Coast to Coast High and Low Route Alternatives — Which Line to Take

The Coast to Coast was never one line. Wainwright described a route with choices in it, and the accommodation guide warns that two places a mile apart on the map can be an hour's detour on the ground because of them. This guide covers the alternatives that the stage pages on this site document, with the ascent and the conditions each one asks for, and then the escapes for when the weather says no. It does not describe lines that neither the stage data nor an authoritative source describes.

Every figure for a standard stage is the GPX-measured one from the stage pages. Figures for the alternatives are the ones the stage notes give.

At a glance

Stage 2: the Ennerdale valley or the High Stile ridge

The standard Ennerdale Bridge to Rosthwaite stage follows the southern shore of Ennerdale Water, the River Liza to Black Sail Hut, then the steep pull up Loft Beck and across the high fell to the Drum House and Honister. The stage page measures it at 21.3 km with 671 m of ascent.

The alternative leaves the valley for the ridge over Red Pike, High Stile (807 m), High Crag and Haystacks, passing Innominate Tarn. The stage notes put it at over 1,000 m of ascent and are clear about who it is for: experienced fell walkers, in good conditions only. It is a bigger day than anything else in the first week, and it comes on day two.

Decide at Ennerdale Bridge. Once you are past the lake there is no road until Honister Pass, and the stage notes describe the crossing from Loft Beck to the Drum House as boggy, indistinct and easy to lose in cloud even on the standard line.

Stage 3: Far Easedale or the Helm Crag ridge

From Greenup Edge, the standard Rosthwaite to Grasmere line descends the glacial valley of Far Easedale, crossing the gill at Stythwaite Steps. The high alternative stays on the ridge over Calf Crag, Gibson Knott and Helm Crag (405 m), the "Lion and the Lamb", and drops into Grasmere from the north.

The stage notes describe the Helm Crag ridge as exposed in wind, and the col above it as no place to be in a thunderstorm. The ridge is the finer walk on a clear afternoon. The valley is the one to take if you have already lost the cairns on Greenup Edge in mist, which the stage page says many walkers do; go down Far Easedale and take care not to drift toward Wythburn or the pathless valley head.

Stage 4: three ways from Grisedale Tarn

This is the fork everyone asks about. The standard Grasmere to Patterdale line climbs beside Tongue Gill to Grisedale Hause at about 588 m, passes Grisedale Tarn at 538 m, and descends the Grisedale valley past the Brothers' Parting Stone and Ruthwaite Lodge to Patterdale. It measures 11.6 km with 594 m of ascent, and it is feasible from April to October.

From the tarn, Wainwright offered two high alternatives, and the stage page describes both:

• St Sunday Crag (841 m). The stage notes call its Ullswater view among the finest on the whole walk and put the high line at roughly 830 m of ascent. Less technical than Helvellyn, but high and exposed, with long dry stretches along the ridge.
• Helvellyn (950 m) via Striding Edge. A Grade 1 scramble with sustained, severe exposure and steep drops to Red Tarn. The stage notes say to avoid it in high wind, on wet rock, in poor visibility and in winter, when it becomes serious mountaineering with ice.

The stage's seasonal note says both high options should be attempted only in good, dry, low-wind conditions and are best left to summer. There is no water on either once you leave the tarn, and no cafe or tap anywhere between Grasmere and Patterdale on any line.

Escape is limited. The stage notes are specific: there is no road bail-out via Kirkstone Pass, and the practical options are to return to Grasmere or, once over the Hause, continue down Grisedale to Patterdale for the Ullswater buses.

Stage 5: Kidsty Pike has no low option

Patterdale to Shap is the biggest climbing day of the route, 24.6 km with 1,128 m of ascent, over Boredale Hause, Angle Tarn, The Knott, the Roman road along High Street and Kidsty Pike at 780 m, then the steep descent of Kidsty Howes to Haweswater and the long shore path to Burnbanks.

People look for a valley alternative here and the stage page does not describe one. What it does describe:

• Splitting the day. Burnbanks, at the foot of the descent, and Bampton a short way off the route have limited accommodation, and the Haweswater page suggests an overnight there for pacing water and daylight.
• Not committing. The Kidsty Pike page says to turn back or use lower ground in bad weather and that the descent is steep, rocky and slippery when wet. There is no public transport on the fell section, and the stage notes say Bampton has very limited buses. The weather decision is made in Patterdale, with the mountain forecast, not on the ridge.

If a source you trust describes a signed low-level line for this stage, use that source. We do not have one.

Stage 8: the Nine Standards seasonal routes

Kirkby Stephen to Keld crosses the blanket peat of Hartley Fell, and the crossing rotates between three lines so the bog can recover. The Nine Standards Rigg page describes them in full:

• Red, May to July: over the summit, then south over White Mossy Hill.
• Blue, August to November: past the summit, east, then south by Whitsundale Beck.
• Green, December to April: lower ground by Ney Gill and Ravenseat, avoiding the summit bogs. About 17 km against roughly 18.5 km for red and blue.

Two rules from the stage's safety note. Walk the in-season route, because it is right for the moor and usually the better-marked line. And in bad visibility take the green route regardless of the date; Hartley Fell is open, featureless and notoriously hard to follow in mist, and there is no easy bail-out once you are committed. The stage page measures the red line at 17.5 km with 654 m of ascent. The best-time guide has the calendar.

Stage 9: Keld to Reeth, high or low

Keld to Reeth splits just after East Gill Force, where the Coast to Coast crosses the Pennine Way.

• High route. Wainwright's preference: past the ruin of Crackpot Hall, into the gorge of Swinner Gill, across Melbecks and Reeth High Moor and through the Old Gang and Surrender smelt mills. Exposed, pathless in places, notoriously boggy, no water and no shelter for the long middle, with open mine shafts and unstable spoil beside the path. The stage notes say to take it only on a clear, dry day.
• Low route. The riverside through Muker and Gunnerside, with tearooms, pubs and taps, and hay meadows at their height in June. The stage notes send you this way in rain, mist or winter.

The day is 11 to 12.5 miles depending on the choice; the stage page's measured line is 18.1 km with 611 m of ascent. Both end with the long descent into Reeth. If the weather turns on the high moor, the stage notes say to drop to the riverside route or bail to a village on the valley road for the Little White Bus.

Bad-weather and road escapes, stage by stage

None of this is official diversion advice; it is what the stage pages say exists. Check the getting-there guide for what buses run when.

Two current diversions

The National Trail's own information page lists two signed diversions in place at the time of writing: the start at St Bees, diverted after cliff falls on the headland, and the A19 crossing near Ingleby Arncliffe, where a signed alternative runs north to cross by the Black Swan Bridge. Both are marked on its interactive map, which is also where the official GPX file is downloaded. Follow the acorn waymarks on the ground rather than an older guidebook line.

How to decide on the day

Look at the mountain forecast the evening before, not the valley forecast. If cloud base is below the col or the ridge, take the valley or the low route; the stage notes for every high alternative say the same thing in different words. If it is clear, dry and calm and you have the legs, the high lines on stages 2, 4 and 9 are the finest walking on the route. Nothing about the Coast to Coast requires you to take any of them.