Parking Problems at Seathwaite

If you've ever visited Seathwaite to walk up Great Gable or Scafell Pike then you will already be aware that there are parking issues up there. Here's the view when the Google Streetview car visited in April 2010 and even on an overcast Spring day where it had clearly rained earlier almost all the available parking was in use.

And when were researching our walk Base Brown, Green Gable, Great Gable and Seathwaite Fell in mid-September we took this photo from above Seathwaite farm and you can probably see how busy the road was with a long line of parked cars stretching away to the left of the farm:

Now, in the middle of the summer and especially as the August Bank Holiday approaches, things are considerably worse with inconsiderate drivers parking both sides of this very narrow road and also blocking field gates making it impossible for the farmer or emergency vehicles to get along the road. This is frustrating for the farmer and plain dangerous for everyone.

The National Trust are currently working together with the parish council, the police, Cumbria Highways and the Lake District National Park Authority to find a better solution for people wanting to access the fells from Seathwaite, but this will take time.

In the meantime if you turn up and find that you can't easily park at Seathwaite without being confident a fire engine or tractor and trailer could easily pass, please consider parking elsewhere in Borrowdale, especially at the Seatoller car park at the end of the road into Seathwaite.

Alternatively why not go green and take the bus? There are two bus services which run from Keswick past the end of the road down to Seathwaite:

• Service 78 - this open-top double-decker bus runs an hourly service between Keswick and Seatoller Monday-Friday, and every thirty minutes at weekends during the high season.
• Service 77/77A - The "Honister Rambler" bus runs from Keswick and calls at Seatoller every hour.

Or could you save your Seathwaite adventure for another day in the quiet season, and plan a route starting elsewhere for the high season?

Tagged: news, walks

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