How difficult is the Wainwright's Coast to Coast?

Opens on the St Bees Head cliffs before turning inland through farmland into the western fells, a day of steady climbing and descending rather than one big pull. Ennerdale Water's forest track leads to remote Black Sail, then the steep, loose ascent of Loft Beck to the day's high point above Honister. The old slate tramway gives an easy, level finish down into upper Borrowdale. Quiet and increasingly wild as the day goes on; Ennerdale has no road access, and Black Sail Hut is the only building in the whole valley.

Navigation: Ennerdale's valley track and the tramway are unmistakable, but the ascent line up Loft Beck is loose underfoot and easy to lose in mist.

In poor weather: Westerly rain drives straight onto the St Bees cliffs at the very start of the walk; low cloud over Loft Beck and Haystacks removes the views and makes the ascent line harder to hold.

Escape options: Ennerdale Bridge (minor road, limited bus) is the last easy bail-out; beyond it the valley has no road until Honister Pass, which has a car park and seasonal café.

A short, gentle drop off Honister's shoulder into the flat floor of Borrowdale, the easiest walking of the whole Lake District crossing, and a deliberate rest before the climb to Greenup Edge begins the next stretch. Passes through Rosthwaite, the natural break point with a café and pub. This part of Borrowdale is a Lake District honeypot in its own right, so expect day-trippers as much as coast-to-coasters underfoot.

Navigation: Straightforward valley paths and lanes; no navigational difficulty.

In poor weather: Low-lying and sheltered; rain makes little difference beyond wet underfoot on the valley paths.

Escape options: The B5289 runs the length of this section, with a bus service and Keswick a short ride away.

The high point of the trail, in every sense. Climbs steeply from Stonethwaite over Lining Crag to the flat, boggy saddle of Greenup Edge, then on toward Grisedale Tarn, where the route splits: a valley path down to Patterdale, or the high-level alternative over Dollywaggon Pike, Nethermost Pike and Helvellyn, descending via Striding Edge. Both reconverge for the long climb past Angle Tarn to Kidsty Pike, the trail's highest point, before a steep drop to Haweswater and out of the Lakes. A long, serious day with very little shelter.

Navigation: Greenup Edge is the classic mist trap on this stretch, flat, boggy, marked only by faint, well-spaced cairns, with Langstrath and Wythburn both plausible wrong valleys to drop into. Elsewhere the ridge lines are more obvious underfoot.

In poor weather: Greenup Edge gets wetter and slower to cross after rain. The high-level Helvellyn alternative is a different, more serious proposition in wind, rain or ice. Striding Edge is an exposed scramble best kept for a calm, clear day.

Escape options: Grasmere (A591, frequent buses) is the main mid-section escape; Patterdale also has a bus service. Once past Patterdale toward Haweswater there is no public transport until Bampton. The reservoir road is the only way out.

Leaves the Lakes for limestone country around Shap and Orton, then climbs steadily to Kirkby Stephen and the crossing of Nine Standards Rigg, historically the low point of the trail for wet feet, a vast blanket bog with barely a path across it. A flagstone path finished in October 2024 has tamed the worst of it but doesn't cover the whole moor. Beyond the summit cairns the ground drops into Whitsundale and down to Keld, then a choice of a high moorland route past old lead workings or the gentler valley path through Swaledale's meadows to Low Row.

Navigation: Nine Standards used to need three colour-coded routes depending on ground conditions; the new flagstones mark a single clear line across the worst of it, but visibility can still be poor on the open moor above Kirkby Stephen.

In poor weather: The blanket bog around Nine Standards holds water for days after rain regardless of the flagstones on the unflagged sections. This is the stretch most transformed, for the worse, by a wet spell.

Escape options: Kirkby Stephen (A685, bus and a request rail stop) is the last easy escape before the moor. Keld has no direct bus; the nearest is at Thwaite or Muker in Swaledale.

