WAGFINDER
Walk · Cumbria

Greendale Tarn and Middle Fell above Wast Water

Nether Wasdale
N 880 YD
3.5MILES
3hON FOOT
520mCLIMB
CircularSHAPE
Off-road 95% 5% shares tarmac with cars
Field & moor path 95%Road with traffic 5%

Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill. Off-lead information here is what walkers reported or what signage allows — never our advice. Whether and when a dog is off the lead is the owner’s decision and legal responsibility; keep dogs under control near livestock and follow signs on the day.

Starts at
Greendale Cottages, on the Nether Wasdale to Wasdale Head road, grid ref NY144056
Parking
Free grassy roadside verge at Greendale, room for about a dozen cars and full by mid-morning on summer weekends; the National Trust car parks at Nether Wasdale (donation box, no machine) and Overbeck
Directions to the start →

Three and a half miles from the roadside at Greendale Cottages, up the gill past a string of rock pools to Greendale Tarn and round over the 585-metre summit of Middle Fell. It is the quiet side of Wasdale: the Scafell crowds are all in the next valley, and from the top the whole length of Wast Water and the Screes is laid out below, with the Isle of Man visible on a clear evening. Greendale Tarn sits in a deep hollow and is a good place for a dog to cool off. The National Trust rates this a dog-friendly trail but asks for dogs under close control, and its Wasdale guidance asks for a short lead throughout the valley because there is sheep on the fell and in the intake fields.

THE SMALL PRINTNational Trust land: "Dogs welcome under close control", and the Wasdale dog guidance asks that dogs are kept on a short lead because there are livestock in the fields and on the fells and ground-nesting birds on the open ground. Herdwicks lamb here in April and May.

House rules, decoded

Livestock — leads on
REGION · CUMBRIA
GRID · 54.4386, -3.3213
SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.NATIONALTRUST.ORG.UK/VISIT/LAKE-DISTRICT/WASDALE/GREENDALE-AND-MIDDLE-FELL-WALK
Also in Nether Wasdale
WAGFINDER No photo yet
N 176 YD 1.7 MI · OUT & BACK
SOME LIMITS

Buckbarrow above Wast Water from Greendale

Nether Wasdale
No reviews yet
1.7MILES
1:50TIME
340mCLIMB
75%OFF-ROAD
Livestock — leads on

A short, sharp climb of about 340 metres from the Greendale roadside onto the rocky southern nose of Buckbarrow, the crag that everybody photographs from the Wast Water road without knowing its name. The path leaves the road near Gill Beck and goes almost straight up through bracken and broken rock bands to the 423-metre top, so it is steep rather than long and a fit dog will manage it easily while a short-legged one will not enjoy the rock steps. The reward is the whole of Wast Water, the Screes and the Scafells from a top most people drive past. It is grazed fell throughout, with Herdwicks on the lower bracken slopes all year.

VERIFIED 30 JUL 2026 VIEW WALK ›
WAGFINDER No photo yet
Stay SOME LIMITS

Church Stile Farm Holiday Park

CA20 1ET
No reviews yet

Seven acres of level camping ground in old Lakeland oak woodland at Nether Wasdale, looking across to the Wast Water Screes and about two miles from the foot of the lake. The site takes a maximum of two dogs per pitch at three pounds each and requires them to be kept on a lead on site. A strict quiet policy applies, with no noise between 11pm and 7am and no loud music at any time, so this is not the place for a dog that barks at every passing torch. The riverside walks along the Irt and the low-level path to the lake foot start from the village.

VERIFIED 30 JUL 2026 VIEW ›
WAGFINDER No photo yet
Pub NOT CHECKED YET

Screes Inn

CA20 1ET
No reviews yet

Screes Inn is a pub in Nether Wasdale. It is listed here so you know it is there, but we have not yet established whether dogs are welcome — so there is no verdict on this page and no stamp. If it is your business, claim the page and tell us, and we will stamp it.

NOT CHECKED YET · IS THIS YOURS? VIEW ›
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