To Cockermouth for Wordsworth House

Buttermere Village

To Keswick viaNewlands Pass

Permissive path closed April-June for nesting Sandpipers

Tunnel

To Keswick via Honister Pass

Steep path to Scarth Gap and Haystacks

Steep path to Bleaberry Tarnand Red Pike

Sourmilk Gill

To Scale Force

Gatesgarth

National Trust Car Park

cbrf

Walk on road for 600m

Buttermere

We’ve removed Spruce and replanted with native saplingsin Burtness wood

More accessible for people with limited mobility

The lonely pines, the cloud-capped pikes. Buttermere is a place for reflection.

A walk around the lake is a walk around the still, silver heart of the northwestern fells. A good retreat when the gales are on the tops, and a photographer’s paradise on still days.

After the rain, Sourmilk Gill creams down in a breathless 300m white cascade from Bleaberry Tarn. The pink granite boulders at its foot are ripped down from the iron-ore rich flan s of Red Pike when it’s in spate.

At the eastern end of the lake, the distinctive black rocky humps that give Haystacks its name create an impressive amphitheatre. Wainwright’s ‘favourite fell’, it’s part of what makes the lakeshore walk so dramatic.

‘Lovely relaxing walk and saw a red squirrel too - a bonus!’

Jen and Bob, Newcastle

Already been round the lake? An alternative walk from the village is to Scale Force (Lakeland’s tallest waterfall at over 50m) which nestles deep in a rocky cleft above Crummock Water. Scale is also the site of one of three hamlets in the valley abandoned in the 14th century (Scale = sheiling or settlement).

Scale Force

Buy a day ticket and it is transferable to all three National Trust car parks in the Buttermere Valley (Honister Pass, Buttermere Village, and Lanthwaite Woods) or join us today and support our conservation work. We care for two of the farms in the hamlet, Buttermere lake, Crummock Water, Loweswater and roughly half the fells in the valley.

Stay nearby at Loweswater bothy - visit our website:

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/camping

Three Great Views– just one ticket

Sourmilk Gill and Haystacks

Sourmilk Gill

7km/4½ miles, allow 3hrs

buttermere.indd 2 11/06/2019

A lakeshore amble around Buttermere

Buttermerewww.nationaltrust.org.uk/buttermere

Staying Safe in the Mountains

Check the weather forecast, take a good map and a compass and know how to use them, bring spare clothing, a snack and a drink, and don’t rely on having mobile phone signal.

Be prepared

Look after the Lakes you loveRangers and volunteers care for 8,000 acres (1 acre = a football pitch) in the Buttermere valley alone. We care for nearly a quarter of the Lake District, looking after the places that you love.

Joining the National Trust today will directly support our work to look after the North Lakes landscape

Where next?

Wordsworth House and Garden where you can see, hear, touch and taste the 18th century.

© National Trust 2014The National Trust is a registered charity, no 205846Photography © National Trust ImagesDesign by chemicaldesign.co.uk

This leaflet is printed on recycled paper. Please recycle this leaflet after use.

If you require this information in alternative formats please contact us

Get the most from your walk

Sandpipers nest along the lakeshore, so to protect their vulnerable nests we close a short stretch of permissive path between April and June each year. You can still walk around the lake. If it’s bird-nesting time, planning your route in advance will help you avoid unnecessary diversions.

Did we mention there’s a tunnel? If you’re walking with children, we recommend doing the walk anticlockwise. That way you get den-building in the woods on the way out, and a short tunnel (cut through a crag by the Victorians) to keep them motivated on the way back.

Thirty minutes from Keswick on the Borrowdale Road (B5289) via Honister Pass. Thirty minutes from Cockermouth on the Lorton Road (B5292) Sat Nav: CA13 9UZ

How to get to Buttermere:

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When you join, donate, visit or volunteer, your support helps us to look after special places, for ever, for everyone.

@NTNorthLakes