One of the easier days on the trail. Follows lower Swaledale through Reeth and on to Richmond mostly at low level, with the river, stone barns and flower-rich meadows doing the work rather than any climbing. A short detour onto the Applegarth ridge is the only real ascent. Richmond, with its castle and full range of shops, is the first proper town since the coast and a natural place to take stock before the Vale of Mowbray.

Navigation: Well-trodden, low-level paths and field paths; little difficulty.

In poor weather: Low-lying and largely sheltered; rain mainly affects underfoot conditions in the riverside fields.

Escape options: Reeth and Richmond both have bus services; the section runs close to minor roads throughout.

The flattest, least eventful stretch of the whole crossing, quiet lanes and field paths across the Vale of Mowbray, with no walls, few views and, as the original guidebook famously complains, little of interest beyond farming. Danby Wiske, at the lowest point of the entire trail, is typical: a handful of houses and one pub that lives on passing walkers. The dullness is the point to plan around, not a problem to solve, treat it as a transit day. Only in the final few kilometres, climbing through Arncliffe Wood toward Faceby, does the ground start to rise again.

Navigation: Flat and well waymarked, mostly on quiet lanes and field paths; the main risk is inattention rather than difficulty.

In poor weather: Exposed to wind and rain with no shelter for hours at a time, unpleasant more from monotony than danger. Underfoot the field paths turn heavy in wet weather.

Escape options: Minor roads throughout, but public transport is thin; Northallerton, reachable by a short detour from several points, is the nearest railway station.

A proper roller-coaster: Carlton Bank, Cringle Moor, Cold Moor and Hasty Bank each climbed and dropped in turn before the long plateau of Urra Moor, the highest ground in the North York Moors. The old Rosedale ironstone railway then gives a level, easy-graded finish along Bloworth Crossing and down toward Glaisdale, a sharp contrast to the morning's climbing. Open, exposed moorland with wide views on a clear day and few people once past the Wainstones. Nothing is open on the tops, carry food and water for the whole crossing.

Navigation: Stone markers and cairns on the tops are adequate in clear weather; in mist the repeated up-and-down makes it easy to lose track of which summit you're on. The railway trackbed at Bloworth Crossing is unmistakable once found, but several tracks cross near the same point.

In poor weather: Fully exposed on the ridge tops, wind and driving rain have nothing to break them, and low cloud removes the wide views that are much of the point of this section.

Escape options: Clay Bank Top has a road and occasional bus. Great Broughton and Chop Gate are short detours off the ridge. Glaisdale has a railway station at the end.

Drops into Egton Bridge and Grosmont, a working steam-railway village, before a short, steep climb out at around one-in-three gradient that catches people off guard early in the day. Quiet moorland gives way to the wooded valley at Littlebeck and the waterfalls of Falling Foss, a gentler, more sheltered stretch after two days of open moor. Reaches the coast at Hawsker Bottoms, the first sight of the sea since St Bees, before easy walking on into Fylingthorpe on the outskirts of Robin Hood's Bay.

Navigation: Well waymarked throughout; the only care needed is on the steep, loose start out of Grosmont.

In poor weather: Sheltered in the wooded valley at Littlebeck and Falling Foss; exposed again once the route reaches the coast near Hawsker.

Escape options: Grosmont has a railway station (North Yorkshire Moors Railway and the Esk Valley line). Sleights and Hawsker both sit on minor roads with bus services.

A short, easy final stretch, sharing the last few kilometres with the Cleveland Way as both trails approach the coast from the south. Undulates gently across low cliffs into Robin Hood's Bay, a steep, crowded fishing village that makes a lively finish after 300km of quieter country. The walk traditionally ends with a short walk down the slipway to touch the sea, Wainwright's own 'terminus absolute'.

Navigation: Well waymarked and heavily used; no difficulty.

In poor weather: Short and low-level; weather affects comfort more than the route itself.

Escape options: Robin Hood's Bay has full bus and onward transport links. This is the end of the trail, not a bail-out point.