Sam Hooke

Ambleside to Windermere

All trips at this location:

Distance17.4 km / 10.81 miles
Elevation gain684 m / 2244 ft
Duration7h
Moving4h

Ascent to Wansfell Pike §

We set off from our cottage in Blue Hill Road at 8:50am. The road quickly turns into an old track with stone walls on either side. While it was technically after sunrise, and Ambleside itself was in sunlight, the lofty heights of Wansfell Pike cast our hillside into shade. This provided quite a stark contrast between the bright scenery and the dark vicinity.

Looking up the hill with a glare of sun at the top.
As we began, the sun could only just be seen peeping over the hilltop.
A track with stone walls on either side.
The track, with walls on either side.
Two deer in the distance.
Some deer down in the fields.
Stone steps leading up the hillside.
The path up to the summit of Wansfell Pike. We saw these steps on Sunday when we were heading back from Stock Ghyll Force.

Leaving the track and going up the steps, progress becomes a little slower. The steps are well placed, and carry on all the way to the summit, but take a very direct route. The view only gets better as you ascend. Sunlight began to catch the tops of trees, but the sun itself was still well hidden.

A dark hillside with a bright tree.
Sunlight catching the tree amidst the darkness.
Dark surroundings with parts of Ambleside in the distance.
Looking back towards Ambleside.
Some distant hills.
Looking towards Snarker Pike, the more distant Red Screes, and Kirkstone Pass at the far right.
Stone steps going up the hill in dark.
Looking up at the stone steps, still in the dark.
Interesting patterns made from the distant stone walls.
Stone walls on the lower slopes of Snarker Pike.
Some distant hills.
A higher view looking towards Snarker Pike, Red Screes and Kirkstone Pass.
Zooming in on Kirkstone Pass, a high road going through a gap in the high hills.
A close look at Kirkstone Pass.
Looking down on the whole of Ambleside, with a church tower, scattered buildings and numerous trees down in the valley below.
A great view of Ambleside.

Summit of Wansfell Pike §

Near the summit there were a few switchbacks, and then suddenly we reached the top. It was apparent that the hill had been shielding us from the wind, as there was quite the breeze up there, so we put on another layer before taking in the view. There are several rocky patches, and it’s unclear exactly which one is the highest, but the one at the edge provides the best vantage point of Ambleside.

A patch of rocks at the edge of the hill.
Possibly(?) the summit of Wansfell Pike, or at least, one of the high points around. It provided a good view down onto Ambleside.
Looking down on Ambleside, again.
Another view looking down at Ambleside.
A distant view of Windermere, with blue sky overhead, but grey clouds in the distance.
For the first time we can see far to the south, and that’s clearly Windermere. It’s also clear, from the ominous clouds, that this sunshine is not going to last.
A distant building at the top of the pass.
Looking at Kirkstone Pass. At 1,500ft up, the distant building is The Kirkstone Pass Inn, the highest inn in Cumbria, and second highest in Britain.
A steep and winding road in the distance.
Zooming in on The Struggle, an aptly named steep and windy road that leads up to Kirkstone Pass.

Descent to Troutbeck §

From the summit of Wansfell Pike, we headed east towards Troutbeck, along a comparatively gentle stone path that gradually descends though wide open landscape with some boggy patches, though the path had enough stones to keep dry. Large swathes of the eastern flank of Wansfell Pike are covered with very young trees, presumably planted in recent years, so I expect this landscape will look very different in a decade or two. Leaving behind the young trees, the track turns left onto Nanny Lane, which is a well maintained track that follows a fairly straight path down the hillside, save for a couple of hard angles.

A view of distant hillside with tiny young trees.
Looking down across the eastern flank of Wansfell Pike, where many young trees have been planted.
A close view of young trees.
A closer view of the young trees.
A wet stone track with stone walls on either side.
The first view down Nanny Lane.
An orange and black butterfly.
A small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) butterfly on the verge of Nanny Lane.
Looking up at a figher jet.
We spotted this figher jet before it roared directly overhead, a second one in pursuit moments later.
Looking sideways at a fighter jet.
The second one took a different line, so we saw it from the side.

