Walk · Cumbria

Watendlath and Ashness Bridge

Borrowdale

3.9MILES

1h 54mON FOOT

190mCLIMB

CircularSHAPE

The route A-road B-road Lane Track Path Water Woodland

Off-road 86% 14% shares tarmac with cars

Field & moor path 62%Lane & track 24%Road with traffic 14%

Our drawing of the route, over road and path data from OpenStreetMap. It shows where the walk goes and what it goes through. It is not a survey and 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

Ashness Bridge, on the Watendlath lane above the B5289

Parking

National Trust roadside parking at the bridge, about 12 spaces and taken by 9am; Great Wood car park on the B5289 is paid and much larger

Directions to the start →

Just under four miles and less than two hours, 190 metres of climb: the packhorse path from Ashness Bridge up to the hanging valley at Watendlath, then back down the beck past the waterfall to the Lodore shore. It starts at the tiny National Trust parking area at Ashness Bridge on the Watendlath lane, which holds barely a dozen cars - the alternative is Great Wood or the Keswick Launch to Ashness Gate and the walk up. Watendlath Tarn is a fine place for a dog to swim and the packhorse path is walled most of the way, but the hamlet is a working farm with sheep in every field, the Watendlath lane is single-track with passing places and no pavement, and the beck path has an unfenced drop by the falls.

THE SMALL PRINTLeads throughout - Watendlath is a working hill farm and the path goes through the yard. The single-track lane has no pavement and the beck path passes an unfenced drop above the falls.

House rules, decoded

Livestock — leads on

Water bowls

REGION · CUMBRIA

GRID · 54.5695, -3.1362

SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.KOMOOT.COM/GUIDE/200466/HIKING-AROUND-DERWENT-WATER

Watendlath and Ashness Bridge

House rules, decoded

Castle Crag and Millican Dalton's cave

Chapel Field

Gillercombe

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