Route: Circuit of Buttermere
Area: Western Lake District
Date of walk: 7th February 2025
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 5.1 miles
Ascent: 400 feet
Weather: Cloudy at first, brightening up later
After a week’s walking on Madeira, it was good to be back on familiar territory with recent visits to Rannerdale Knotts and Walla Crag. Buttermere was another place which we’d missed. The classic walk around the lake appears over 30 times on this site and is one of the finest low level walks in the Lake District. The beauty and accessibility of the walk is both a virtue and a problem in that the path can be too busy at peak times and, if you prefer to walk in relative solitude, then it’s best to choose a quiet day and time
We parked as usual in the National Trust car park at Long How and walked through Buttermere village, passing by the Buttermere Court Hotel (formerly The Fish). We followed the path to the foot of the lake and as usual set off around Buttermere in an anti-clockwise direction in order to keep the best views ahead. After crossing the footbridge over Buttermere Dubs we followed the lakeshore path which leads to the head of Buttermere. The section near the head of the lake is perhaps the best of all, with views towards Fleetwith Pike and Haystacks, although the light was poor in that direction today
After crossing Peggy’s Bridge and passing by Gatesgarth Farm we started the return leg along the other shore, passing through the rock tunnel near Hassness along the way. We continued along the shoreline path and, where it forks off to the foot of the lake, carried on ahead. This brought us back into Buttermere village, to end another wonderful circuit of the lake
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)
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Having walked through Buttermere village, we follow the path across the head of the lake and turn left at Sourmilk Gill
We cross the footbridge over Buttermere Dubs
Looking back to Buttermere village
The path leads through Burtness Wood
We follow a narrow path around the shore (a wider alternative is to the right)
Looking back along Buttermere
We leave Burtness Wood via the gate ahead
Looking across to Hassness
Stone memorial bench below High Stile
Fleetwith Pike at the head of Buttermere
Warnscale Bottom and Warnscale Beck
Char Cottage, or the White Hut
We turn left at the dry stone wall ahead
Char Cottage again...
We follow the path across the head of Buttermere, leading to Gatesgarth Farm
Warnscale Beck from Peggy's Bridge
Fleetwith Pike
Mellbreak and Rannerdale Knotts
Looking back to High Crag and High Stile
We pass through Gatesgarth Farm
A short road section follows
Looking across to the High Stile Range - High Crag, High Stile and Red Pike
Beyond the road section we join the lakeshore path again
We walk round a promontory at Hassness
Stony beach at Hassness
One of the Scots pines on the shore. Some of its neighbours had been quite badly damaged in the recent storms
Mellbreak again beyond the foot of Buttermere
We walk through the tunnel, made by a former owner of Hassness Estate so that he didn’t need to stray too far from the shore. Torches aren't needed, but mind your head if you're very tall
A quick there and back diversion to the foot of Buttermere (it's possible to continue and rejoin the outward path)
Fleetwith Pike
We resume the circuit and turn left at the end of this path
Looking across to Buttermere village, and a glimpse of Crummock Water on the left
We pass by St James's Church Buttermere at the end of another wonderful visit to this place
