Buttermere Lake Circuit

The path around Buttermere is one of the flattest complete lake circuits in the district, a loop of around four and a half miles that stays close to the shore for almost its entire length. It suits anyone who wants a walk without a climb: families with young children, or a rest day between harder fell days elsewhere in the valley.

From the National Trust car park at the north end of the village, the route can be picked up directly and followed in either direction; most guides describe it clockwise, along the western shore first. The single distinctive feature is a short tunnel cut through the rock beneath Hassness, on the southern side of the lake, dug so the path could pass a crag that otherwise dropped straight into the water. Views open out across the water to Fleetwith Pike and the ridge above Warnscale for most of the loop, and Haystacks and High Stile fill the skyline to the south.

Underfoot the going is easy but not always dry: the path crosses several becks feeding into the lake, and low-lying sections can be muddy after rain even when the fell tops above are clear. There is no climbing to speak of, no scrambling, and no exposure, which makes this one of the few walks in this cluster of fells that suits a mixed-ability group.

It does not suit anyone in search of solitude in high season. The combination of a short, flat, scenic loop and a car park right at the start makes it one of the most walked paths in the western Lakes. Haystacks rises straight off the same valley for anyone who would rather earn the view, at 671m of ascent instead of none.