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| Possibly the best walk in the Lake District? On this walk to Haystacks you will see some of the best views in the Lake District. Here we can see Haystacks to the left with the sun setting behind Red Pike and Buttermere and Crummock water in the distance. |
WALK OVERVIEW:
DISTANCE: 4.79 miles
TIME: 3.5 hours
TOTAL ASCENT: 1962ft
DIFFICULTY: HARD
Map of the Haystacks walking route from Gatesgarth:
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| For me the best way to walk to Haystacks is in an anti-clockwise route starting at the car park at Gatesgarth Farm (£4 to park) and heading up to Scarth Gap Pass first and then onto Haystacks. You will then pass Innominate Tarn and then Blackbeck Tarn before a leisurely descent to Warnscale Bottom along an old miners track. You can of course do this route in reverse but I prefer tackling Scarth Gap first as you can enjoy great views of Butteremere and Crummock Water on the descent. Click the button above to view the interactive route: |
Elevation of the Haystacks route:
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| Here you can see the elevation of the full walking route over 5.2 miles. It’s a pretty steady walk up hill for a couple of miles up to Scarth Gap and a bit of scrambling just before the 2 mile mark. After that it’s relatively straightforward and you don’t expend much effort from 2 miles onwards. |
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Photos of this Haystacks walk to give you a great idea of the views & what to expect
The great Alfred Wainwright, the influential Lake District guidebook author had this to say about Haystacks; “for beauty, variety and interesting detail, for sheer fascination and unique individuality, the summit area of Haystacks is supreme. This is in fact the best fell-top of all”. I can’t argue with that, and whilst there are higher mountains in the Lakes and longer walks, I don’t think any offer as much variety and better views than Haystacks, and for what its worth – it’s my favourite walk in the Lakes too.
This particular Haystacks walk was done late one summers evening to maybe also see a glorious sunset on the descent (which wasn’t to be!) But hopefully the photos below get across the beauty of this 5 mile or so walk and, if you haven’t already, inspire you to visit Haystacks too!
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| At the very start of this walk you can see the summit of Haystacks just left of centre -with Scarth Gap to the right |
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| I’ve drew on this pic the rough route this walk takes up via Scarth Gap – to the summit of Haystacks – and then back down |
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| Crossing Warnscale Beck |
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| Looking towards the Buttermere |
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| Looking towards Goat Crag |
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| We start walking uphill and gain height pretty quickly |
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| You can see Gatesgarth Farm to the left of centre here where we parked and the path that we walked from there |
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| Haystacks is in plain sight now |
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| The path is clearly marked up towards Scarth Gap |
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| Onwards & upwards |
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| A good view of Fleetwith Pike to the left and Haystacks to the right at the edge of the pic |
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| Stunning views all the way up |
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| Haystacks is not far off now! |
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| I can’t get enough of the views over Buttermere on this walk |
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| Taking a rest to admire the view of Haystacks once again |
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| Scarth Gap comes into full view – once this is tackled the worst of the climb is out the way |
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| Steps always make walking up a hill just that little bit easier 🙂 |
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| Passing another Cairn on this lovely walk |
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| Looking at Fleetwith Pike |
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| One last push after a little rest here and we’l reach the summit 🙂 |
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| You get some brilliant views of Buttermere and Crummock Water throughout this walk. |
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| A little bit of a scramble up to the summit of Haystacks- but nothing too tricky |
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| What a classic Lake District view – Buttermere & Crummock Water |
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| Not quite there yet! |
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| Ennerdale Water just coming into view |
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| A little body of water with no name just below the summit of Haystacks |
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| Looking at the pyramidal peak of Red Pike |
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| Here’s one I made earlier! This photo was taken on a previous walk and is possibly the best sunset I’ve ever seen and one of my best Lake District views. Sunsets are completely luck of the draw – right place right time – this time we got lucky! |
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| Back to this walk and it’s rather a bit too cloudy ion the horizon for a spectacular sunset. There is still great views to be had though! |
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| Approaching the Haystacks summit cairn |
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| Awesome views over Buttermere and Crummock Water |
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| After the summit it’s onto Innominate Tarn |
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| It’s quite late in the evening by now and we see a wild camper has set up spot for the night |
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| Hello to you! |
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| As mentioned Haystacks was Alfred Wainwright’s favourite Lake District fell and he actually asked for his ashes to be scattered at Innominate Tarn |
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| Heading back down now as the light starts to fade |
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| Fleetwith Pike illuminated nicely |
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| More beautiful views on this Haystacks walk |
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| Another wild camper this time at Backbeck Tarn |
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| Its mainly downhill until this little section |
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| Looking back at the path we’ve just came from Haystacks |
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| Simply beautiful up here |
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| Stunning views as the sun burns out from behind the clouds. Here we can see Haystacks to the left with the sun setting behind Red Pike and Buttermere and Crummock water in the distance. |
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| What a spot to take a break and enjoy a summers evening with one of the Lake Districts best views |
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| Here we begin a descent to Warnscale Bottom and join the path that could take you to Fleetwith Pike |
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| Nice little beck crossing! |
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| This descent tests the old knees! |
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| The sky starts to turn pink behind Haystacks |
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| Dusk is drawing in now and thankfully not long left to go on this walk now |
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| Looking back to where we have came from |
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| On the home straight and it’s a flat walk back from here to the car park at Gatesgarth Farm |
So there you go, plenty of photos from my favourite Lake District walk to the summit of Haystacks one summers evening. I hope you enjoyed that and it inspires you to tackle haystacks yourself if you haven’t already!
