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Haystacks Summit – Innominate Tarn loop from Gatesgarth

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Hiking trails & Routes

Haystacks Summit – Innominate Tarn loop from Gatesgarth

Moderate

4.8

(72)

680

hikers

Haystacks Summit – Innominate Tarn loop from Gatesgarth

03:07

7.78km

480m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required. The starting point of the route is accessible with public transport.

Last updated: February 12, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

Please check local regulations for:

Lake District National Park

Waypoints

Start point

Bus stop

Get Directions

527 m

View of Buttermere

Highlight • Viewpoint

Stunning vantage point for photos either towards Buttermere or Fleetwith Pike.

Tip by

717 m

Alfred Wainwrights final resting place as written in his books “These are his own words, taken from his Western Fells guidebook - "All I ask for, at the end, is a last long resting place by the side of Innominate Tarn, on Haystacks, where the water gently laps the gravelly shore and the heather blooms and Pillar and Gable keep unfailing watch. A quiet place, a lonely place. I shall go to it, for the last time, and be carried: someone who knew me in life will take me and empty me out of a little box and leave me there alone. And if you, dear reader, should get a bit of grit in your boot as you are crossing Haystacks in the years to come, please treat it with respect. It might be me."

Tip by

1.54 km

View of Buttermere from High Wax Knott

Highlight • Viewpoint

Just like every other place on the way to Hay Stacks, the view is joyous!

Tip by

2.27 km

Scarth Gap Pass

Highlight • Mountain Pass

Scarth Gap is the 1,460-foot (445 m) high mountain pass between beautiful Buttermere and tranquil Ennerdale in the Western Lake District. It makes use of the col between the towering High Crag and Haystacks, Wainwright's favourite fell and final resting place.

From the Gap, it's an entertaining clamber to Haystacks' summit or a steep, rocky pull up onto High Crag. Energetic hikers also use the pass to reach the remote and mighty Wainwright summit of Pillar from Gatesgarth, a big but rewarding undertaking.

Tip by

2.56 km

View of Buttermere from Haystacks

Highlight • Lake

You can get to the viewpoint a couple different ways. If you turn left just before the top onto the smaller path, there is a part you can do some scrambling on.

Tip by

2.86 km

Haystacks Summit

Highlight • Natural Monument

Alfred Wainwright’s favourite fell and final resting place, Haystacks is achingly pretty: a place where rocky, craggy coarseness meets the quaint charm of tarns and streams in perfect harmony. Alf described the peak as a ‘wonderful cure’ to the everyday worries of life. If you’re feeling stressed, go climb Haystacks.

Tip by

3.45 km

Innominate Tarn

Highlight • Lake

Innominate Tarn on Haystacks is where Alfred Wainwrights ashes were scattered. These are his own words, taken from his Western Fells guidebook - "All I ask for, at the end, is a last long resting place by the side of Innominate Tarn, on Haystacks, where the water gently laps the gravelly shore and the heather blooms and Pillar and Gable keep unfailing watch. A quiet place, a lonely place. I shall go to it, for the last time, and be carried: someone who knew me in life will take me and empty me out of a little box and leave me there alone. And if you, dear reader, should get a bit of grit in your boot as you are crossing Haystacks in the years to come, please treat it with respect. It might be me."

Tip by

3.72 km

View of Blackbeck Tarn

Highlight • Viewpoint

7.78 km

End point

Bus stop

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

4.86 km

2.09 km

694 m

141 m

Surfaces

6.50 km

1.13 km

141 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (570 m)

Lowest point (100 m)

Weather

Friday 8 May

11°C

3°C

45 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 23.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Our route recommendations are based on thousands of hikes, rides, and runs completed by other people on komoot.

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Haystacks Summit – Innominate Tarn loop from Gatesgarth

View of Buttermere

Buttermere South Shore Path

View of Buttermere from High Wax Knott

Scarth Gap Pass

View of Buttermere from Haystacks

Haystacks Summit

Innominate Tarn

View of Blackbeck Tarn

Nearby routes

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