WAGFINDER
Walk · Cumbria

Seatoller, Styhead Tarn and Grains Gill

Borrowdale · CA12 5XN
N 1 MILE
7MILES
4h 30mON FOOT
700mCLIMB
CircularSHAPE
Off-road 85% 15% shares tarmac with cars
Field & moor path 65%Lane & track 20%Road with traffic 15%

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
Seatoller National Trust car park at the foot of Honister Pass, grid ref NY245137 CA12 5XN
Parking
National Trust pay-and-display at Seatoller, free to members, around 60 spaces with toilets; the verges at Seathwaite a mile further on are the usual alternative and are full and heavily ticketed by m
Directions to the start →

Seven miles from Seatoller into the roughest ground in the northern Lakes, up the old packhorse route to Styhead. The lane runs to Seathwaite Farm, through the farmyard gates and up the beck to Stockley Bridge, a Grade I listed packhorse bridge of 1540 partly rebuilt after the 1969 floods. From there the pitched path climbs Styhead Pass under Great Gable to Styhead Tarn and the mountain rescue stretcher box, then crosses to Sprinkling Tarn before dropping back down Ruddy Gill and Grains Gill. It is graded challenging, the rock steps are awkward for a short-legged dog and there is no shelter of any kind above Stockley Bridge.

THE SMALL PRINTThe National Trust trail notes say "Please keep dogs on a lead around all livestock and on farmland." The route passes straight through the working farmyard at Seathwaite and crosses Herdwick fell for its whole upper half.

House rules, decoded

Livestock — leads on
REGION · CUMBRIA
GRID · 54.5134, -3.1669
SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.NATIONALTRUST.ORG.UK/VISIT/LAKE-DISTRICT/BORROWDALE-AND-DERWENT-WATER/SEATOLLER-STYHEAD-TARN-AND-GRAINS-GILL-WALK
Also in Borrowdale
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880 YD © OpenStreetMap contributors 5.4 MI · LOOP
SOME LIMITS

Castle Crag and Millican Dalton's cave

Borrowdale
No reviews yet
5.4MILES
2:35TIME
230mCLIMB
92%OFF-ROAD
Livestock — leads on Water bowls

Five and a half miles and about two and a half hours for 230 metres of climb: the Allerdale Ramble along the Derwent from Seatoller, then the slate spoil zigzag onto Castle Crag, the smallest Wainwright and the best view in Borrowdale. Start at the National Trust Seatoller car park at the foot of Honister, paid, around 60 spaces, and usually the last car park in the valley to fill. The riverside section is enclosed and the Derwent has deep pools a dog can swim in, but the final 80 metres onto the crag climbs loose slate spoil that cuts pads and is genuinely steep, and the summit is a small rocky platform with drops on three sides - many people leave the dog with a companion at the col.

VERIFIED 29 JUL 2026 VIEW WALK ›
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Chapel Field

CA12 5XG
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Chapel Field is a place to stay in Borrowdale. 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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Stay NOT CHECKED YET

Gillercombe

No reviews yet

Gillercombe is a place to stay in Borrowdale. 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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Cottages you can book near Borrowdale

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