Orrest Head walk - Orrest Head Wainwright

Route: Orrest Head

Area: Southern Lake District

Date of walk: 28th June 2026

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly

Distance: 3.1 miles

Ascent: 400 feet

Weather: Mostly sunny

We last visited Orrest Head 11 years ago, when we included a visit to Holehird Gardens in the circuit. The hill is famous for inspiring a young Alfred Wainwright to write his classic Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells which have in turn inspired thousands of people (including me) to explore the mountains of the Lake District. Visit the Lakeland Fells page for more information

We started today’s walk from the same place as Wainwright – Windermere railway station. He arrived by train from Blackburn, whilst we parked in the station car park (and endured a frustrating few minutes downloading a parking app. Be warned, you may prefer to start elsewhere, there are plenty of places to park in Windermere). After crossing the road we followed an obvious sign pointing out the route which Wainwright had taken in 1930. Since then, other paths have sprung up, including one which is wheelchair accessible. We made our way up to the summit, an easy affair, and from here there is a wonderful view over Windermere looking into the heart of lakeland. A slate diorama points out the numerous fells which may be seen. This was a perfect place for our picnic, following which we set off on the descent. There are various public footpaths leading through the beautiful rolling countryside and we enjoyed every minute of this section of the walk, during which we enjoyed more lovely views of Windermere

Eventually we arrived back on the outskirts of the town and followed a narrow path above the houses, which brought us to our original path. From here we retraced our steps back to the start of a superb circuit

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)

Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow

Earlier in the week, it was wonderful to see these young swallows waiting to be fed

The day before the walk, a spotted flycatcher, complete with fly...

...and its nest above our front door

Next day, we drove over to Windermere and parked in the station car park. In 1930 a 23 year old Alfred Wainwright disembarked here on his first visit to the Lake District from his home in Blackburn

From the station, Wainwright would have crossed the road and followed this path up to Orrest Head, as do we today, nearly 100 years later

There are various paths leading to the top, including one which is wheelchair accessible. All are waymarked and it would be hard to get lost

We follow the path gently uphill...

We take a rougher path here which offers a more direct approach

We continue uphill

We pass through this gate, with a memorial stone in remembrance to Arthur Henry Heywood, whose family dedicated Orrest Head to the use of the public for ever

A view of Windermere as we near the top

Looking into the heart of lakeland from the summit of Orrest Head, Alfred Wainwright's first view of the fells, and the one which transformed his life and the lives of tens of thousands of his readers...