From Stonethwaite to Watendlath

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Our view

"From Stonethwaite to Rosthwaite through Herries country."

Walk directions

With your back to the parking area in Stonethwaite, turn right and walk down the track to Stonethwaite Bridge. Cross it, go through a gate and turn right onto the bridleway to Grasmere. Go through another gate and, after about 250yds (229m), look for a path off to the left, climbing to the left of a tiny sheepfold. This soon bends left to climb more steeply.

After crossing two stiles, continue steeply uphill on a paved path through oak woods. The path emerges from the trees still climbing. Cross a stile beside Willygrass Gill and follow the path to Dock Tarn.

Keep right at any forks to follow the path around the west side of the tarn. There are some rocky sections but the going isn’t difficult. If the lower path is flooded, higher paths to your left lead in the same direction.

At the north end of the tarn the broad path continues above boggy ground in the direction of a gap between two low crags. A view opens up ahead with Ether Knott then the Skiddaw beyond. Be careful not to be lured off course by a faint trail to the right here; keep to the stony path. Just past a small rock pinnacle on the left, Watendlath comes into view and the path descends a rocky staircase to a kissing gate.

Go through the gate, cross the beck and follow the stone path across the bog. Turn right at a grassy junction and descend to a sheep pen.

Continue downhill to go through a kissing gate. Walk beside the stream, cross it and then follow the line of the wall to join a farm track. As a track comes down from the left, keep right to go through a gate and cross the old packhorse bridge into Watendlath.

From Watendlath recross the bridge, turn left and, at the fork, bear right to follow the bridleway sign to Rosthwaite. Walk uphill on this well-used route, go through a kissing gate and head downhill, passing a gate on the right and going through another gate, lower down. At the next gate a sign indicates that the path continues to Stonethwaite.

Ignore the sign and instead turn right through the gate in the wall. Cross the surfaced driveway of Hazel Bank Hotel and continue on the public bridleway to Stonethwaite. About 0.8 miles (1.3km) beyond the hotel, turn right at a fingerpost to return to the start of the walk.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Bridleways, fairly good paths and some rough walking, 3 stiles

Landscape - Fells, forest, tarns and lakes

Dog friendliness - Sheep country so keep dogs under control

Parking - By telephone box in Stonethwaite. Alternative parking (with public toilets) at National Trust car park in Rosthwaite.

Toilets en route - Watendlath and Rosthwaite

Walks in Cumbria Dog-friendly walks in Cumbria

About the walk

One stormy night in 1739, Francis ‘Rogue’ Herries brought his family to live in the house his grandfather built in Borrowdale. His son, David, ‘woke again to see that all the horses were at a standstill and were gathered about a small stone bridge.’ The ‘hamlet clustered beyond the bridge’ was...

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Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Cumbria's rugged yet beautiful landscape is best known for the Lake District National Park that sits within its boundaries. It’s famous for Lake Windermere, England’s largest lake, and Derwent Water, ‘Queen of the English Lakes', but other lesser-known areas in the south, such as the Lune Valley and the coastal towns, are secret gems of wide cobbled streets and rolling hills.