The Old Man of Coniston

This is a loop, 9.04 km (5.6 miles) in total, measured car park to car park so the walk through the village at each end is already included. Expect around 773 m of ascent and a realistic moving time of at least 3 hours, more if you stop at the mines or on top.

There is nothing technical here, but it is a genuine mountain day. The climb is relentless once you leave the valley, and the ground is rough, stony and broken in places, with boulder and scree sections and slate that gets slick when damp. Upper sections near Low Water can hold ice in winter, which changes the walk from a stiff plod into something that wants proper footwear and confidence on hard snow. Route-finding is basic map reading rather than navigation-heavy, since the mine tracks and stone-pitched zigzags are obvious in clear conditions, but low cloud on the upper fell is where people go wrong.

• Leave the Ruskin Avenue car park beside the Tourist Information Centre and walk up through Coniston village to Church Bridge
• Follow the narrow lane and footpath past the Coniston stone workshops
• Climb into the Coppermines Valley below Crowberry Haws
• Take the steep, rough slate track past the old aerial tramway buildings
• Continue to Low Water, then up the stone-pitched zigzags to the summit
• Retrace the upper section, then drop onto the lower path beside Church Beck back into the village

The Coppermines Valley is the reason this walk feels different from most Lakeland ascents. You pass durable mining remains, ruined buildings and tramway structures for much of the climb, and the industrial scars are as much the point as the summit. Treat them with respect: there are open shafts and levels, unstable ruins and steep crags close to the line of the path. Keep children and dogs close, stay on the trodden ground, and resist the urge to peer into holes.

The top sits at 803 m with a trig point and a view that opens out across Coniston Water and the surrounding fells. On a clear day it is one of the more generous summit panoramas for the effort involved, and the sudden reveal after the zigzags does most of the work.

Dogs are allowed on the footpaths and bridleways used by this route, but they must be under close control or on a short lead around livestock and other walkers. Start from the Ruskin Avenue pay after stay car park in Coniston, next to the Tourist Information Centre; the route proper begins roughly 150 m from the parking area, so you are walking almost immediately.

A longer variant of about 11.5 km (7.1 miles) with roughly 800 m of ascent and around 5 hours of walking uses the Walna Scar gate access and takes in more of the corries and broad ridges. There are also separate routes linking the summit with Dow Crag, Goat's Water and Swirl How. Those are different walks with different demands, so pick one deliberately rather than improvising on the hill.