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Written by · Walked in part, · Route guide updated : essentials added · 171 of 214 Wainwrights with a Strava-matched summit

Moderate distanceOut and backWalked in part

Keswick to Threlkeld Railway Trail, with a Pub

12.31 km
Distance
~2½–3½ h
Typical time
~98 m
Ascent
An out-and-back of about 12.3 km along the Keswick to Threlkeld Railway Trail, through the Bobbin Mill Tunnel and over viaducts, to Threlkeld, where the Horse & Farrier Inn and the Salutation Inn are mapped beside the line, then back along the trail. Most of it is a surfaced cycle path, with about 100 m of climbing.

Start Keswick

Getting here Parking: Keswick Old Station, leisure centre car park (paid), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 509, 555, X4 and X5 stop at Keswick, at Greta Bank, a 390 m walk from this start. Parking & buses ↓

Hardest part Moderate distance: 12.31 km round.

Getting back

This walk is out and back. For a shorter day you can walk one way and take the bus back:

  • One way, then the bus: the X4 (Monday to Saturday), the X5 (every day) and the 509 (every day) stop at Threlkeld, by Village Hall for Keswick, about 5.7 km along the line, with about 77 m of climbing to there. Those days are the timetable we hold, which runs to 20 January 2027 and has no bus on a few days over Christmas and New Year. The National Park says the X4 and X5 run regularly between Keswick and Threlkeld, so you can make this a one-way walk (Keswick Railway Path, read 4 October 2026). The timetables we hold are on the bus pages (509); check the last bus before you set off. The grading and timings on this page are for the whole walk out and back.

Timetables change; the operator’s page is the authority. Checked 4 October 2026.

Before you choose

  • The trail is closed at the Keswick end while a bridge is replaced. The National Park Authority has closed the trail across the bridge over the River Greta east of the old station. This route crosses it going out and coming back, at about 0.2 to 0.4 km and 11.9 to 12.1 km. The Authority’s notice says the closure began on 17 September 2026 for eight weeks; its page for the trail says the bridge is closed from 22 September, with the work expected to take up to eight weeks. While it is closed, the trail east of the bridge can be joined by a ramp from the footpath behind the filling station on Penrith Road. Check the notice before you travel (National Park Authority notice, checked 3 October 2026).
  • OpenStreetMap maps a flight of 22 steps beside the trail near the start, but the National Park grades the trail ‘for all’ from the car park opposite the old station, where this line starts, and Lee pushed a pushchair along this end in April 2025, before the bridge closure.
  • Through Threlkeld the line leaves the trail for village lanes and a short footpath.
  • The trail is shared with cyclists.
  • Check the pubs’ opening before relying on them.
Walked in part — Lee walked this ground in April 2025; km 3.8–8.6 of this line is from the map. A route line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.

GPX download suspended. The trail is closed at the bridge over the River Greta, near the Keswick start, while the bridge is replaced. The National Park Authority says it is a construction site and must not be crossed. The Authority's notice says the closure began on 17 September 2026 for eight weeks; its page for the trail says the bridge is closed from 22 September, with the work expected to take up to eight weeks. This route's line crosses that bridge going out and coming back, so there is no download and no line on the map until the bridge reopens. National Park Authority notice

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
Buggy: in part
Knees
No steep descent mapped
  • Buggy: A pushchair has been on km 0–3.8 and 8.6–12.3 of this line: Lee pushed one along the Keswick end of the trail in April 2025. The National Park grades the trail itself for all, but it is closed at the Keswick end while a bridge is replaced (see the warnings); the rest of the line, and the lanes and footpath through Threlkeld village where it turns, are from the map.
  • Knees: No sustained steep descent in the track’s height model (steepest 250 m about 5%). 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 5% around the 0.9 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 2026-10-03)
  • 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 509 at Threlkeld Horse & Farrier (near), about 6.1 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 2026-10-03. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).

Route map

GPX download suspended. The trail is closed at the bridge over the River Greta, near the Keswick start, while the bridge is replaced. The National Park Authority says it is a construction site and must not be crossed. The Authority's notice says the closure began on 17 September 2026 for eight weeks; its page for the trail says the bridge is closed from 22 September, with the work expected to take up to eight weeks. This route's line crosses that bridge going out and coming back, so there is no download and no line on the map until the bridge reopens. National Park Authority notice

OpenTopoMap
Elevation profile, shaded by steepness
Elevation profile Rises from about 92 m to 160 m over 12.3 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%. 160 m 92 m 0 km 12.3 km

Easy 100%ModerateHardSevere

160 m
High point
94 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).

No line is drawn on the map while this route’s GPX is suspended (the reason is above); the stage notes below describe the route.

The walk, stage by stage

  1. Keswick → Trail access by the filling station (0.5 km, 1 m)

    Undulating section of about 0.5 km.

