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8.82 km · ~77 m ascent · ~1.5–2.5 h · loop

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Moderate distanceLoopPlanned

Wastwater Shore (the Screes view)

8.82 km
Distance
~1.5–2.5 h
Typical time
~77 m
Ascent
Download GPX →Planned route · not yet walked

Key facts

Distance 8.82 km
Ascent ~77 m
Descent ~77 m
Time ~1.5–2.5 h
Type Loop
A level walk along the Wastwater shore for the view across to the Screes — 8.8 km with 77 m of climbing and no summits at all. Easy on every axis but length; about 1.9 hours.
✎️ Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet. A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.

🧭 The automated detail on this page — distance, climb, pacing and a first-pass difficulty read — is live. Hand-written field notes are being added.

Difficulty profile

LengthModerate8.82 km round.
SteepnessEasySteepest sustained pull about 5% around the 7.1 km mark.
TerrainModerateMostly good mountain path. desk assessment — not field-verified
NavigationModerateClear line, hard to stray. desk assessment — not field-verified
ExposureNot assessedExposure (drops, scrambling, how bad a slip would be) can’t be judged from gradient data alone, so we don’t guess. A rating appears once the route is editorially assessed or walked.

Five independent axes, not one score. “Desk” ratings come from maps and guidebooks, not yet walked — treat them as a guide, not a survey.

Daylight & turnaround

By bus: the Wasdale Explorer (opens in new tab) reaches Overbeck Bridge at 09:00 and the last one back leaves at 19:00. At a steady pace this walk finishes about 11:31. Runs weekends and bank holiday Mondays in summer only. Check the timetable before you rely on it.

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.

OpenTopoMap
Elevation profile, shaded by steepness
Elevation profile Rises from about 64 m to 84 m over 8.8 km, with the summits marked in order. The area beneath is shaded by sustained steepness over a 250 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%. 84 m 64 m 0 km 8.8 km

Easy 100%ModerateHardSevere

~77 m
Total ascent
84 m
High point
64 m
Start height

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right).

This walk covers about 8.82 km with around 77 m of ascent. The map above shows the line; the elevation profile and stage notes are below.

Access & barriers

Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route? A quick read from the gates and stiles mapped along the way.

Dog
Mostly gates
Buggy
Not buggy-able
Knees
Gentle descent
  • Dog: A stile of unmapped type — a dog may need lifting over.
  • Buggy: Stiles or rough going on the route.
  • Knees: No sustained steep descent — kind on the knees.

On the line: 1 stile (type unmapped)

These are mapped barriers, from OpenStreetMap — coverage in the Lakes is good but not guaranteed complete. Spotted a stile or gate we’ve missed? Tell us (opens in new tab) and we’ll fix it. Barrier data as of 2026-07-09. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).

Pacing

SummitCumulativeAscentTime (fast–steady)
Finish8.8 km77 m1:54–2:31

Naismith-based estimate — a fast/steady range. Your pace will vary. These use Naismith’s textbook constants (5 km/h, 600 m of ascent an hour). Measured against a pace fitted to 41 recorded Lakeland walks they run about 8% slow, and we have left them that way deliberately: a slow estimate strands nobody.

The walk, stage by stage

  1. Start → Finish (8.8 km, 77 m)

    Climb of about 77 m over 8.8 km (around 1% average).

Stage-by-stage field notes coming soon.

Getting there & parking

Nearest fuel to this start: Holmrook, A595, 14.5 km by road (06:00-20:00 daily). Nearest shop: Budgens, 13.1 km. Both measured along the road from the parking we publish at Wasdale Head, checked 8 August 2026. Coming in from a particular direction you may pass a closer one — the last petrol before each valley →

