Parking
Start from Grasmere village centre. Broadgate Meadow is the closest public paid car park; Stock Lane and Red Bank offer further village options. Follow the lane toward Allan Bank to join the route.
Overview
About Easedale Tarn, Codale Tarn and Tarn Crag
Why go
- Two high tarns in one varied loop
- Quiet ridge views after the busy Easedale approach
Heads up
- Wet, boggy and rough ground
- Faint paths and short scrambling on high ground
Two very different tarns in one day: Easedale Tarn in its wide corrie bowl, then remote little Codale Tarn tucked into the fellside above. The summit and ridge of Tarn Crag open out wide views over Grasmere, Easedale and the surrounding fells, and the return down Far Easedale keeps the valley scenery going to the end.
Parkwolf’s verdictWhy It Is Worth ItMap & elevation
The route
Loading the Lake District map
Full mapElevation70–544 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
Safety
8 active Lake District alerts
- ClosureChapel Stile footpath closed for retaining-wall riskPart of Footpath 543030 between Chapel Stile and Baysbrown campsite is closed because a retaining wall beside the path could collapse and material it supports could fall across the footpath.Official details
- ClosureStanley Ghyll Lower Falls footpath closed for rockfallThe section of Footpath 408037 leading towards Stanley Ghyll Lower Falls is closed because severe rockfall damage has made the path unstable and further rockfall remains a danger.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Lake District Tour Guide
Your drive to Easedale Tarn, Codale Tarn and Tarn Crag, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Lake District National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this trailhead
Easedale Tarn: Waterfalls from Grasmere0:00 / 1:00
“You're drawing near the Grasmere starting area for Easedale Tarn, a walk that takes you past waterfalls into a bowl of mountain crags.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Lake District Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Grasmere: Riverside, Gingerbread and Lake
- Wordsworth Grasmere: Inside Dove Cottage
- Mill Bridge: Seat Sandal and the Grasmere View
- Rydal Water and Cave from White Moss
- 298 audio storiesacross Lake District’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Red Deer, Eurasian Otter, Osprey, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 265 trails, 89 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Easedale Tarn, Codale Tarn and Tarn Crag
The RouteA 12.8 km loop (published as 13.0 km / 8.
A 12.8 km loop (published as 13.0 km / 8.1 miles) from Grasmere village with around 510 m of ascent. Allow about 5.5 hours including normal stops. You leave the village on the lane toward Allan Bank, join Easedale Road, cross a footbridge and follow Sourmilk Gill with its waterfalls up into the bowl holding Easedale Tarn. From there the walk climbs past the crags to the hidden hollow of Codale Tarn, continues over Tarn Crag, follows its east ridge past the Greathead and Stenners Crag ground, then drops into Far Easedale and returns via the Stythwaite Steps footbridge.
Difficulty And FootingThis is a moderate-to-hard fell circuit, roughly 7/10.
This is a moderate-to-hard fell circuit, roughly 7/10. The approach along Sourmilk Gill is well trodden, but expect:
Walk it in the direction described above. Descending beside the Codale Tarn outflow is genuinely unsafe, so treat the loop as one-way.
- Rough, wet and boggy ground around the Easedale Tarn shore
- A steep, eroded climb beside the upper gill with slimy rock and short hands-on scrambly steps
- Faint paths, bog and rocky steps on the high ground near Codale Tarn and Tarn Crag
- Bracken and an indistinct path on the descent toward Far Easedale
NavigationMap and compass skills matter here.
Map and compass skills matter here. The high section between Codale Tarn, Tarn Crag and the start of the ridge descent has little in the way of clear path, and the drop through bracken is easy to lose. Do not rely on following footprints once you leave Easedale Tarn.
Access And DogsStart and finish in Grasmere village centre.
Start and finish in Grasmere village centre. Paid public parking is available in the village, including Broadgate Meadow close to the start, with Stock Lane and Red Bank as further options. Cattle can be in the lower fields, so keep dogs under close control on the public route and on a lead near livestock.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Lake District
81 sightingsRed DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
13 sightingsEurasian OtterMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
76 sightingsOspreyMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
51 sightingsEuropean BadgerMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
233 sightingsMute SwanMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
176 sightingsGrey HeronMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Lake District. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