    The trail is closed at the bridge over the River Greta, about 0.2 to 0.4 km from the start, while the bridge is replaced, and the National Park Authority says it must not be crossed (see the warnings). This stage's line crosses that bridge, so we give no directions for it while it is closed. Until it reopens, join the trail east of the bridge by the ramp from the footpath behind the filling station on Penrith Road. The Authority says that footpath is reached by the public footpath between Latrigg Close and St Herbert's Primary School on Trinity Way, off Windebrowe Road. OpenStreetMap maps the path from behind the filling station meeting the trail at about 0.45 km.

    Waypoints

    The closed bridge over the River Greta (do not cross), Penrith Road, the filling station, the access path and ramp, the trail.

  2. Trail access by the filling station → Threlkeld trail end (4.7 km, 67 m)

    Climb of about 67 m over 4.7 km (around 1% average).

    Follow the railway trail, a surfaced path shared with cyclists, east-north-east and then east for about 4.75 km. It goes through the Bobbin Mill Tunnel under the A66 at about 1.25 km, passes Low Briery at about 1.7 km, and crosses the River Greta several times on the old railway bridges, including Low Pearson's Bridge at about 2.6 km and Brundholme Bridge at about 3.3 km. Beyond a gate at about 4.8 km the railway trail ends, at about 4.9 km, and a cycle path carries on to a lane at about 5.2 km. Lee walked the Keswick end with a pushchair in April 2025; from about 3.8 km we have checked this stretch on the map, not on foot.

    Waypoints

    The trail, the Bobbin Mill Tunnel, Low Briery, the railway bridges over the River Greta, Low Pearson's Bridge, Brundholme Bridge, the gate, the Threlkeld end of the trail.

  3. Threlkeld trail end → Turning point by the Salutation Inn (1.0 km, 13 m)

    Undulating section of about 1.0 km.

    From the end of the cycle path, follow the lane north-east into Threlkeld, past the West End bus stop, to the war memorial at about 5.7 km, by the village hall and the Threlkeld Coffee Shop. Cross Blease Road and take the public footpath east, past Kilnhow Beck, to the lane by the Horse & Farrier Inn. The line turns back beside the Salutation Inn at about 6.15 km. Check the pubs' opening before relying on them. This stretch is from the map: we have not checked the village lanes and footpath for a pushchair.

    Waypoints

    The lane into Threlkeld, West End bus stop, the war memorial, the village hall, Blease Road, the public footpath, Kilnhow Beck, the Horse & Farrier Inn, the Salutation Inn.

    Easy to get wrong

    Through Threlkeld the line is on village lanes and a short footpath, outside the trail the National Park grades "for all".

    If you need to get off

    The National Park says X4/X5 buses run regularly between Keswick and Threlkeld, so the walk can be done one way. Bus stops are mapped in the village at West End, the war memorial and the Horse & Farrier. Check the operator's timetable for your date.

  4. Turning point by the Salutation Inn → Finish (6.2 km, 18 m)

    Descent of about 63 m over 6.2 km.

    Retrace the footpath and the lane back to the cycle path at about 7.1 km, then the railway trail back towards Keswick. This stretch is from the map to about 8.6 km. While the bridge is closed, leave the trail where you joined it, by the path to the filling station on Penrith Road at about 11.85 km: the line's last 0.45 km crosses the closed bridge.

    Waypoints

    The Horse & Farrier Inn, the war memorial, the end of the trail, Brundholme Bridge, Low Pearson's Bridge, Low Briery, the Bobbin Mill Tunnel, the access path by the filling station.

GPX download suspended. The trail is closed at the bridge over the River Greta, near the Keswick start, while the bridge is replaced. The National Park Authority says it is a construction site and must not be crossed. The Authority's notice says the closure began on 17 September 2026 for eight weeks; its page for the trail says the bridge is closed from 22 September, with the work expected to take up to eight weeks. This route's line crosses that bridge going out and coming back, so there is no download and no line on the map until the bridge reopens. National Park Authority notice

More about this walk

Drawn from the map. Lee has walked the Keswick end of the trail with a pushchair (April 2025), and the page names the stretch he has not. The trail is Miles without Stiles route 37, which the Lake District National Park grades ‘for all’ from the car park opposite the old station, where this line starts, to the Threlkeld end of the trail at about 4.9 km, though for now it is closed at the Keswick end while a bridge is replaced (see the warnings). Through Threlkeld the line leaves it for village lanes and a short footpath, which we have not checked for a pushchair.

Conditions and timing

Best season Year-round: a surfaced trail for most of its length.

