Whinlatter Round - Sunday 4 January 2026
Route
Powter How - The Clerk - Beckstones Gill - Barf - Lord’s Seat - Broom Fell - Widow Hause - Graystones - Darling How - Aiken Plantation - Whinlatter (Brown How) - Whinlatter Top - Comb Plantation - Whinlatter Visitor’s Centre - Thornthwaite - Powter How
Parking
Car Park at Powter How (Donation) which is approximately half a mile north of the village of Thornthwaite. The Grid Reference is NY22045 26511 and the nearest postcode is CA12 5SQ.
Mileage
11 miles
Terrain
Good mountain paths and forest tracks throughout. The descent from Graystones to Darling How is very steep therefore care needs to be taken.
Weather
A beautiful sunny day with light breezes but bitterly cold.
Time Taken
7hrs 40mins
Total Ascent
3591ft (1094m)
Wainwrights
5
Map
OL4 - The English Lakes (North Western Area)
Walkers
Dave with members of Lakeland Meet Ups including Floki & Lola
Powter How - The Clerk - Beckstones Gill - Barf - Lord’s Seat - Broom Fell - Widow Hause - Graystones - Darling How - Aiken Plantation - Whinlatter (Brown How) - Whinlatter Top - Comb Plantation - Whinlatter Visitor’s Centre - Thornthwaite - Powter How
Parking
Car Park at Powter How (Donation) which is approximately half a mile north of the village of Thornthwaite. The Grid Reference is NY22045 26511 and the nearest postcode is CA12 5SQ.
Mileage
11 miles
Terrain
Good mountain paths and forest tracks throughout. The descent from Graystones to Darling How is very steep therefore care needs to be taken.
Weather
A beautiful sunny day with light breezes but bitterly cold.
Time Taken
7hrs 40mins
Total Ascent
3591ft (1094m)
Wainwrights
5
Map
OL4 - The English Lakes (North Western Area)
Walkers
Dave with members of Lakeland Meet Ups including Floki & Lola
GPX Files
From 1 March 2025 GPX files will not be available directly from the walk page as there is difficulty in using a downloadable version from the website. To that end, if you require a GPX File please get in touch via the Contact Form below and we will gladly forward it to you - thank you.
From 1 March 2025 GPX files will not be available directly from the walk page as there is difficulty in using a downloadable version from the website. To that end, if you require a GPX File please get in touch via the Contact Form below and we will gladly forward it to you - thank you.
Route Map
The Car Park at Powter How - there is an honesty box at the entrance
Crossing the main road, a way marked sign points the way up a minor track towards Barf
Shortly after the first way marker another is reached on the right. Walkers can either take this route or carry on a little further on up the track to reach another path that handrails Beckstones Gill - both paths merge at the gill.
Passing the newly painted white rock known as "The Clerk” (the stones relevance can be read further on)
A few hundred yards further on the route crosses Beckstones Gill to join the path coming up from the track
The path to the right heads up to Barf via a steep scree ascent and should only be used by people who know this route and subsequently have done it before. It is a well known Mountain Rescue black spot.
The path to the right heads up to Barf via a steep scree ascent and should only be used by people who know this route and subsequently have done it before. It is a well known Mountain Rescue black spot.
The main path to Barf above Beckstones Gill - where once were trees is now a barren and chaotic mess
Slape Crag on Barf - beautifully lit up today
Looking to Dodd & the Skiddaw group from the ascent of Barf
The white rock on the left is known as The Bishop of Barf, a memorial to a foolish wager. In 1783 the newly appointed Bishop of Derry, now Londonderry, was in the area and stayed at the Swan Hotel in Thornthwaite (now closed). He wagered that he would ride his horse up the side of Barf and onwards to the summit of Lord’s Seat. Unfortunately, on attempting this feat, his horse fell on reaching the height of Bishop Rock, killing both horse and rider. The bishop was laid to rest at the base of the mountain and to commemorate his rather foolhardy enterprise the rock, known as the Bishop’s Clerk, was painted white by patrons of the Swan, who maintained the Bishop in his pristine white coat and in times gone by were paid "a shilling and a quart of ale". The hotel was converted into luxury holiday apartments in 2006 and the upkeep of both the Bishop & The Clerk is now undertaken by Keswick Mountain Rescue.
