Cross over the main road, and look for a footpath that leads down towards a grassy area by the River Rothay. Once in this area turn right and head up-stream along the river, heading towards a footbridge.

Cross this bridge. Three paths lead away from the bridge, two following the river upstream and down, and a third that leads away from the river into the trees. Follow this third path.

At the edge of the woods we reach a path running east-to-west across the hillside. Turn right onto this path, and follow it to the west, along Loughrigg Terrace. This part of the walk offers great views across Grasmere.

We stay on Loughrigg Terrace until we start to get close to a patch of trees. At this point we reach a very obvious path that turns left and climbs up the north west corner of Loughrigg. This is clearly a very popular path, and is paved for most of the route, eventually reaching the summit of the fell.

The main path continues on past the summit, first dropping down off the actual summit, and then dropping down another steep slope into a small valley.

At this point a maze of paths criss-cross the summit. Our aim is to head north east across the summit (east north east if you have a compass with you), using the valley created by a small and apparently unnamed back to get back to the lake side. Here we describe the route we used to achieve this, but if you miss one of these paths, remember that our target is to head downhill, north east, safely.

Just over 400 feet past the summit cairn, at the bottom of that steep slope, a smaller path leaves the main path to the left, heading towards a small tarn. Turn onto this path.

Follow this path as it passes by the left hand side of that tarn. Just beyond the tarn, we reach a crossroads in the paths. Head straight across and follow the path, as it heads down another steep slope onto a swampy plateau (labeled Scartufts on the OS map).

A reasonably clear path heads across the swampy plateau heading roughly to the north east. Follow this path to the opposite side of the plateau. At this point a stream leaves the plateau, with a much clearer path roughly following the line of this stream. Follow this path.

We remain with this path for the next quarter of a mile, as it follows this small stream (sometimes deviating a little to the right to avoid waterfalls or crags). The path remains clear all the way.

After that quarter of a mile, our path (and the small stream) reaches another stream, running down a distinct valley towards Rydal Water. At this point we have a choice of paths - one continues on in the same direction as our original path, climbing back up out of the valley, while the other turns left and follows the stream down towards the lake. On our last walk, we turned left onto this path, which turned out to be muddly, unclear, slippy and generally tricky, so ignore it, and follow the straight path as it climbs up away from this stream. After a short distance you will reach a crossroads in the path. Turn left and follow the clear path that heads down hill towards Rydal Water.

After a short distance you will reach a group of impressive trees (where you will meet our muddy path). In the middle of these trees we find a major tourist footpath that runs west-to-east above the lake. Turn right onto this path.

This path heads east, with trees to the right and open ground to the left, steadily getting closer to the lake shore. After just after a fifth of a mile, a side path links our path to the lake-side path. Turn left onto this path, then when we reach the lake-side path we turn right, heading towards another parcel of trees.

The path through the trees leads to a bridge across the river. Cross this bridge, and follow the path that leads up to the main road in Rydal village. Turn right and head along the road.

After a short distance turn left onto a side road signposted for Rydal Mount and Rydal Hall and follow this road as it climbs up the hillside.

Just past Rydal Mount turn left onto the signposted footpath. This path runs along the slopes of Heron Pike, with Rydal Water to the left. Follow this path all the way to the western end of Rydal Water.

We follow this path for about a mile, until we reach a small cottage in the trees. Here a smaller footpath leaves this path, heading downhill to the left, following the line of a small beck back to the road. Just before the road the small beck falls over a surprisingly sizeable waterfall, just to the right of the path. At the road turn right and return to the car park.