Walk The Old Man of Coniston and Swirl How from Walna Scar Road, Coniston
Lakeland's easiest 'big' mountain
This 8¼ mile, Grade 6 (Moderate), easy-to-follow, hand-crafted walk, complete with GPS Waypoints, starts at Coniston in the Lake District & will take you about 5¾ hrs to complete.
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Detailed walk route map PDF | |
Vital Statistics: | ||
| Walk No.: | c123 | |
| Length: | 8¼ miles (13km) | |
| Ascent: | 2778 ft (847m) | |
| Time: | 5¾ hours | |
| Grade: |  | |
| Walk Type: | High Mountains | |
| Gear Needed: | Full mountain gear including boots, warm layers, waterproofs, food & water, and good weather | |
Route outline for this walk:
Coniston - Walna Scar Road - Goat's Water - The Old Man of Coniston - Brim Fell - Levers Hawse - Swirl Band - Swirl How - Prison Band - Levers Water - Walna Scar Road - Coniston
Peaks, Summits and Tops reached on this walk:
 2 English Mountains |
 3 Wainwrights |
 3 English Nuttalls |
 0 English Deweys |
 0 Wainwright Outlying Fells |
 1 Marilyn |
 0 Bridgets |
Peak Bagging Statistics for this walk:
The highest point of this walk is The Old Man of Coniston at 802m (2633ft). The Old Man of Coniston is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (41st highest in England, 75th highest in England & Wales) and a Wainwright (No. 30).
The Old Man of Coniston is also known as an English Nuttall (48th highest in England, 90th highest in England & Wales) and an English Marilyn (14th highest in England, 387th highest in the UK).
The summit of The Old Man of Coniston is marked by an Ordnance Survey Trig Point.
Completing this walk will also take you to the top of Swirl How at 802m (2633ft). Swirl How is classified as an English Mountain (Hewitt) (40th highest in England, 74th highest in England & Wales) and a Wainwright (No. 32).
Swirl How is also known as an English Nuttall (47th highest in England, 89th highest in England & Wales).
You will also reach the summit of Brim Fell at 796m (2612ft). Brim Fell is classified as an Wainwright (No. 37).
Brim Fell is also known as an English Nuttall (52nd highest in England, 98th highest in England & Wales).
Be Adventure Smart
If walking in the Lake District (and anywhere else) please be adventure smart.
Ask yourself 5 questions before you set off:
- Am I confident I have the KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS for the day?
- Do I know what the WEATHER will be like?
- Do I have the right GEAR for the day?
- Do I have enough FOOD & DRINK for the day?
- Do I have all the ESSENTIAL ITEMS for the day?
Note that there is no mobile phone or WiFi coverage in many parts of the Lake District
A dedicated GPS Device can be a good navigational aid, but only if you know how to use it properly. See The Myths and Truths about GPS for Walking and Hiking
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 Maps (pink/magenta covers):
Some Photos and Pictures from Walk The Old Man of Coniston and Swirl How from Walna Scar Road, Coniston
In no particular order . . .
360 degree panorama featuring Great Gable, Green Gable, Little Scoat Fell & Pillar (distance), Brandreth, Dale Head (Newlands), High Spy, Glaramara, Esk Pike, Great End and Scafell Pike from Base Brown
. . . load all 90 pictures & photos from this walk
Send us your photographs and pictures from your walks and hikes
Send them in to us as email attachments (configured for any computer) along with your name/username and where the picture was taken to:
and we shall do our best to publish them.
(Guide Resolution = 300dpi. At least = 660 pixels (wide) x 440 pixels (high).)
You can also submit photos via our Facebook Page.
NB. Please indicate where each photo was taken so we can match it to a walk route.
