these directions from the map, not on foot. From the road at Greendale, take the public footpath north up the grassy fellside, with Greendale Gill a short way to the west. At about 0.6 km the mapped public footpath gives way to a mountain path that OpenStreetMap does not record as a right of way: follow it north, then north-east and north-north-east up Middle Fell's south ridge to the summit at about 2.1 km. It is a steep start, about 510 m of climbing in 2.1 km.
WaypointsThe road at Greendale, the public footpath, Greendale Gill (to the west, low down), Middle Fell's summit (582 m).
Easy to get wrongOpenStreetMap maps crag edges close to the path near the top, the nearest about 20 m to the south-east of it at about 1.8 km.
- 2
Middle Fell → Seatallan (1.9 km, 262 m)
From the summit, follow the path north-north-west down the ridge and then north-west to the col between the two fells at about 3.1 km, passing well above Greendale Tarn, which lies about 240 m to the south-west at about 2.7 km. From the col the path climbs west-north-west up Seatallan's east side, the steepest climb of the walk (about 38% sustained near 3.6 km), to the top at about 4.0 km.
WaypointsMiddle Fell's summit, the ridge path, Greendale Tarn (below, to the south-west), the col, Seatallan's summit (693 m).
- 3
Seatallan → Glade How (2.4 km, 8 m)
From Seatallan's top, the path turns south-south-west down the broad south ridge, then south-west, to a cairn OpenStreetMap maps on the path at about 5.75 km. There the line bends left and runs south-south-east down to Glade How's top at about 6.4 km.
WaypointsSeatallan's summit, the south ridge, the mapped cairn at about 5.75 km, Glade How (440 m).
Decision pointThe line bends at the mapped cairn near 5.75 km, from heading south-west to heading south-east.
- 4
Glade How → Buckbarrow (0.4 km, 3 m)
Carry on south-south-east on the path to Buckbarrow's top at about 6.8 km.
WaypointsGlade How, Buckbarrow's summit (423 m).
Easy to get wrongOpenStreetMap maps crag edges close to the line round Buckbarrow, the nearest about 30 m from it at about 6.8 km.
Buckbarrow → Finish (1.8 km, 5 m)
From Buckbarrow's top the path heads east-north-east for about half a kilometre. At about 7.4 km it turns downhill and drops steeply south down the fellside, across a ford OpenStreetMap marks at about 7.7 km and past crag edges it maps beside the path, the nearest about 10 m away at about 8.0 km, and on south to a footway that crosses Greendale Gill near 8.4 km. The last 0.1 km is on the road back to the start. This is the steepest descent of the walk, about 36% sustained around 7.5 km.
WaypointsBuckbarrow's summit, the path down to Greendale, the ford, Greendale Gill, the road, Greendale (finish).
Decision pointMore than one mapped path leaves Buckbarrow's top. This line takes the one towards Greendale, the way the longer Middle Fell round comes down, which leaves the top east-north-east.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Summits bagged (4)
- 1Middle Fell582 m
- 2Seatallan693 m
- 3Glade How440 m
- 4Buckbarrow423 m
In the order you walk them — the same numbers the elevation profile, the stage notes and the pacing table use.
More about this walk
A planned line, drawn from the map; not yet walked. From Buckbarrow it comes down to Greendale by the same path as our longer Middle Fell, Haycock, Seatallan and Buckbarrow round.
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.
When the sun reaches the tops
Not sunrise — the moment the sun clears the skyline from that summit, which on a fell with high ground to its east can be a good deal later.
- Middle Fell — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:30, about a quarter of an hour later. In late September, about 07:15. It waits longest in late September — about a quarter of an hour after sunrise.
- Seatallan — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:30, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:15. It waits longest in midsummer — about a quarter of an hour after sunrise.
- Buckbarrow — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:45, about a quarter of an hour later. In late September, about 07:30. It waits longest in midsummer — about an hour after sunrise. In late December, not until about 08:45.
How to read these times
The two equinoxes are shown because they fall in the walking season, and late December too wherever a top keeps you waiting then; the clock gap between the equinoxes is British Summer Time, not the hill. Rounded to the nearest quarter hour and meant as a general idea, not a schedule.
Modelled from a 30 m elevation model against each summit’s own skyline — the same figures the fell pages carry, never observed. Cloud is not in it.
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.
- Greendale, Nether Wasdale (roadside, free) — at the start
- Greendale (layby) — at the start
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 Wasdale Explorer stopped at Greendale on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays from 2 May to 31 August 2026; it is not running now. Checked 8 Oct 2026 (Lake District National Park, Wasdale shuttlebus page).
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
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
Severe overall — hardest: Steepness; terrain not assessed; 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Middle Fell | 2.1 km | 510 m | 1:17–1:42 |
| 2Seatallan | 4.0 km | 772 m | 2:05–2:47 |
| 3Glade How | 6.4 km | 781 m | 2:35–3:27 |
| 4Buckbarrow | 6.8 km | 783 m | 2:40–3:33 |
| Finish | 8.6 km | 789 m | 3:02–4:02 |
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 buggy or dodgy knees manage this route?
- Buggy: No mapped stiles, but the ground underfoot has not been assessed; not a buggy line on what we know.
- Knees: A long, steep ~36% drop over 250 m around the 7.5 km mark — hard on the knees.
On the line: No barriers mapped on this line.
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 2026-10-08. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (local extract).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Wasdale — 4.3 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.