Elterwater Lakes

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In contrast to the great lakes of the Lake District, here are three small lakes that lay south of Elterwater village.

Details

n°119515
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 8.51 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 55 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 158 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 160 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 174 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 58 m
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Description of the walk

From Ambleside, take the B5343 and park on the roadside before Elterwater village (S).

Go down a path through the meadows reaching Elterwater village (1). Take a wide alley used as a promenade leading to the lakes, and walk along the north banks. Keep walking on the promenade reaching the bridge (2) and cross the stream outflow (Brathay River).

Go through the forest and onto a side trail called Cumbria Way. Follow this path to the right, then leave it to the left when you reach the junction with a little paved road. Keep going straight on the road until you get to Stang End(3).

Take a 90° right-hand turn leading you to houses in Little Langdale. There's a short journey before getting to the trail (4) which heads north-east then north before reaching a larger track (5).

Take this large path to the right and walk in a slight downhill direction towards the first houses of Elterwater and then the road (6) which, going left takes you back to point (1) and on to the car park on the same path as when you started.

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 74 m - Roadside at Elterwater
  2. 1 : km 0.46 - alt. 63 m - Elterwater
  3. 2 : km 2.53 - alt. 70 m - Footbridge over River Brathay
  4. 3 : km 5.57 - alt. 128 m - Stang End
  5. 4 : km 6.12 - alt. 118 m - Langdale Trail
  6. 5 : km 6.83 - alt. 174 m - Track
  7. 6 : km 7.8 - alt. 77 m - Route Elterwater
  8. S/E : km 8.51 - alt. 73 m - Roadside at Elterwater

Notes

No water, no shelter

Worth a visit

The waterfall by the Brathey River bridge

Reviews and comments

4.6 / 5
Based on 5 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.6 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.6 / 5
Route interest
4.6 / 5
Claire.561
Claire.561

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 15, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

This walk was a lovely cir circular walk from Elterwater. It was easy to follow and the landscape was beautiful.

OLIVET
OLIVET

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 04, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Afternoon walk in good weather conditions... Nice, well-developed path, beautiful forest paths, pleasant edge of Elter Water lake and pretty waterfall at River Brathay... A little bit of tarmac at the end... Can be done with the family, no particular difficulty!
This was our first walk in the Lake District. We built up our strength over the next few days, especially as the weather was fine. We were staying at YHA Ambleside in Waterhead, near the pier on Lake Windermere. It was great to be able to go boating and hiking together!

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rosalynwalker2
rosalynwalker2

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Mar 04, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Very good walk around the lake, lots of local interesting views. Bonus was the pub in Elterwater

TAIVA
TAIVA

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 11, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

An easy walk that punches above it's weight. Lucky enough to walk after snowfall in January and with snow capped mountains surrounding us, it felt like an alpine experience.

trolltune
trolltune

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Apr 29, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

A pleasant Sunday walk. Begins very wide, busy and flat but changes to a more rural character after the Brathay bridge. The highlight of the walk is perhaps the view of High Force from below, reached by a short 20 metre diversion to the right while walking through the forest after crossing the road at Colwith. The Britannia Inn in Elterwater is en-route and offers a welcome near the end of the walk

virgule
virgule

To be continued, I dream of going back there one day

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