Overbeck Bridge, Wastwater (NT, paid) — 0.0 km from the start (straight line)
Small NT pay-and-display car park at the foot of Yewbarrow on the lakeshore road. Fees: £7 up to 2 hours; £8 up to 4 hours; £9.50 all day. Charges apply at all times (NT, checked Aug 2026). Free for NT members (checked Aug 2026). No overnight parking (National Trust, checked Aug 2026).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Car park for Middle Fell (paid) — 0.0 km from the start (straight line)
Approx 20 spaces. 1.7 km from Middle Fell. Added from the 5 Aug 2026 OSM candidate review.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Middle Fell, south-east (layby) — 0.8 km from the start (straight line)
Nearest fells: Middle Fell (1.2 km), Illgill Head (1.8 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Middle Fell car park — 1.6 km from the start (straight line)
Nearest fells: Middle Fell (1.4 km), Illgill Head (1.7 km), Buckbarrow (2.0 km). Fee not verified — check signage on arrival.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Lake Head, Wasdale (NT, paid) — 1.6 km from the start (straight line)
Walking base for Great Gable, Kirk Fell and Scafell Pike — the 'Great Gable & Kirk Fell' route starts 10 m away. Also serves 'Scafell Pike from Wasdale, by Lingmell Col'. National Trust's access statement records a pay-and-display machine here (National Trust, January 2024) but does not say which payment methods it takes; the same document notes mobile reception is poor across Wasdale, so carry coins as well as a card. Compacted surface (OSM-tagged). Toilets on site.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?

Positions are approximate. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.

Vehicles are left entirely at their owner’s risk. We list places people park; we cannot vouch for any of them. Judge it on the day: take valuables with you, leave nothing on show, and if a spot feels wrong when you get there, park somewhere else.

Every option near this start, on the parking map →

💧 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.)

Buses

We don’t know yet. Wasdale Explorer (seasonal) serves this area, but we don’t hold its stop positions, so we can’t measure the walk from it — and we won’t tell you to drive on the strength of a gap in our own data. Check the operator’s timetable.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.

If the parking is full

There is a fallback here, but it is a weak one. Some of the 3 below tend to fill for the same reasons at the same time. Treat the list as one-and-a-bit options rather than 3.

  • Car park for Middle Fell (paid)
  • Whin Rigg, north (layby)
  • Middle Fell, south (layby)

Worked out from the parking we hold within walking reach of this route and the other walks each place serves — two places that serve the same walks fill for the same reasons. We are not saying whether anywhere has spaces today, and we never will: this is what exists, not what is free.

Safety & conditions

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.

Make it easier or harder

Easier and harder options coming soon.

Download

Download GPX

GPX track for your GPS or phone.

Places to stay near this start

We have not verified an independent place near this start — these are the chains and charities that serve it.

YHA Wasdale Hall (opens in new tab) hostel

about 3.3 km from the start, in a straight line

Ranked above the nearer campsite on usefulness, per rule 2. For a party coming off Scafell Pike wet at 6pm this is the only bed within 3 miles of this start that its own page proves has a drying room, parking, a cot, a highchair, a served breakfast from 07:30 and evening meals until 20:00 - the campsite 1.7 km closer has none of drying, breakfast or any food service. Reception is open 17:00-22:00 so a late arrival is expected rather than a problem. Dogs are the one hard no for an ordinary booking.

Worth knowing: “Pets - including dogs - are not permitted in our hostels when staying in a dorm or a private room.”

The lounge fire surround was salvaged from York Minster. The hall was built in 1829 for Stansfield Rawson, a Yorkshire banker, was a lakeside summer home before the National Trust took it on, and only became a hostel in 1969 - it was called YHA Wastwater until 2015.

  • Drying room “Shared drying room”
  • Family rooms “What our private rooms offer Bed linen Central heating Cot available Heating Hot water Lock on doors”
  • Evening meal “Meals are also available from 17:00”
  • Packed lunch “With tasty breakfasts, packed lunches and evening meals, groups are sure to find something tasty to eat at YHA Wasdale Hall”
  • Parking “Parking: There is parking at the hostel.”
  • Children “Under 12s are not permitted in dorm rooms. Children under 3 can stay with us for free.”

What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. Distances are straight lines from the route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).