Watendlath & the packhorse bridge
Start Borrowdale (B5289)
Getting here Parking: Surprise View (NT), 0.5 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 78 stops at Borrowdale, outside Lodore Hotel, a 50 m walk from this start. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Hard steepness: Steepest sustained descent about 27% around the 9.6 km mark.
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
Easy 96%Moderate 3%Hard 2%Severe
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
Borrowdale (B5289) → Finish (10.3 km, 298 m)
Start along the B5289 road on the eastern shore of Derwentwater in Borrowdale (near Ashness Gate / Lodore Landing). Pick up the trail climbing through Ashness Wood up to the iconic Ashness Bridge, a classic stone packhorse bridge with famous views across the lake toward Skiddaw. Continue ascending south along the narrow lane or adjacent woodland path to reach Surprise View, a cliff-top vantage point offering sweeping panoramas over Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite Lake. From Surprise View, follow the main gravel path heading south through the high valley bowl, keeping Watendlath Beck down to your left. The path gently rises alongside the stream to bring you into the secluded mountain hamlet of Watendlath. Cross the historic stone packhorse bridge by Watendlath Tarn. For the return journey, take the parallel woodland trail on the western side of the valley, winding north through High Low Wood and Lodore Woods. The trail descends past the head of Lodore Falls before looping down through the woods to rejoin the B5289 and the lakeshore path back to the start.
WaypointsB5289 start (Ashness Gate / Lodore Landing) Ashness Wood Ashness Bridge Surprise View Watendlath Beck valley trail Watendlath (Packhorse Bridge & Tarn) High Low Wood / Lodore Woods Lodore Falls viewpoint Return to B5289 finish.
Decision pointWatendlath Beck serves as a continuous, reliable handrail along the valley floor. The main bridleway between Ashness Bridge and Watendlath is wide and straightforward to follow.
Easy to get wrongA low-level walk overall, but the descent near the end is steep: about 33% at its steepest, around the 9.7 km mark. However, sections through Lodore Woods and along Watendlath Beck can become muddy, boggy, and slick with wet tree roots or mossy rocks after rain. Care is needed near the unfenced cliff edge at Surprise View and along the narrow road near Ashness Bridge when passing vehicles.
If you need to get offAt Ashness Bridge / Surprise View: If the weather turns or energy levels drop, simply retrace your steps down the lane or woodland path to the B5289. At Watendlath: Watendlath's single-track access road runs back down to Ashness Bridge and the B5289; it has traffic, so walk facing oncoming vehicles, and it has not been checked for this guide as a way back.
© Lee McCoy · 2 photographs
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Walked in part · km 0.0–1.8, km 7.1–7.5, km 9.4–10.3 from the map
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
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.
- Watendlath (NT, paid) — joins the loop at about km 6.8 of 10.3: a 100 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Walla Crag car park (free) — joins the loop at about km 2 of 10.3: a 20 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Surprise View (NT) — joins the loop at about km 3.5 of 10.3: a 40 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 Lodore Hotel, a 50 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 78 passes this route at 1.8 km (Ashness, opposite Derwentwater Youth Hostel, 10 m off the line). It passes again at 10.3 km.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival No car park is mapped at the start on the Borrowdale road. The National Trust’s Kettlewell car park, by the lake, is about 700 m away. Pay and display: £7 up to 2 hours, £8 up to 4 hours, £9.50 all day; free for National Trust members. 709 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (National Trust, car parks in Borrowdale and Derwent Water, checked 11 August 2026)
- Toilets Toilets are mapped about 45 m from the start. 43 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (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 A sustained descent of about 33% over 250 m near the 9.7 km mark, hard on tired knees. Not a pushchair route. (our steepness model, from the route's own track, checked 28 September 2026)
Everything mapped near the start
Mapped as nearby on OpenStreetMap, as of 13 September 2026, within 250 m of where this route starts (information boards within 150 m; benches and shelter within 50 m):
Distances are straight lines from where this route starts, not walking routes. Opening hours are as mapped and change; none of this is checked daily.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in new tab), ODbL.
Water, shelter & getting away
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
Hard overall — hardest: Steepness; terrain not assessed
Five independent axes, not one score. Two of the five were 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 0.0–1.8, km 7.1–7.5, km 9.4–10.3 are 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
| Summit | Cumulative | Ascent | Time (fast–steady) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | 10.3 km | 298 m | 2:34–3:25 |
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: No mapped stiles, but the ground underfoot has not been assessed; not a buggy line on what we know.
- Knees: A long, steep ~33% drop over 250 m around the 9.6 km mark — hard on the knees.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: drops and exposed ground. The steepest stretch is a sustained descent of about 27% around the 9.6 km mark.
- Drops and exposed ground: Moderate – graded by Lee on the ground, on the stretches he walked. Graded on the ground.
- 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 9 July 2026)
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
- Ways off early: No path off the line is recorded, but it passes a bus stop where you could end the walk: the 78 at Ashness, opposite Derwentwater Youth Hostel, about 1.8 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: 11 gates · 2 kissing gates
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 9 July 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
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 Borrowdale (opens in new tab) hostelabout 4.7 km
Worth knowing before you book
These places state on their own site that they do not take children.
We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from the route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Lodore Falls — 0.2 km from this start
- Walks from Grange-in-Borrowdale — 1.8 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.