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

Keswick Old Station, leisure centre car park (paid) — 0.0 km from the start (straight line)
One of the two Keswick Old Station car parks at the start of the Keswick to Threlkeld trail; they are run separately, so use the ticket machine for the part you park in (LDNPA directory, read 5 Oct 2026). The 'Keswick to Threlkeld Railway Trail, with a Pub' route starts 9 m away. Also serves 'Castlerigg Stone Circle (from Keswick)'. Paid parking (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Keswick Old Station, hotel car park (paid) — 0.1 km from the start (straight line)
One of the two Keswick Old Station car parks at the start of the Keswick to Threlkeld trail; they are run separately, so use the ticket machine for the part you park in (LDNPA directory, read 5 Oct 2026). The 'Keswick to Threlkeld Railway Trail, with a Pub' route starts 66 m away. Paid parking (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Keswick, Otley Road (paid) — 0.4 km from the start (straight line)
North side of the centre. Fees: up to 2h £3.80; up to 3h £6.50; up to 6h £9.00; up to 12h £11.40; coach £22.00; overnight (7pm-7am) £1.10. MiPermit location 712220. Worker permits £82/12mo, £41/6mo (Cumberland council, checked Aug 2026). Open Monday to Sunday (Cumberland council, checked Aug 2026). Pay and display (LDNPA, checked Aug 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
2 more places to park near the start
Latrigg (verge) — 0.2 km from the start (straight line)
1.1 km from Latrigg. Roadside; Lee has walked past them.
Directions Something changed here?
Rawnsley Centre car park, Keswick (paid) — 0.5 km from the start (straight line)
Keswick Ministries' car park at the Rawnsley Centre, off Main Street, on three levels (LDNPA directory and keswick.org, read 5 Oct 2026). The 'Friar's Crag & the Derwentwater shore' route starts 265 m away. Also serves 'Walla Crag and Bleaberry Fell from Keswick'. Paid parking (OSM-tagged).
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.

Every option near this start, on the parking map →

If the parking is full

If the first one is full, these overlap least in our model. The 3 below sit in different places or are different kinds of parking, so a busy morning at one does not mean a busy morning at all of them.

  • Threlkeld Cricket Club (car park) — joins the loop at about km 6.1 of 12.3: a 400 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
  • Keswick, Otley Road (paid) — a 560 m walk to the start
  • Latrigg (layby) — joins the loop at about km 8.9 of 12.3: a 510 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.

Buses

The 509, 555, X4 and X5 stop at Keswick, at Greta Bank, a 390 m walk from this start. This walk starts and ends in Keswick, so there is no bus to catch back to the start.

The 509 passes this route at 6.1 km (Threlkeld Horse & Farrier (near), 0 m off the line) and again at 12.0 km (Keswick, opposite Fire Station, 100 m off the line) — one bus, two stops, 5.3 km apart on the ground. We haven’t walked a shortened version, so the distance, grading and escape routes on this page describe the walk end to end. Seasonal: the 509 does not run from 2 November 2026 to 21 March 2027.

Stagecoach 509
Penrith ↔ Keswick around Ullswater — calls at Pooley Bridge, Watermillock, Glenridding, Patterdale, Hartsop, Dockray, Matterdale, Mungrisdale and Threlkeld
Catch it from: Penrith · Keswick
The Ullswater side of the Penrith–Keswick corridor, and a second option where we previously showed only the 508. Reaches Helvellyn and Catstye Cam from Glenridding, Place Fell and Angletarn Pikes from Patterdale, the Hartsop fells, and Gowbarrow from Dockray. Frequency and season for the whole service are not listed here; where a stop's times have been checked, they are given above with the date. Note the Troutbeck on this route is the one on the A66 near Penrith, not the Troutbeck near Windermere.

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

Toilets and refreshments

The essentials

  • Arrival The start is by the Keswick to Threlkeld Railway Trail information board, mapped beside the line. (OpenStreetMap contributors, Cumbria extract of 24 July 2026, checked 3 October 2026)
  • Toilets Toilets are mapped beside the line in Threlkeld, at about 5.8 km. (OpenStreetMap contributors, Cumbria extract of 24 July 2026, checked 3 October 2026)
  • Refreshments In Threlkeld the Horse & Farrier Inn and the Salutation Inn are mapped beside the line, and the Threlkeld Coffee Shop at the village hall. Opening hours are not recorded here. (OpenStreetMap contributors, Cumbria extract of 24 July 2026, checked 3 October 2026)
  • Limitation Village lanes and a short footpath through Threlkeld, mapped but not checked for a pushchair. (OpenStreetMap contributors, Cumbria extract of 24 July 2026, checked 3 October 2026)

Water, shelter & getting away

shelter (mapped, not checked; 3 m off the line) shelter (mapped, not checked; 5 m off the line) bus shelter (136 m off the line) toilets (19 m off the line) Leisure Centre (N bound) (61 m from the start, straight line) Leisure Centre (S bound) (70 m from the start, straight line) Fire Station (294 m from the start, straight line) Keswick YHA (301 m from the start, straight line) Denton House (383 m from the start, straight line)

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: Length; terrain not assessed; exposure not assessed on the ground

LengthModerate12.31 km round.
SteepnessEasySteepest sustained climb about 5% around the 0.9 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.
NavigationEasyA waymarked railway trail, nowhere higher than 160 m. Set by Lee, 3 Oct 2026. Easy – graded by Lee on the ground, on the stretches he walked
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. One of the five was set on the ground; the rest are computed from the recorded track and the map, which measures the line rather than surveying the ground. This line was walked in part, so a grade set on the ground covers the stretches Lee walked; km 3.8–8.6 is from the map.

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)
Finish12.3 km98 m2:38–3:30

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.

All routes →
Latrigg, Little Man, Sale & Cumbria Way Section
18.15 km · ~971 m · planned