---
title: "Helvellyn fell guide | Visit Keswick, Lake District"
url: https://visitkeswick.com/explore/fells/helvellyn
description: "Helvellyn from Keswick: the scrambling route from Glenridding, the quiet way up from Thirlmere, and what you can see from the top."
---

## Very accessible from Keswick

Helvellyn is one of the best-known fells in the northern Lake District, and it is very accessible from Keswick by car or regular bus. If you want to tackle the rocky ridges of Striding and Swirral Edge it is an easy half-hour drive from Keswick to Glenridding.

Alternatively, take it from the [Thirlmere](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/lakes/thirlmere) side, where you can take in parts of the backbone of the eastern fells — Dollywaggon Pike, Raise — for superb views into the rocky eastern coves and their sharp ridges, on a mainly grassy hike. A regular bus from Keswick along the A591 makes such a traverse quite straightforward.

Helvellyn the easy way

## Helvellyn the easy way

That is, if a couple of hours of solid ascent on engineered paths can be described as easy. It avoids the scrambling of Striding Edge and Swirral Edge altogether. The shortest option from Thirlmere goes up by the Helvellyn Gill path and back down the same way; for a longer circuit, continue over Nethermost Pike and Dollywaggon and down Raise Beck to Dunmail Raise. [The full route](https://visitkeswick.com/do/walking-routes/helvellyn-from-thirlmere) has the detail.

A range of mountains reflected whole in a lake lying completely still

## From the summit

North and north-west to Skiddaw and Grisedale Pike, which you will recognise if you are staying in Keswick. South-west to the Scafells, often capped with cloud even when Helvellyn is clear. South to Windermere. And east to High Street and down to Ullswater.

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- Helvellyn
- [Keswick](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/town)
- [Thirlmere](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/lakes/thirlmere)
- [St John's in the Vale](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/valleys/st-johns-in-the-vale)

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