Parking
Start at Ravenglass Station Car Park (CA18 1SN), pay and display. The village pay-and-display car park is an alternative with toilets. There is no parking at the bath house; access is on foot from Ravenglass.
Overview
About Walls Drive, Ravenglass
Why go
- Accessible route to an exceptionally tall Roman bath-house ruin
- Easy estuary-side historic walk from a railway station
Heads up
- Road walking without continuous pavement
- Short route with a mainly historic payoff
The surviving bath house walls, known locally as Walls Castle, stand close to 4 m high, with the building measuring roughly 15 by 30 m. Viewing is from the outside only. It is one of the more complete pieces of standing Roman masonry in the region and worth the short effort.
Parkwolf’s verdictThe PayoffMap & elevation
The route
Loading the Lake District map
Full mapElevation0–20 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
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 Walls Drive, Ravenglass, 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
Ravenglass: Railway or Roman Walk0:00 / 1:19
“You're nearing Ravenglass, home of the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway and a lovely chance to ride from the coast into the fells.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Lake District Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Muncaster Castle: Rooms, Gardens and Raptors
- Ravenglass: The Railway That Shrunk
- Waberthwaite: A Taste of Cumberland
- Holmrook: The Country House Called HMS Volcano
- 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 Walls Drive, Ravenglass
The Route in BriefAn out-and-back walk of 2.2 km (about 1.
An out-and-back walk of 2.2 km (about 1.4 miles) round trip, starting and finishing at Ravenglass Station Car Park, CA18 1SN. It is part of the national park's Miles Without Stiles network, graded For All, and the whole thing is broadly flat with roughly 0 to 20 m of height change.
What You Walk1.
1. Leave the station car park and follow the signed access around the edge of the village and railway.
2. Take care at the early road and bridge section, where there is a crossing and no continuous pavement.
3. Pass the caravan site entrance and join Walls Drive, a tarmac private road running beside the estuary.
4. Continue to the official turning point near the Roman bath house, then return the same way.
Surface and AccessSurfacing is firm tarmac throughout, intended to suit wheelchairs and buggies.
Surfacing is firm tarmac throughout, intended to suit wheelchairs and buggies. Be aware of the honest limits: short road sections without pavement, occasional vehicles on Walls Drive, and one road crossing near the start. There is no vehicular access or parking at the bath house itself, so the walk in is the only approach.
History You Can Rely OnThe bath house was established around AD 130, serving a Roman fort that guarded the river mouth.
The bath house was established around AD 130, serving a Roman fort that guarded the river mouth. Most of the fort now lies below ground or shows only as earthworks. Interpretation gives both Glannoventa and Itunocelum as possible Roman names for the site, and neither is settled.
Setting and PhotographyRavenglass sits where the Esk, Mite and Irt meet the sea, so the estuary views shift with the…
Ravenglass sits where the Esk, Mite and Irt meet the sea, so the estuary views shift with the tide. Low sun is the best light here, picking out the texture of the old masonry.
Practical FactsAccessible toilets, including a Changing Places facility, at the station.
- Accessible toilets, including a Changing Places facility, at the station.
- Platform cafe when operating; pubs, a hotel and tea rooms in the village.
- An alternative pay-and-display car park in the village, with toilets.
- Ravenglass is reachable by train, so the walk works well without a car.
- Dogs are welcome on this public route. Keep them under close control or on a lead near roads, other people and livestock.
If You Want MoreThe longer walk from Ravenglass to Saltcoats gives a more open estuary and coastal outing for…
The longer walk from Ravenglass to Saltcoats gives a more open estuary and coastal outing for those with time and legs to spare.
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.
