Walk c397 The Buttermere Fells from Buttermere
This 16 mile, Grade 9 (Very Hard), easy-to-follow, hand-crafted walk, complete with GPS Waypoints, starts at Buttermere & will take you about 12¼ hrs to complete.Detailed walk route map PDF | ||
Vital Statistics: | ||
| Length: | 16 miles (25.5km) | |
| Ascent: | 6285 ft (1915m) | |
| Time: | 12¼ hours | |
| Grade: | ![]() | |
| Walk Type: | High Mountains | |
| Start: | Cow Bridge Car Park* | |
| Grid Ref: | NY403134 | |
| Sat Nav: | N54.5122 W2.9241 | |
| What3words: | scarecrow.generals.fire | |
| Postcode: | CA11 0NS‡ | |
| Car Park Fee: | Pay and display. Free parking for National Trust members | |
| Car Park Size: | Small. Only room for 22 well-parked cars | |
| Location: | On the A592 between Hartsop and Patterdale | |
| Stiles: | None | |
| Dogs: | Permitted under close control | |
| Terrain: | Good paths in the valley, thin mountain paths higher up | |
| Gear Needed: | Full mountain gear including boots, warm layers, waterproofs, food & water, and good weather | |
Route outline for this walk:
Buttermere - Scale Force - Scale Beck - Blea Crag - Great Borne - Starling Dodd - Little Dodd (Ennerdale) - Ling Comb - Lingcomb Edge - Red Pike (Buttermere) - Dodd (Buttermere) - Red Pike (Buttermere) - High Stile - High Crag (Buttermere) - Gamlin End - Seat (Buttermere) - Scarth Gap - Hay Stacks (Haystacks) - Innominate Tarn - Blackbeck Tarn - Black Beck - Green Crag (Buttermere) - Warnscale Beck - Dubs Hut - Dubs Quarry - Fleetwith Pike - Honister Crag (Black Star) - Fleetwith Pike - Fleetwith Edge - Gatesgarth - Buttermere
Peaks, Summits and Tops reached on this walk:
![]() 6 English Mountains |
![]() 7 Wainwrights |
![]() 8 English Nuttalls |
![]() 3 English Deweys |
![]() 0 Wainwright Outlying Fells |
![]() 1 Marilyn |
![]() 1 Bridget |
Peak Bagging Statistics for this walk:
The highest point of this walk is High Stile at 807m (2646ft). High Stile is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (38th highest in England, 71st highest in England & Wales) and a Wainwright (No. 29).
High Stile is also known as an English Nuttall (45th highest in England, 86th highest in England & Wales) and an English Marilyn (13th highest in England, 378th highest in the UK).
Completing this walk will also take you to the top of Red Pike (Buttermere) at 755m (2478ft). Red Pike (Buttermere) is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (67th highest in England, 116th highest in England & Wales) and a Wainwright (No. 62).
Red Pike (Buttermere) is also known as an English Nuttall (83rd highest in England, 142nd highest in England & Wales).
You will also reach the summit of High Crag (Buttermere) at 744m (2442ft). High Crag (Buttermere) is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (72nd highest in England, 126th highest in England & Wales) and a Wainwright (No. 65).
High Crag (Buttermere) is also known as an English Nuttall (89th highest in England, 154th highest in England & Wales).
Along the way you will also bag and tick-off:
- Fleetwith Pike at 648m (2126ft). Fleetwith Pike is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (147th highest in England, 253rd highest in England & Wales), a Wainwright (No. 116) and an English Nuttall (195th highest in England, 337th highest in England & Wales).
- Dodd (Buttermere) at 641m (2104ft). Dodd (Buttermere) is known as an English Nuttall (198th highest in England, 346th highest in England & Wales).
- Honister Crag (Black Star) at 634m (2080ft). Honister Crag (Black Star) is known as an English Nuttall (210th highest in England, 361st highest in England & Wales).
- Starling Dodd at 633m (2077ft). Starling Dodd is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (158th highest in England, 270th highest in England & Wales), a Wainwright (No. 122) and an English Nuttall (213th highest in England, 365th highest in England & Wales).
- Great Borne at 616m (2021ft). Great Borne is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (172nd highest in England, 300th highest in England & Wales), a Wainwright (No. 127) and an English Nuttall (241st highest in England, 417th highest in England & Wales). The summit of Great Borne is marked by an Ordnance Survey Trig Point.
- Hay Stacks (Haystacks) at 597m (1959ft). Hay Stacks (Haystacks) is classified as a Wainwright (No. 131) and an English Dewey (13th highest in England, 29th highest in England & Wales)
- Little Dodd (Ennerdale) at 590m (1936ft). Little Dodd (Ennerdale) is known as an English Bridget. The summit of Little Dodd (Ennerdale) is marked by a cairn and a tangle of old fence posts..
- Seat (Buttermere) at 561m (1841ft). Seat (Buttermere) is classified as an English Dewey (53rd highest in England, 122nd highest in England & Wales).
- Green Crag (Buttermere) at 528m (1732ft). Green Crag (Buttermere) is classified as an English Dewey (117th highest in England, 274th highest in England & Wales).
You can find this walk and other nearby walks on these unique Interactive Walk Planning Maps:
(worth a look if you're new to go4awalk.com & have never seen one of these before.)
1:25,000 scale OS Explorer Map (orange/yellow covers):
1:50,000 scale OS Landranger Map (pink/magenta covers):
Some Photos and Pictures from Walk c397 The Buttermere Fells from Buttermere
In no particular order . . .

Matt and Bex on Hay Stacks (Haystacks) with Gamlin End,High Crag and Crummock Water in the background
. . . load all 210 pictures & photos from this walk
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