The white rock on the left is known as The Bishop of Barf, a memorial to a foolish wager. In 1783 the newly appointed Bishop of Derry, now Londonderry, was in the area and stayed at the Swan Hotel in Thornthwaite (now closed). He wagered that he would ride his horse up the side of Barf and onwards to the summit of Lord’s Seat. Unfortunately, on attempting this feat, his horse fell on reaching the height of Bishop Rock, killing both horse and rider. The bishop was laid to rest at the base of the mountain and to commemorate his rather foolhardy enterprise the rock, known as the Bishop’s Clerk, was painted white by patrons of the Swan, who maintained the Bishop in his pristine white coat and in times gone by were paid "a shilling and a quart of ale". The hotel was converted into luxury holiday apartments in 2006 and the upkeep of both the Bishop & The Clerk is now undertaken by Keswick Mountain Rescue.
A close up of the Bishop of Barf
(picture courtesy of Richard Jennings)
(picture courtesy of Richard Jennings)
The route heads up the main Beckstones Gill path to reach a forest track and turns to the right emerging on to the open fell side - in this shot we are looking back along the path towards Lord's Seat
The path to Barf looking back to Beckstones Plantation
The Skiddaw group over Bassenthwaite Lake from near the summit of Barf
The rocky outcrop that marks the summit of Barf
With my walking companions on the summit of Barf with the Skiddaw group providing the backdrop
From Barf a good path heads over to our next summit of Lord's Seat - in days gone by the going here was extremely boggy but is now an absolute doddle
Looking back to Barf and the Skiddaw group from the path to Lord's Seat
The path to Broom Fell from the approach to Lord's Seat
The summit of Lord's Seat looking to the North Western Fells
The summit of Lord's Seat looking to Skiddaw
Lord's Seat from Broom Fell's summit
The large cairn near the summit of Broom Fell - the actual highest point of the fell is featureless and lies approximately 100 yards to the south east of the cairn
Ling Fell, Sale Fell & Binsey from Broom Fell
The group near the summit of Broom Fell
Looking back to Broom Fell as we near Widow Hause on the way to Graystones
Descending to Widow Hause with Graystones beyond
Widow Hause which would be our lunch stop today
From Widow Hause we continued on towards Graystones
The short pull up to Graystones looking back to our outward route
The summit of Graystones looking to the Solway Firth
There are many lumps and bumps on Graystones - we joined the path on the right a little further down the wall
The summit of Graystones looking to Whinlatter
The descent from Graystones is extremely steep on a path containing loose stone - it is worth taking your time as you follow the wall down
The descent of Graystones with the North Western Fells beyond - steeper than a big steep thing
The group really enjoyed the descent of Graystones although did not mention it at the time!!
Roughly half way down the descent we crossed a stile that leads to a forest track
Scawgill Bridge from the stile
The forest track - first time I have passed along here since the area was cleared of trees
Our route passes through Darling How to reach a path heading up through trees into Aiken Plantation. The path is easily missed and is marked by an old iron feeding trough.
The path through Aiken Plantation heads alongside an old wall
The path emerges from the trees to continue along the old wall and joins a fence line coming in from the left
The light begins to fade as we climb the final few yards to Whinlatter's summit
The group on Brown How, the summit of Whinlatter
The summit of Whinlatter Top
From Whinlatter Top the route continues on to reach a fence line on the edge of Comb Plantation. On reaching the fence it is necessary to turn right and follow the fence line down to a gate giving access into Comb Plantation.
As you can see, it was a bit nippy today
Posing with The Gruffalo in Whinlatter Forest
Entering the Visitor's Centre at Whinlatter - from here it was a simple case of passing through the main car park to join the clear forest track to Thornthwaite and on to Powter How