🥾 Walking route
Ambleside to Troutbeck Walk, Windermere
Cumbria
- 📏 8.6 km · 5.4 mi
- ⛰ +606 m
- ⏱ 3 hr
- 🐕 On lead
Walk stats
- Distance8.6 km · 5.4 mi
- Elevation+606 m
- Duration3 hr
- DifficultyChallenging
- Route typeLinear
- TerrainSteep fell paths, woodland tracks and country lanes
- Best seasonLate spring to early autumn
- DogsDog friendly, keep on lead near livestock
About this walk
This challenging linear route climbs out of Ambleside and into the fells above Windermere, taking in one of the Lake District's finest short summits. From the town centre near the Market Cross and The Sportsman's Inn, the path rises past Fisherbeck before the steep pull up to Wansfell Pike, where the reward is a sweeping view over the lake and surrounding peaks.
Dropping down the eastern side, the route reaches the hamlet of Troutbeck, passing the historic farmhouse at Townend and The Old Post Office. From here the way continues through Myley Ghyll and returns via the wooded flanks above Windermere, threading through Strawberry Wood and Skelghyll Woods with glimpses of the water below.
A detour to Stock Ghyll Force waterfall, tumbling in a wooded ravine just above Ambleside, is an easy addition. With around 606 metres of ascent packed into 8.6 km, this is a proper half-day outing that finishes onward towards Elterwater.
Route map
Route line drawn from OpenStreetMap footpath data. Numbered markers are waypoints on the route; amber star markers are points of interest a short detour away.
Waypoints along the route
11 waypoints along the way
- 1
Townend
- 2
The Old Post Office
- 3
Myley Ghyll
- 4
Wansfell Pike
- 5
Stock Ghyll Force Waterfall
- 6
Market Cross
- 7
The Sportsman's Inn
- 8
Fisherbeck
- 9
Strawberry Wood
- 10
Skelghyll Woods
- 11
Finish: Elterwater
- Finish
The end of the route.
Worth a short detour
Points of interest just off the route, look for the amber markers on the map.
Gallows Howe
~489 m off the route
Ambleside Great War Memorial
~305 m off the route
Pier 2
~345 m off the route
Wateredge Hotel
~363 m off the route
Pier 1
~375 m off the route
Route & waypoint data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).