Car park : Park opposite the Patterdale Hotel in the paid car parking.
(S/E) From the car park join the main road (A592), cross over and turn left. Walk in front of the Patterdale Hotel and then past the White Lion Hotel (opposite side of the road). Walk past some house fronts to a tarmac track leading up and past the White Lion beer garden and some cottages.
(1) Take the track which ascends and curves up and to the right (South) behind the cottages. It will eventually lead to the back of the Patterdale Hotel so look out for a path on the left and take this past a small tarn and then through a gate. The path leads around the base of Arnison Crag with nice views over Patterdale and the bottom part of Ullswater. It passes through a second gate and contours around to a junction with a path ascending from the Grisedale Road.
(2) Turn left and head uphill at a steady rate of ascent up Thornhow End. The path gets steeper after you pass through a gap in a wall and zig-zags a little as you ascend the spur of Black Crag and up onto Birks. It is always worth stopping for breath and to get some good views back over Ullswater, as you gain height.
(3) From the indistinct summit of Birks, continue along the path (southwest) and over a section which can be boggy after rainfall, then ascend again up the spur of St Sunday Crag. The path eases off as you gain height and reach the summit.
(4) Continue and descend to Deepdale Hause (southwest), where there is a path straight on to Fairfield and another on the right that descends to Grisedale Tarn.
(5) Take the right hand track that descends diagonally down towards Grisedale Tarn it joins the path leading up from Grisedale to Grisedale Hause, just in front of the tarn itself.
(6) Turn right at the junction and take the track leading down into Grisedale. It is rocky in places and some parts are eroded, so take care as you descend. You will pass Ruthwaite Lodge climbing hut and arrive at a bifurcation in the path.
(7) Take the right hand track which continues to descend and crosses Grisedale Beck via a footbridge (8). Continue to descend more gently until the valley bottom on your left becomes enclosed pasture. There will be a plantation on your left and then a plantation (Elmhow Plantation) on your right after which you will arrive at a working farm, Elmhow.
(9) Pass through the farm and pick up the farm track which leads down the valley. Just after the ruined barn at Thornhow the track becomes a road, follow the road down hill, passing another plantation on the right. Keep and eye out for a gate and signpost on the right after the plantation. If you arrive at a cottage on the left you have missed the gate.
(10) Turn right and pass through the gate, follow the path uphill back to waypoint (2). At the junction turn left and follow the path contouring the hillside back to the Patterdale road at waypoint (1) and then turn left and follow the pavement back to your car.
If you miss the gate at waypoint (10) and arrive at the cottage on the left you can continue down the road to Grisedale Bridge. Then turn right at the junction with the main road and follow the pavement back to the Patterdale Hotel and your car park.
Another alternative is: At the ruined barn at Thornhow, pass through a gate on the right and walk up passing the ruins on the right as you face it into another field. Follow the track diagonally up and across the field to a gate in the wall. pass through and turn left, then follow the track contouring around above the plantation to pick up the junction at waypoint (2).
