Top o' Selside
Start Dodgson Wood car park
Getting here Parking: Dodgson Wood car park, Coniston Water east shore, 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Hard navigation: Care needed in cloud — ~22% featureless high ground, 12 path junctions near the line. Hard – 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
1 Top o' Selside (Wainwright summit)2 Arnsbarrow Hill3 Stang Hill (Arnsbarrow Hill South Top)
Easy 85%Moderate 15%HardSevere
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 → Top o' Selside (Wainwright summit) (2.6 km, 291 m)
Starting from the eastern shore of Coniston Water at the Dodgson Wood car park, this route begins with a steady, sustained climb away from the lake. The path ascends through ancient deciduous woodland and grazing enclosures before crossing the intake wall and breaking out onto the open fell. Once on the moorland, the terrain becomes a mix of rough grass, bracken, and heather. The 11% average gradient provides a solid, persistent workout, drawing you up to the modest, remarkably flat summit of Top o' Selside.
WaypointsConiston East Shore (approx. 40m): The valley-bottom starting point. Intake Wall / Forest Boundary: The transition line from enclosed woodland to the open, wild moorland. Top o' Selside Summit (332m): The Wainwright top, marked by a small cairn set in the grass, offering expansive views back over Coniston Water to the Old Man massif.
Decision pointConiston Water: The lake is an immense visual handrail. As long as it is directly behind you, you are moving in the correct easterly direction up the fellside. Drystone Walls: The field boundaries and intake walls on the lower slopes help funnel you onto the correct paths leading to the open fell.
Easy to get wrongSummer Bracken and Ticks: The lower slopes of this fell are infamous for waist-high bracken from June to September. Pushing through it is exhausting, and ticks live in bracken; long trousers and a tick check afterwards are sensible. Muddy Woodland Tracks: The lower paths through the woods are heavily used by forestry vehicles and can be deeply churned and waterlogged after rain.
If you need to get offSimply turn 180 degrees and trace your steps downhill. The descent will naturally funnel you back into the woodland paths and directly onto the east-shore road.
- 2
Top o' Selside (Wainwright summit) → Arnsbarrow Hill (1.3 km, 23 m)
Leaving Top o' Selside, the route heads east and then turns south across a wide, undulating plateau. This is classic "between the lakes" moorland—a rolling sea of heather, rough alpine grass, and peat hags, though OSM maps a public footpath and paths across it. There is virtually no elevation gain here (only 21m of ascent over 1.3km), but the ground is uneven and requires constant weaving around boggy depressions to reach the subsidiary bump of Arnsbarrow Hill.
WaypointsThe Moorland Plateau: The squelchy, undulating ground separating the summits. Arnsbarrow Tarn: A beautifully remote, dark pool of water sitting in a depression just east of the main path. Arnsbarrow Hill (322m): A minor, grassy prominence on the plateau, offering excellent views toward the Grizedale Forest to the east.
Decision pointArnsbarrow Tarn: If the mist is down, the tarn is a crucial geographical anchor. Keep it to your left (east) to ensure you are maintaining a southerly bearing toward Arnsbarrow Hill.
Easy to get wrongThe Bogs: This plateau acts as a sponge. Expect wet boots year-round. You will spend a lot of time detouring around deep, black peat hags and standing water. Clag Disorientation: In thick mist, this plateau is highly disorienting. There are no defining ridges, sheer crags, or obvious paths to follow, making it easy to wander off-bearing.
If you need to get offIf the bogs become too tedious, do not bail east into the massive, confusing expanse of the Grizedale Forest. No way off the plateau to the west has been checked for this guide; retrace the route to Top o' Selside and your ascent line.
- 3
Arnsbarrow Hill → Stang Hill (Arnsbarrow Hill South Top) (0.4 km, 10 m)
A very brief, almost entirely flat micro-navigation stage continuing south across the plateau. The terrain remains identical to the previous stage: a mix of tussocky grass, heather, and squelchy peat, taking you to the next minor prominence on the ridge line.
WaypointsStang Hill / Arnsbarrow South Top (316m): Another heavily vegetated, minor bump on the moorland that marks the beginning of your eventual descent.
Decision pointLine of Sight: In clear weather, you are simply walking from one grassy bump to the next one immediately to the south.
Easy to get wrongAnkle-Rolling Terrain: The heather here can be thick, masking deep holes, rocks, and sudden drops off the sides of peat hags. High-stepping and concentration are required despite the lack of gradient.
