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.

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
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