Rather than an out-and-back up Coniston’s most iconic mountain, this Old Man of Coniston circular walk – tackled anti-clockwise – takes you up three of the Coniston Fells before reaching the man himself. Expect plenty of ‘Oohs’ and ‘Aahs’ en route – and not just from the glute workout.
The Old Man of Coniston (sitting at 803m / 2,634 ft), the highest point in historic Lancashire, beckons walkers of all abilities who visit the Lake District.
And on a brilliantly sunny July day on a family holiday, the iconic fell beckoned me too.
Dominating the skyline, the Old Man of Coniston is a challenging yet achievable mountain to summit. The reward is a breathtakingly expansive view over the region – including panoramas of Coniston Water, the surrounding fells, and on clear days, even Morecambe Bay and the Irish Sea towards the Isle of Man.
The combination of inky lakes (‘tarns’), dramatic mountains, old mines, sea views and sweeping valleys fuses harmoniously to create an iconically Lake District vista.
There are many routes to reach the Old Man of Coniston. But eager to reach the summit quickly, many walkers opt to ‘smash it out’ using the direct out-and-back route from Coniston or the Walna Scar car park.
While you’ll certainly get a good workout and the famed view over Low Water and Coniston Water, in my opinion, it’s rather uneventful. You’ll miss out on some of the stunningly impressive surrounding fells. But best of all, the reward of finishing on a high with the ridgeline walk from Swirl How to the Old Man.
So if you’re up for extending your day in the hills, then I’d recommend the Old Man of Coniston Circular (or sometimes known as the ‘horseshoe’ walk) instead. It’s a nearly 10 mile (16km) route starting in Coniston, heading anti-clockwise to the east, via Wetherlam, Swirl How, Brim Fell, and lastly to the main event – the man himself.
Although it’s a strenuous day of walking, you’ll find the first three-quarters pleasantly quiet. Considering it was a clear day in peak school holiday season when we went, we hardly saw anyone until nearer the end of the walk.
So if you’re looking for a quiet yet challenging alternative route up the Old Man of Coniston (that makes you feel like you’re walking on top of the world), then read on!
- Old Man of Coniston Horseshoe Walk Stats:
- Walk Route Map
- Accessing Coniston for the Old Man of Coniston Walk
- Parking for the Old Man of Coniston Horseshoe
- Starting the Walk from Coniston
- The Ascent up to Wetherlam
- Wetherlam to Swirl How
- Swirl How to Brim Fell
- Brim Fell to Old Man of Coniston Summit
- A Wild Swim in Low Water & Return
- Tips for Hiking the Old Man of Coniston Circular:
Old Man of Coniston Horseshoe Walk Stats:
- Length: 15.5km / 9.6 miles
- Duration: 6 – 6.5 hours (4.5 hours of moving time)
- Difficulty level: hard
- Type: circular
- Start/end location: Coniston
- Elevation gain: 1,075m
- Terrain: combination of grassy footpaths, rocks (including a section of clambering over boulders) and loose scree
- Accessibility: unsuitable for wheelchairs or those with limited mobility
Walk Route Map
AllTrails route here (whilst our exact route isn’t on AllTrails, this is the most similar.)
Accessing Coniston for the Old Man of Coniston Walk
The town of Coniston is located in the southern part of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, North West England, and is where this walk begins.
If you’re staying nearby, you can drive or there are regular bus services to Coniston from nearby towns such as Ambleside, Windermere, and Kendal.
The nearest railway station to Coniston is Windermere, which is about 13 miles away. From Windermere station, you can catch a bus (Stagecoach 505) to Coniston, which takes about 45 minutes.
Parking for the Old Man of Coniston Horseshoe
Coniston has plenty of car parks catering to its visitors, though most are pay-and-display. Make sure you are generous with your timings if you opt for this.
We’ve often been lucky and found a few free car parks along Shepherd’s Bridge Lane, just beyond the Coniston Sports and Social Centre.