As Nanny Lane came to an end, we passed through Lane Foot Farm, then followed a mixture of tracks and footpaths through the bottom of the valley and past some sheep fields. For a few meters we had to walk on the verge of the A592, and then cut through the middle of Limefitt Holiday Park, before beginning the ascent on the other side.

Three sheep lying down.
Some sheep in Troutbeck.
Two sheep snuggled together.
Some sheep near Limefitt Holiday Park.

Ascent to Dubbs Road §

Ascending up to Dubbs Road, the path follows some wide zig-zags, going past many more sheep fields. There are grand views back across the valley towards Wansfell Pike.

Looking at a distant farm through some nearby bushes.
Peeping at Lane Foot Farm, which we passed right through on the descent earlier. The distant track rising up to the right is Nanny Lane.
A horned sheep.
A horned sheep.
A valley with a village and holiday park.
Looking across Troutbeck from Dubbs Road.

Dubbs Road §

Dubbs Road was flat and easy-going, aside from the numerous sizable puddles. Most we could avoid by just carefully walking around the edge, but just after Dubbs Reservoir was a huge puddle that spanned the entire road. A series of hay bales were placed to one side. It was unclear if these were placed intentionally to provided a walkway above the water level, but evidently others had already used them as such. Some of the hay was so waterlogged that it felt like a bog, but we were able to make it across without incident.

A puddle that almost spans the width of the gravel road.
One of many large puddles on Dubbs Road.
The side of the reservoir with the dam wall.
Dubbs Reservoir itself.
A submerged gravel road with a line of hay piles on the side.
Looking back at the flooded path after Dubbs Reservoir, which we crossed using the hay.

Orrest Head §

Shortly after passing Dubbs Reservoir, as predicated earlier, the sunshine vanished, soon followed by rain. The overcast weather stuck with us for the rest of the day, coming and going, but upon each return getting heavier. I did not take many more photos, in part because I was trying to keep the camera from getting too wet. The small spur on the map is from where we had to turn around because the footpath is closed to the public (and has been since 2007). We eventually reached Orreset Head, which has expansive views across Windermere that I failed to capture well.

Grey, overcast clouds with a lake in the distance.
Looking north-west across Windermere from the top of Orrest Head.

Ferry from Bowness to Ambleside §

Upon reaching Orrest Head we were back at civilisation. Despite the gloomy weather, many people had made the mile walk up from Windermere town. We followed the smooth gravel path that winds down towards town, then continued on along the main road to the waterfront at Bowness-on-Windermere. We arrived about ten minutes before the next ferry back to Ambleside, so hopped on board for the return journey.

A cormorant on the high branch of a small wooded island in grey, wet weather.
Hen Holme island, with a lone cormorant.
Looking out across the ferry seating onto the lake.
While the ferry was quite busy, others chose not to sit by the open windows because it was so wet.
Some blurry deer admist the drizzle.
Barely visible, a small herd of deer grazing on a field by the shore.
A wooded headland on the corner of Windermere.
The headland just south of Ambleside.

From Waterhead (the lakeside town that blends into Ambleside), we walked along the A591 into Ambleside and back up the hill to our cottage. The rain was in for the rest of the day, but we completed the loop, having made it most of the way there in good weather. The guidebook that inspired this hike did it the other way around (walking from Windermere to Ambleside), but we opted to begin at Ambleside, where our cottage was, to make the most of the good weather forecast for the morning.

In hindsight, I think doing the route from Ambleside to Windermere (as we did) is the better way around. You get the most challenging part out the way first (ascending Wansfell Pike), and then when you descend into Troutback and ascend again, it doesn’t feel like you’ve lost too much elevation. Though I’m sure it’s a very pleasant walk either way around.

All trips at this location: