Buttermere

Buttermere

Route: Circuit of Buttermere

Area: Western Lake District

Date of walk: 2nd March 2022

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly 

Distance: 5.1 miles

Ascent: 400 feet

Weather: A few sunny spells, fine drizzle and strong wind

The weather forecast was a poor one, but offered a glimmer of hope early in the morning before storms were due to sweep in from the south. There was no point planning a high level route in view of a very strong wind, so we decided to revisit what is possibly our favourite walk

The classic circuit  of Buttermere appears over 20 times on this site and is one of the best 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. Thanks to our early start, and the time of year, we only passed by a few other walkers during the course of two hours

We parked in our usual spot, the National Trust car park at Long How. We walked through Buttermere village and followed the path to the foot of the lake. I always walk around Buttermere in an anti-clockwise direction in order to keep the best views ahead. After crossing the footbridge over Buttermere Dubs we set off along the lakeshore path which leads to the head of Buttermere. Fine drizzle borne by a strong wind from the south made it difficult to take photos in our direction of travel, but there was ample compensation in the form of a rainbow as we looked back to the foot of the lake

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, we carried on ahead. This brought us back into Buttermere village to end another wonderful visit to this place

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)

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

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