Buttermere

Buttermere is a village of 120 people (2011) in Cumbria that takes its name from Buttermere, a lake in the Lake District National Park.

Understand

The village of Buttermere lies between the Lake District lakes of Buttermere and Crummock Water, and is overlooked by the summits of Grasmoor to the north and High Stile to the south.

Get in

The nearest towns are Keswick and Cockermouth, both of which are approximately 10 miles (16 km) away on the B5289 road that runs beside Crummock Water and along the valley of the River Cocker.

A free bus operates between Buttermere and Cockermouth with five return services per day.

See

1 Moss Force. There are two paths from the Hause to the foot of both the upper and middle cascades, although a little scrambling over rock is required to reach the foot of the upper falls. It is part of Alfred Wainwright's famous "Wainwright Memorial Walk," and its beauty was celebrated by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  

2 Scale Force. Highest waterfall in the Lake District, usually stated as 170 ft (52 m) high.  

Do

Climb

1 Piller. At 2,927 ft (892 m) it is the eighth-highest mountain in the Lake District. The fell takes its name from Pillar Rock, a prominent feature on the Ennerdale side. Pillar is usually climbed from Wasdale Head, by far the nearest road access. The simplest route involves taking the Black Sail Pass, the main foot pass between Wasdale and Ennerdale, to its highest point (around 545 metres), then ascending the mountain's relatively gentle east ridge. Greater interest may be obtained by branching off the ridge (at c. 640 m) onto the "High Level Route", a narrow path which traverses around Pillar's northern crags before approaching the summit from the north, affording good views of Pillar Rock. Many walkers based in Wasdale climb Pillar as part of the Mosedale Horseshoe, a circuit of the skyline one of Wasdale's side valleys, which also includes Scoat Fell, Red Pike and Yewbarrow; Kirk Fell may also optionally be included. Pillar may also be climbed from Ennerdale. From the YHA hostel at Black Sail at the head of the valley, it is a fairly short walk (around 1.5 km and 300 m of ascent) to the summit of Black Sail Pass, from where the same routes can be followed as described above.  

Sleep

1 Bridge Hotel, CA13 9UZ, ☏ +44 1768 770 252. (updated Feb 2023)

2 YHA Black Sail, Black Sail Hut, Ennerdale Bridge, Cleator CA23 3AX, ☏ +44 3453 719 680. Check-in: 5PM, check-out: 10AM. (updated Feb 2023)

Go next

Routes through Buttermere

Cockermouth ← Brackenthwaite ←

W  E

→ Keswick → Borrowdale