Whitbarrow Scar and Lord's Seat from Witherslack
Start Witherslack, Town End
Getting here Parking: Town End, south car park 2, 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 6C, 530 and X6 stop at Witherslack Longhowe End (near), a 410 m walk from this start. Parking & buses ↓
Hardest part Moderate distance: 11.06 km round. Moderate steepness: Steepest sustained descent about 19% around the 6.5 km mark. Moderate navigation: Care needed in cloud — 17 path junctions near the line. Moderate – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet
Before you choose
- About 3.7 km of the walk is on lanes, Heather's Lane and the lanes through Mill Side: about 2 km at the start and the same lanes again at the end. OpenStreetMap maps most of them with no pavement.
- About 6 km of the line, from the climb on to the top at about 2.3 km to the track at about 8.4 km, follows paths and tracks that OpenStreetMap does not record as public rights of way; parts of the climb are mapped as permissive paths. That is a map-data note, not a ruling on access: check the access land and rights of way maps before relying on this stretch.
Hazard & incident notes: Whitbarrow - Lord's Seat
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 Whitbarrow - Lord's Seat
Easy 96%Moderate 4%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
Witherslack, Town End → Whitbarrow - Lord's Seat (5.6 km, 236 m)
From the car park at Town End, Witherslack, walk north-east along Heather's Lane for about 0.85 km. A public bridleway carries on north to about 1.2 km. Lanes then lead through Mill Side, heading north-east. At about 2.05 km, by a guidepost, a public bridleway heads east and starts to climb. From about 2.3 km paths climb on to the top, which they reach at about 3.3 km; this is where all the climbing is. Along the top the path runs north-north-west, past cairns at about 3.7, 3.8 and 4.1 km, and over a step-over stile in a wall at about 4.5 km. It carries on to the cairn on Lord's Seat, Whitbarrow's top, at about 5.6 km.
WaypointsTown End car park, Heather's Lane, the public bridleway, Mill Side, the guidepost at about 2.05 km, the cairns on the top, the step-over stile at about 4.5 km, Lord's Seat (215 m).
Easy to get wrongThe top is a broad plateau with many paths mapped across it: the desk count for the whole line is 17 path junctions near it, so check each turn against the map in cloud.
If you need to get offThe way off is back the way you came, never more than about 5.6 km to the start.
Whitbarrow - Lord's Seat → Finish (5.4 km, 30 m)
From Lord's Seat, leave the top west-south-west on a path. The path bends round to head south, down through Whitbarrow Scar: a stile at about 6.4 km where the line crosses the line of the scar, and the steepest descent of the walk, about 19% sustained near 6.5 km. Over two more stiles and through gates at about 6.8 km, follow a track south-east, gently down. At about 8.4 km the track becomes a public bridleway, past the Hiker's Rest self-service café mapped beside it at about 8.5 km, to Beck Head. From there lanes lead back through Mill Side, over Mill Stream at about 9.3 km, to the public bridleway at about 9.9 km. Heather's Lane then leads south-west back to the start.
WaypointsLord's Seat, the stile in Whitbarrow Scar, the stiles and gates at about 6.8 km, the track, the public bridleway, Beck Head, Mill Side, Mill Stream, Heather's Lane, Town End car park (finish).
Decision pointSeveral paths leave the top; the line goes west-south-west off Lord's Seat and then south down through the scar.
If you need to get offFrom the top, the way off is either back the way you came, about 5.6 km to the start, or on along the line, down through the scar to the track at about 6.9 km.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Summits bagged (1)
- 1Whitbarrow - Lord's Seat216 m
More about this walk
The start is the car park at Town End, Witherslack, about 110 m from the Derby Arms. The first and last 2 km or so share the same lanes and bridleway, through Mill Side.
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 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.
- Town End car park — a 600 m walk to the start
- Whitbarrow, south-west (layby) — joins the loop at about km 6.8 of 11.1: a 340 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Mill Side (layby) 2 — joins the loop at about km 2.3 of 11.1: a 750 m walk to the line, climbing about 30 m, 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 6C, 530 and X6 stop at Witherslack Longhowe End (near), a 410 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 X6 passes this route at 0.3 km (Witherslack Longhowe End (near), 170 m off the line).
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival A car park at Town End, Witherslack, is at the start. 14 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap contributors, Cumbria extract of 24 July 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
- Refreshments The Derby Arms and Witherslack Community Shop are mapped about 110 m from the start; the Hiker's Rest self-service café is mapped beside the line at about 8.5 km. Opening hours are not recorded here. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 15 October 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
- Limitation Stiles at about 4.5, 6.4 and 6.8 km: not a pushchair route. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 15 October 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
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
Moderate overall — hardest: Length, steepness and navigation (our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet); terrain not assessed; exposure not assessed on the ground
Five independent axes, not one score. This route has not been walked yet, so none of them was set on the ground: one of the five is our judgement from the map and the route’s record, and the rest 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Whitbarrow - Lord's Seat | 5.6 km | 236 m | 1:31–2:01 |
| Finish | 11.1 km | 266 m | 2:39–3:32 |
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 ~24% descent over 250 m around the 6.4 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 19% around the 6.5 km mark.
- Stiles and gates: Stiles of unmapped type at 6.4 and 6.8 km — a dog may need lifting over. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 2026-10-15)
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Moderate. 1 mapped crag feature(s) near the line — check the airy sections.
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
- 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: 3 gates · 2 step-over stiles · 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 2026-10-15. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).