Latrigg is one of those Lake District walks that proves a short route can still feel special. Starting from the small car park above Keswick, this easy climb makes a fine first Wainwright, a family outing, or a last fell of the trip, with a huge view over Derwent Water for very little effort.
Latrigg – An Easy Stroll
Route Map and GPX
This route starts from the small car park on the eastern side of Latrigg and follows the easy path up across the fell to Ronald’s Bench, before a short continuation to the true Wainwright summit. It is a very short outing, but one with a far bigger reward than the distance suggests.
HOW TO USE THE MAP
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Route at a glance
- Distance: 2.5km (1.6 miles)
- Ascent: 100m (328ft)
- Time: 1 hour
- Start: Car park
- Difficulty: Easy
- Map: OS Explorer OL4
- AW Book: Northern Fells
Wainwrights
- Latrigg: 368m (1207ft)
Field notes
- Terrain: Grassy tracks from the car park, with a gentle pull to the top
- Navigation: Very straightforward, with the bench and summit ridge making the line obvious in clear weather, if you’re going down, you’re going the wrong way
- Parking: Small car park north of Latrigg, though spaces are limited — best arriving early on busy days
Watch out for
Easy underfoot, but the small car park fills fast, and the exposed summit feels windier than the short walk it suggests.
Why do it
Latrigg gives one of the best effort-to-view ratios in the Lakes: Derwent Water, Keswick and the surrounding fells laid out from an easy summit.
Dog friendly?
Yes, for all dogs in normal conditions. No real obstacles, just plenty of sheep, so keep leads handy on the open fell.
Is this walk for you?
This is a very good walk if you want a first Wainwright, an easy family outing, or a quick fell before heading home from Keswick. It suits walkers after views without a big climb, and works especially well for older dogs, children or anyone wanting a gentler day.
Why Latrigg again?
Our dog, Lacey, who has accompanied me on many a Wainwright walk, turns 14 this year – apparently that’s 98 in human years! She has something going on inside her that tells us she won’t be coming on any more 13 mile winter hikes up Skiddaw, she won’t be climbing up any more Borrowdale cliff faces in the middle of the night and camping on the top, or waking up to another Derwent inversion.
So, Teresa got it into herself that we must take Lacey out for what will probably be her last Wainwright. ‘If there’s one Wainwright that anyone can climb’, I said, ‘it’s Latrigg’. We rented a cottage round the back of Skiddaw and set off with the lads for the weekend. Teresa’s son, Tom, and his girlfriend, Laura, would join us next morning for the big adventure.
If you want to entice your young children into the mountains, take your old mother out in a wheelchair to do her only ever Wainwright, or you want to take in one last fell before departing home from Keswick, Latrigg is king.
See, there’s a road, albeit a little one, to a car park, albeit a little one, practically wiping out most of the ascent of this beautifully positioned hill overlooking Keswick and Derwent Water. That’s where we meet on a fresh, blustery Saturday morning in February.
Situated a couple of miles north-west of Keswick in the English Lake District, Latrigg pokes out of the Skiddaw range below Lonscale Fell, a wee spur, 368 metres (1207ft) above sea level. It’s no mountain but Wainwright chose to include it in his Pictorial Guide and for the last 64 years everyone taking on the challenge includes it in their list, and for good reason.
The view from the ‘summit’ can be breath taking. Of course, there’s Keswick and Derwent Water but in the evening, the syrupy gold sunbeams (God rays), aka crepuscular rays, stream through the clouds over the Coledale Horseshoe and the gaps in the fells of the Newlands Round. It’s hard to beat such an awe inspiring vista.
Crepuscular rays are narrow shards of sunlight shining through gaps when the sun is low (early morning or late evening). They illuminate the moisture or dust in the atmosphere which shows up more because the mountains, trees or buildings will be in shadow.
Setting off from the car park (should you get a space) you have a couple of gates to pass through. Directions would be – don’t go up and don’t go down, you’ll be heading into a large field, occupied by a load of sheep (I’ve never seen it without). There are two routes to the top – one via a path, the preferred route for the wheelchair bound and dog walkers avoiding a confrontation with woollies, or the bee line over the crest.
At what would first seem to be the top, there’s Ronald’s bench, which has been there since the 90’s overlooking Derwent Water, the best vantage point. Funny to think when you’re resting on the bench on this sloped ridge, you are also perched on a squished antient seabed, slate – 450 million years old – the floor of a long-vanished ocean.
This isn’t the summit, nor is it Wainwright’s summit. It’s obvious when you’re sat here that there’s a higher spot. Drag yourself up off the bench after you’re exhausting expedition and you’ll soon see a wee bit of bedrock where the turf hasn’t taken (grid reference NY 27924 24699). This is also the Wainwright summit, although he gave the grid reference 2 metres away (NY 27922 24699). We’re splitting hairs.
And here’s the route – to the car park from that roundabout north of Keswick where the A591 crosses the A66, then walking from the car park to the summit via the path.
Now away to get some lunch to rabbit on about past adventures in the surrounding hills.
The last time I had dinner in the White Horse in Scales must have been 2018. The steak pie was so good, I thought I must take our son Jack there at some point – it’s took this long! Again, after 8 years, the steak pie was amazing, and the rest of the dinners.
As for Latrigg, the route up from the south is more of a hiker’s route but if you ever need a quick one, or you add it to the big Skiddaw hike, you know where it is now.
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If Latrigg was too easy for you, here’s the other end of the scale: an exposed scramble up Blencathra’s Sharp Edge with mountaineer extraordinaire Alan Hinkes.
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