Walking Ideas from Buttermere

Wonderful Lake District Views  

Walking up the fells around Buttermere is very special, the views can be extensive and glorious.  Buttermere village (and lake) can be reached from Keswick by the B5289 via Seatoller and the Honister Pass or there is a shorter route through Braithwaite on narrow roads (single track in parts). There is also a bus from Keswick bus station, the 77A, which will take about 55 minutes to The Fish Hotel in Buttermere.

View over Buttermere from the south

Once in Buttermere village, if you arrive by car, there is a National Trust car park which is free to NT members if you have your membership card but you do need to get a ticket and display it in the car.

There are a variety of walks from here.  Staying low, it is really pleasant just to walk around the lake, some of the vistas are delightful with the mountains reflected in the water. In fact there are two lakes, Buttermere and Crummock Water with the village of Buttermere located in between the two lakes. If you want to get up high there are walks to the south of Buttermere taking in the peaks of Dod, High Stile, Grey Crag, High Crag, Haystacks and Fleetwith Pike.  To the north of the lake, above Buttermere Fell you can walk up to Dale Head, Hindscarth and Robinson.

Buttermere shoreline

On this occasion we decided to take two cars, parking one in Buttermere and then parking the other at the Honister Slate Mine car park to enable us to start the walk up to Dale Head at a higher point. We spent a little bit of time admiring the work of the Artist in Residence, Terry Hawkins. His slate sculptures are amazing.

Terry Hawkins with one of his slate sculptures

Crossing the road from the Slate Mine we followed the footpath up to Dale Head (753m). The weather was cool and cloudy with quite a strong wind which blew the clouds around, opening up vistas to Scafell Pike occasionally when the clouds lifted.

Beams of sun through the clouds on the way to Dale Head

It is quite a walk up to Dale Head, but it really rewards the effort with the views from the top over two valleys.  You know when you get there because there is a huge cairn marking the top.

Large cairn at Dale Head

From Dale Head we took the path to the west in the direction of Buttermere and headed along Hindscarth Edge, the path bears right to Hindscarth (727m) if you want to bag another Wainwright.  We continued towards the next peak, Robinson (737m).

Buttermere to the left and the Newlands Valley to the right

Not far from Dale Head we came across an outcrop of rocks which gave shelter from the wind, it proved to be a great place for our lunch stop.

Sheltered spot for lunch with a view

Continuing on to Robinson, further views opened out and we got our feet a little wet walking over a squelching Buttermere Moss before our final hill, the delightfully named High Snockrigg with views down to Buttermere and Crummock Water. The sun was dipping below the peaks by the time we took our seats in the Fish Inn for some well earned refreshment.

Buttermere and Crummock Water panorama

If you follow in our footsteps I'd love to hear about your walk, leave a comment below.