Starting the Walk from Coniston
From the car, we headed in a northerly direction along Shepherd’s Bridge Lane with the river to our right, towards the Coniston Holly How YHA. Not too far beyond the YHA, we took a footpath between houses and hooked a left through the gate.
After a short distance, we approached the road up to the Coniston Coppermines, which snakes alongside Church Beck.
The paved road to Coniston Coppermines is all uphill and not exactly the most exciting way to start the walk. But the gushing Coniston Waterfall and the chilled sheep lounging on the road were the key points of interest.
We ignored the gated footpath to our left and continued to the top of the hill, where we glimpsed the Coppermines ahead and the Yorkshire Mountaineering Club Hut (though it’s more a strip of large stone cottages than a hut!)
Here at this junction, with the beck on our left, we took a gravel footpath on the right, somewhat in front of the YMC hut, to begin the Old Man of Coniston Horseshoe Circular.
If you’re doing this walk yourself, when you’re on this right hand path, be sure to take the first footpath on your left to go up. Don’t make the same mistake we did – we accidentally overshot it, carried away following the wider main path. However we had to turn around, as it started to lead us back down to Coniston!
Once we were back on track after our initial mishap, it was all up from here, with pauses to strip off a layer or two, and take big gulps of water.
After crossing a small stream, we took the grassy footpath uphill, marking the start of the serious leg-burning stuff.
First stop: Wetherlam!
The Ascent up to Wetherlam
The ascent to Wetherlam was the longest and it felt like it – a relentless uphill slog alternating between boggy grass and gravel.
That being said, whenever we needed to catch our breath, it was pleasant to stop and look behind us at Coniston Water, the coast, Ambleside and the surrounding rolling hills to the left. I was surprised to see just how high we’d ascended in such a short space of time!
As we approached the 400-500m mark, we soon snatched a glimpse of Levers Water, a reservoir in the upper Coppermines Valley sourced from Swirl Hawse and Cove Beck.
After a couple of tantalising false summits, the stone cairn marking the top of the gently domed Wetherlam Fell (763m / 2,503 ft) finally came into view.
The rocks offered the ideal location to enjoy our packed lunch and admire the absolutely outstanding assault of fells and rolling hills in front of us: Helvellyn, the Langdale Pikes – pretty much the whole north east of the Lake District in all her lush, green glory.
It really was one of the most stunning vistas on this whole walk because it offered layer upon layer of uninterrupted sweeping green rolling peaks. How I want a painting on my wall of this very view!
Wetherlam to Swirl How
Dragging ourselves away from our scenic picnic spot, we pressed on towards Swirl How, our second summit of the day on our Old Man of Coniston circular walk.
This part of the route was the top of the ‘horseshoe’ of mountains. Though it felt like we were walking along the base of the letter Y: the incredibly dramatic sweeping ridgeline of the Great Carrs to the right and Brim Fell on our left. Walking here felt like treading a narrow rim between two vast, sculpted bowls, the land falling steeply away on either side of us.
Approaching a junction after a short descent, I was briefly dismayed to see that to get to the summit of Swirl How, it was pretty much a vertical scramble over rocks. But we barely hesitated – let’s get it done!
The scramble up Swirl How was pretty fun, often requiring hands to stabilise ourselves and navigate around boulders. The leg burn? Not so much!
On our left was now a full frontal view of Levers Water with a backdrop of Coniston Water that slowly disappeared with each step up we took.
Sitting on the rocky summit of Swirl How at 802m (2,631 ft.m), we took a few well-deserved moments to rest our legs and sip on our water. However the wind picked up, grey clouds loomed and it suddenly started spitting, despite the glorious sun just a few moments before.
The mountains will always catch out those who come unprepared.
Swirl How to Brim Fell
With my waterproof jacket now zipped up to my chin, we walked along the broad, open knoll to Brim Fell as the wind picked up and rain whipped our faces.
In contrast to most of the walk so far, this section was a gentle incline, rather than the leg workouts that came before.
The ridge was pretty epic and another highlight. It almost made you feel as though you were walking along the back of a large whale – the tail being Swirl How and the hill up to Brim Fell the hump!
