Buttermere walk - Buttermere circuit

Route: Circuit of Buttermere

Area: Western Lake District

Date of walk: 16th March 2018

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly

Distance: 5.1 miles

Ascent: 400 feet

Weather: Sunny spells at first, clouded over with light rain later

The so-called ‘Beast from the East’ had returned, bringing with it gale force winds. A fell walk would have been unpleasant, if not dangerous, so we decided to stay at low level. Buttermere would fit the bill perfectly, and although we’ve completed this circuit numerous times there’s so much beauty on offer that it would be impossible to tire of it

We parked as usual in the National Trust car park at Long How and walked through Buttermere village to the foot of the lake. As we’ve always done before, we set off round the lake in an anti-clockwise direction, which seems the natural way to go. The walk to the head of the lake was a joy every step of the way, with some exceptional light showing the landscape at its best

After crossing Peggy’s Bridge and passing by Gatesgarth Farm we started the return leg along the other shore. This coincided with a deterioration in the weather, as black clouds rolled in along with some light rain. We passed through the short tunnel near Hassness and followed the sometimes rocky path back into Buttermere village to complete a wonderful circuit

For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box

Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)