Buttermere Fells Circular Walk, Lake District Hike: Dodd, Red Pike, High Stile, High Crag, Haystacks

This stunning 9.5 mile circular walk, begins in Buttermere and takes in five (nope! Its actually four*) Wainwright fells (Dodd, Red Pike, High Stile, High Crag, & Haystacks) a tarn, some easy scrambling and of course, Buttermere lake.

There is lots of paid parking within the village but we managed to nab some free parking close to the crossroads, near to St James Church, this area fills up fast (CA13 9UZ).

We started on the east side of Buttermere walking through a working farmyard and joining up with the Shoreline Path, keeping Buttermere lake on our left as we walked towards the very pretty tumbling water of Sour Milk Gill. Once we reached the Gill the path leads directly uphill through some mixed woodland and up towards Bleaberry Tarn. Such a tranquil spot, we were compelled to sit here, drink tea and take in the atmosphere.

We soon started our ascent on a very obvious path up to Red Pike, named after the red rock that dominates its' geology. We decided to pop over to Dodd (641m), a very short distance from our planned path. The views from Dodd are truly beautiful, looking over the whole Buttermere valley.
On the way up to Red Pike (755m) there is some scree, not awful but its worth knowing. After a short corridor we soon reached the top. Lush, no other word for it, we could see all of Ennerdale, Crummock, Buttermere and even Scotland as the cloud lifted. We had tea here too 😀.

We then started out along the wide ridge heading South-east leading to our highest point of the day, High Stile (806m). Staying on the obvious ridge path still facing South-east we soon meet our next fell, High Crag (745m).

The drop down from High Crag changes from a normal fell descent into a very steep, very loose scree that needs careful footing. Eventually we dropped down to one last lump before another sharp path descending into Scarth Gap, the windy and slightly boggy gap that laid between us and Haystacks.

The hike up Haystacks, Wainwrights favourite fell, is a mix of steady ascent and simple scrambling, it is pretty easy to see the path as the fell is very poplar and the rocks are well worn from footfall. We found the stunning and poignant Innominate Tarn where Alfred Wainwright's ashes are scattered. After a quick pic on one of Haystacks peaks (597m) we made our way back to Scarth Gap, via the path we came up on.

Once we reached the gap we headed back down to Buttermere lake following the very distinct and poplar Scarth Gap Pass path. We passed some old copper mines and eventually met up with the Shoreline Path, which we followed back to the farm, Buttermere village and Spartycar!

A wonderful day and a cracking route we strongly recommend.

Thank you for being here, all the best, Ceri & Kat!

*Mistakes were made! Dodd is not a Wainwright, sorry about that. We popped up it last minute, however, it really is a lovely spot to look down on the Buttermere valley.

  / teainvalhalla  

  / teainvalhalla