Joanna On The Trail

In his 1973 guidebook, A Coast to Coast Walk: A Pictorial Guide, the famous British fellwalker, author, and illustrator Alfred Wainwright documented the route in 12 segments, each ending at a small town with some type of lodging available. While some may get hung up on walking the ‘official’ route, Wainwright explicitly states in his book that people should not feel constrained to following his route or segments. He published his book to provide inspiration for ramblers and a path that could be followed by connecting public rights of way across England, from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. Now that it is a National Trail, there is an ‘official’ path (slightly modified from Wainwright’s), but there are still high and low route options and where to stop is up to the walker (and availability of accommodations).

Far from the leisurely stroll across the English countryside that ‘Coast to Coast Walk’ evokes, calling this journey a ‘walk’ is the embodiment of British understatedness. Total distance will be 190+ miles with over 30k feet of ascent — roughly equivalent to climbing Mount Everest from sea level. This being the north of England, significant rain and wind are to be expected. Some parts of the path, especially in the Lake District are very steep, and there are no switchbacks. If you’re going to the top of that fell (mountain), you’re going straight up. The path is often rugged and hard to navigate, crossing through becks and bogs along the way. There will also be more leisurely days, walking through the rolling hills and pastures of the Yorkshire Dales or the heather-covered North York Moors.

Day-by-Day Summary

Based on my research, most people complete the walk in 14-15 days, although some do it in as short as a week or as long as three weeks. I’m hiking west to east (as most people do) in 15 days, following the high route variations assuming the weather cooperates. I have not built in any zero days (full rest days) because I want to keep the same daily routine, but my 15 day plan has some shorter segments that will serve as partial rest days.

Day	From	To	Miles	Ascent (ft)	Est. Hours
1	St Bees	Ennerdale Bridge	15	2884	8
2	Ennerdale Bridge	Rosthwaite	15	2253	6½
3	Rosthwaite	Grasmere	9	2696	5½
4	Grasmere	Patterdale	10	3612	4½
5	Patterdale	Shap	15.5	3632	8
6	Shap	Orton	8	1729	4
7	Orton	Kirkby Stephen	12.5	1772	5½
8	Kirkby Stephen	Keld	13	1860	6
9	Keld	Reeth	11	1972	4½
10	Reeth	Richmond	10.5	1247	4½
11	Richmond	Danby Wiske	14.5	568	6
12	Danby Wiske	Osmotherley	11.5	892	5
13	Osmotherley	Blakey Ridge	21	3350	8
14	Blakey Ridge	Grosmont	13.5	581	5
15	Grosmont	Robin Hood’s Bay	15	2234	6
Total			195	31282	87

The 195 mile total reflects estimated distances for all of the high routes, some of which are not in the ‘official’ 190-mile route.

Route Notes

Where the route offers high and low alternatives, I’m planning to take the high route because this hike is meant to challenge me physically and mentally, so taking low routes feels like a cop out. Plus, the high routes offer the best views. That said, I won’t be foolish about it: if weather conditions make the high route genuinely unsafe or if my body feels like it’s not up for it, I’ll swallow my pride and take the lower alternative.

• Day 2 (Ennerdale Bridge → Rosthwaite): High route over Red Pike, High Stile (the highest summit on the C2C), and Haystacks (Wainwright’s favourite fell, where his ashes were scattered)
• Day 3 (Rosthwaite → Grasmere): High route over Calf Crag, Gibson Knott, and Helm Crag; diversion Lancrigg Woods along Poet’s Walk
• Day 4 (Grasmere → Patterdale): Highest route up Dollywaggon Pike, High Crag, Nethermost Pike, Helvellyn and down the aptly-named Striding Edge ridge. If it’s windy enough that I’ll get blown off the ridge I’ll take the other high route over St Sunday Crag.
• Day 8 (Kirkby Stephen → Keld): Blue route up to Nine Standards Rigg, which Stedman refers to in his book as ‘the full Pennine experience’ and is only open August to November.
• Day 9 (Keld → Reeth): High route, which is the ‘official’ route anyway

If you’d like to explore the Coast to Coast route in more detail, there is an excellent interactive map here.