If you need to get offYou are now on the verge of the descent funnel. Keep to the route's descent down Bethecar Moor; no direct way west to the lake has been checked for this guide.
Stang Hill (Arnsbarrow Hill South Top) → Finish (4.4 km, 57 m)
From Stang Hill, the route descends south-south-west and then south-west across Bethecar Moor for about 0.75 km on a faint footpath, dropping to about 230 m where it fords Caws Beck. Here it turns north onto a second faint footpath, rising gently past High Light Haw (on your left) and fording Selside Beck and then Tarn Beck about 1.6 km into the stage. Keep north-north-west to meet the stony track you climbed on the way up, about 2.3 km into the stage, and from there retrace your outward route: north along the track, then west-south-west down the steep woodland path through Rigg Wood to the lake road at the Dodgson Wood car park. (Note: The 57 m of ascent on this stage is the gentle rise after the Caws Beck ford and the small undulations of the footpath and track.)
WaypointsBethecar Moor: The sprawling, descending southern flank of the fells. Caws Beck ford (about 230 m): The low point of the moor, where the route turns north. Selside Beck and Tarn Beck fords: Close together, about 1.6 km into the stage. The stony track: Your outward route, rejoined about 2.3 km into the stage. Rigg Wood: A stile and two footbridges on the path down through the woods. Dodgson Wood / Start Point: The finish line.
Decision pointThe Turn at Caws Beck: The route turns north at the Caws Beck ford, about 0.75 km from Stang Hill; the next landmarks are the Selside Beck and Tarn Beck fords. The Outward Track: Once you meet the stony track, you are on your outward route; follow it north, then take the woodland path west-south-west down to the car park, as you came up. Coniston Water lies ahead of you on this last descent.
Easy to get wrongFaint Footpaths: Both footpaths either side of the Caws Beck ford are very indistinct on the ground; the turn north at the ford is easy to miss in mist. Slippery Tracks: The stony track back north can be slick after rain, and is often heavily rutted by farm vehicles and mountain bikes. The Woodland Descent: The last 1.2 km drops about 170 m through the woods on the path you came up, with two stiles and two footbridges; it is steep and can be muddy after rain.
If you need to get offThis entire stage is an exit route. From the stony track, about 2.3 km into the stage, you are back on your outward route, and the way back is the way you came.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Summits bagged (3)
- 1Top o' Selside (Wainwright summit)332 m
- 2Arnsbarrow Hill322 m
- 3Stang Hill (Arnsbarrow Hill South Top)316 m
In the order you walk them — the same numbers the elevation profile, the stage notes and the pacing table use.
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
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.
- Dodgson Wood car park, Coniston Water east shore — at the start
- Rigg Wood Car Park — a 470 m walk to 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
No bus we hold serves this start. The nearest stop we hold is the 505 at Monk Coniston, at Hall, 6.4 km away on foot: a walk of its own, not a way to the start.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Dodgson Wood car park, on the east side of the Coniston Water road south of Brantwood, beside the start. No fee or capacity is recorded for it here. 19 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (our parking map, checked 2 August 2026)
- Toilets No toilets are mapped within 250 m of the start. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Refreshments No café or pub is mapped within 250 m of the start: bring what you need. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Limitation Short, at 8.7 km, but three tops in the woods that are rated hard to navigate: allow 2¼ to 3¼ hours. (our route notes (this route's own summary), checked 2 October 2026)
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
Hard overall — hardest: Navigation (estimated from the map, not checked on the ground); 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Top o' Selside (Wainwright summit) | 2.6 km | 291 m | 1:01–1:21 |
| 2Arnsbarrow Hill | 3.9 km | 314 m | 1:18–1:44 |
| 3Stang Hill (Arnsbarrow Hill South Top) | 4.3 km | 324 m | 1:24–1:52 |
| Finish | 8.7 km | 381 m | 2:23–3:10 |
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: Stiles or rough going on the route.
- Knees: A sustained ~19% descent over 250 m around the 7.6 km mark — a little jarring on tired knees.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: stiles and gates. The steepest stretch is a sustained descent of about 18% around the 7.8 km mark.
- Stiles and gates: Stiles of unmapped type at 0.2 and 0.8 km — a dog may need lifting over. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 26 July 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: 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: 2 stiles (type unmapped)
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 26 July 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Coniston — 4.8 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.