The familiar inky Levers Water was on our left, and Dow Crag up ahead, but I was most enraptured by the view on my right. It was Seathwaite Tarn and the gnarly sheer mountain faces scarred by small waterfalls behind me that kept me turning around to sneak a look.
After only half an hour or so, I stumbled upon the cairn which marked Brim Fell. If it were not for the pile of rocks though, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed our third fell of the day.
Brim Fell to Old Man of Coniston Summit
The footpaths got busier the closer we got to the Old Man of Coniston with small ant-like figures swarming around the hill.
A gradual incline took us up to the top, where we snapped some pictures at the raised cairn at the end of the knoll – when we could get it free for a moment that was.
Honestly, the summit was so crowded we spent less time here than on any of the previous peaks. Whilst the view overlooking Low Water and Coniston was incredible – having had the hills all to ourselves beforehand, the setting was quite ruined for us!
Time to get outta here!
A Wild Swim in Low Water & Return
Descending from the Old Man was, for me, the least enjoyable part of the hike. Whilst we saw remnants of historic slate quarries and mining operations, it’s very steep (about 600m / 1,969 ft of descent) with rocks or loose scree underfoot, making it a little tough on the knees.
Admittedly, we had it easier than the poor souls puffing their way uphill – we offered a cheery “You’re nearly there!” to every red-faced hiker we passed.
When we reached Low Water nestled in a corrie, my sister and I looked at each other. No words needed to be said – let’s get in!
We stripped off and slipped into the freezing murky pool. By this time, it was still lightly drizzling and the sun had most definitely gone behind the clouds, but it was much more sheltered than on the ridge. Regardless, it really was blooming cold, but the kind of cold that makes you feel wildly alive!
Like with any time we go wild swimming, after a minute or two with your shoulders submerged, once the adrenaline has washed over you and then settled, we began to acclimatise to the icy water.
We swam to a big rock just metres from the shore, climbed up and jumped off gleefully like kids again.
Seemingly spurred on by us, more strangers joined us in the water, enjoying the attention we were getting from horrified passers by.
Once we’d had enough of the chill, we hopped out, dried off, and continued our journey back to Coniston.
From here, it was around 2 miles of plodding downhill along a footpath, which eventually popped us out at the opposite side of the beck to where we first started. We crossed the bridge and gate over the beck and walked back down Church Road.
Overall, the Old Man of Coniston Horseshoe Circular was a great challenge to do in a day, and a fantastic shout if you’re after a more under-the-radar route that takes in more fells than just the classic summit dash. I’d highly recommend it!
Tips for Hiking the Old Man of Coniston Circular:
- Park Smart (and Save Some Cash): For free parking options, try Shepherd’s Bridge Lane just beyond the Coniston Sports and Social Centre – spaces are limited, so arrive early to snag a spot.
- Start Early: Begin early in the morning to beat the crowds, secure good parking, enjoy quieter footpaths and most importantly, to make the most of the daylight. It’s a full day of walking, so don’t set off too late in the day.
- Check the Forecast (Twice!): As we experienced ourselves, the Lake District weather can change dramatically and quickly. Pack layers and waterproof gear even on sunny days.
- Have Lunch at Wetherlam Summit: Wetherlam’s summit cairn provides the perfect lunch stop. Take your time and soak up one of the best panoramic views of the northern Lake District.
- Pack Plenty of Water and Snacks: It’s an obvious one, but with significant elevation gain and challenging climbs, you’ll appreciate energy-boosting snacks and ample hydration.
- Watch Your Footing on the Descent: The descent from the Old Man towards Low Water is steep and loose in places. Take it slow and steady, bring a hiking pool and wear good shoes to avoid slips on the scree underfoot.
- Bring Swimwear and a Towel: Low Water tarn is a perfect spot for a refreshing wild swim. Don’t miss the chance – pack your swimming gear and towel!
check on pollution levels. Coniston is one of the sewage polluted lakes ! I will not let my dogs swim there never mind me.
Thanks for your comment Paul! We swam at Low Water just under the Old Man of Coniston summit and not Coniston Water back in town 🙂