Just a low level walk on Christmas day, not too far around the lower areas. A varied walk with some quite tricky bits in places, definitely one for able bodied persons.
Frontal ascents to Old Man are a bit industrial with mining and busy paths. Try going over Dow Crag for great views.
This walk was tremendous, but a hard walk if you are not an established walker. We parked just below Coniston Old Man Walk.Not in the village of Coniston as the walk from the village to the start of the walk is a very steep hard walk before you even start. About half a mile in a car and in first gear!...hot engine.So peaceful and quiet, there is a tarn on the walk ,it was so calm that when we saw it we didn't realise it was a tarn, it looked like a quarry, was just beautiful. Would recommend this walk. Take water, food, waterproofs. Take your time and see the beauty, the slate quarries amazing.
views fantastic ...great weather although cold. The ascent is tough and immediate but the whole run/treck one and a half to two hours. Depends on speed of course.
Well worth the trek up, parked just past the Sun Hotel, £6.50 for the day, the road up after that is steep steep steep and very icy at this time of year. After that we headed towards the copper mines on the north east side and up that way which was challenging due to ice and snow most of the way up. Headed back down on the south east side ended up walking down the quarry and road back. Seemed very sensible due to the snow covering. Views of Coniston Village and the lake are great all the way up.
If you walk from the Sun Inn to the car park you will wonder if you should have driven as it is steep steep steep! Then you can each the car park and realise everyone else has driven to the official sign post start line!! The sun inn is great, good ales may be a little expensive for steak pie and chips at £12.95 but the ale is good. The walk itself was a good route with some steep climbs but they were manageable with rests. Great views made you feel alive.
We started off at the top of the village (Coniston) and worked our way to the car park at the base of the mountain. In hindsight we think that starting from the car park would have been better!The hike to the summit of Old Man Coniston struck a nice balance between distance and altitude climb throughout the walk. The views across the valley, looking at the lake and throughout the walk were exceptional. You get to view some of the old mining houses and equipment along the way. The tarn sitting near the final section of the hike was stunning and sheltered creating a stillness that added to its natural beauty.
Coniston Old Man is an iconic Lakeland Fell, which can be climbed from either Coniston village or Torver, either on its own or in conjunction with one or more neighbouring fells. So it offers great flexibility - an up and down trip (by different routes, if you like) of less than 4 hours or a whole day excursion. The terrain is truly mountainous, there are great tarns around the fell and on a clear day there are fantastic views from the top. The ascent is a must for any keen fell walker.
We loved this trek. We did a circular route from the car park a mile up from the town centre. This was really good as we didn't have to walk the boring bit. We walked around to goat water and then up out of the corrie and up to the summit before dropping down to the tarn and quarry to the east of the mountain. A fantastic day!
I have walked Coniston Old Man several times in different seasons and weather conditions and love this walk, one of my favourites in the Lake District. Great in summer with 360 views from the top.