A stone-pitched mountain path climbing a green fellside under soft cloud, with a lake far below
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.
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WEAR AND TEAR ON THE HILLS

Paths wear
out too.

STAY ON the path, even if muddy

  • Trampling exposes soil
  • Rain carries it off
  • Walkers spread the scar
  • Small steps, big repairs

Every pair of boots leaves a small mark.

Multiply that by millions of walkers, add steep slopes and Lake District rain, and a grassy path can become a gully. Fix the Fells, run by the National Trust and the national park, repairs hundreds of upland paths.

Updated

Read a path

THE SHORT ANSWER

Lose the grass,
lose the soil.

Erosion starts with trampled vegetation.
Water and walkers do the rest.

HOW IT STARTS

Trampled, then washed away

When grass is trampled the soil is exposed, and rain washes it away. Over time the path turns into a channel with water running down it.

Read a path

HOW IT SPREADS

Walking round the mess

When a path gets hard to walk on, people step to the side, widening the scar. Fix the Fells says it can be seen from miles away.

See the numbers

HOW IT IS FIXED

Stone, drains and turf

Rangers choose from stone pitching, drains, soil inversion, turf and even sheep's wool, depending on soil, slope and how busy the path is.

The techniques

A QUICK PATH CHECK

What is the path
telling you?

Pick what you see on a hill path to learn what is happening and how rangers usually respond. The bar shows how serious the damage is.

Path check

Choose what you see
Bare patches in a lineEarly wear

These 'pigeon holes' appear when many walkers follow one line up a grassy slope. Rangers repair them with seed and turf under a protective willow and wire cloche.

A path splitting and wideningSpreading

Rangers may use path definition: moving loose material to the edges to make them unattractive to walk on and guide people along one line.

Boggy, peaty groundFragile

On peat, folded sheep fleeces can make a 'floating path' under a layer of stones, protecting the peat while letting water drain.

A gully with water runningBadly eroded

Beyond prevention, rangers may build drains, or invert the soil to raise a firmer path with a ditch either side.

A steep, scarred slopeNeeds rebuilding

Stone pitching sets large local stones, flat side up, as small irregular steps that blend in and need little maintenance.

Source: Fix the Fells, Path repair techniques (fixthefells.co.uk).

Based on Fix the Fells' description of path repair techniques in the Lake District.

TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

Scars can grow
very big.

One measure of unchecked damage,
one of the stone it takes to mend it.

30 m

Width of an unchecked scar

Left unchecked, erosion scars can become as wide as 30 metres and 4 metres deep, as happened at Coledale near Keswick.

EROSION SCAR · FIX THE FELLS

17,000 tonnes

Stone used in ten years

Fix the Fells used 17,000 tonnes of stone in the last ten years, taken from as close to each path as possible so repairs match the landscape.

STONE USED · FIX THE FELLS

Fix the Fells says one of the paths up Scafell Pike alone is used by over 100,000 people a year, and that by the 1960s some popular paths had quadrupled in width.

FOUR WAYS TO WALK LIGHTER

Help the path
heal.

A worn, muddy footpath that has widened into bare braided channels across a grassy hillside
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

The Countryside Code and the people who repair the paths ask for the same small habits.

  1. Stay on the path

    The Countryside Code says to stay on marked paths, even if they are muddy, unless wider access is available.

  2. Do not walk the edges

    Stepping round wet or rough patches widens the path. Walk through the middle where it is safe.

  3. Use gates and stiles

    Climbing over boundaries can cause damage and put livestock at risk, so use gates, stiles or gaps.

  4. Lend a hand

    Fix the Fells has around 100 volunteers from Cumbria and beyond who help clear drains and maintain paths through the year.

AN OLD CRAFT

Repairs that
blend in.

Rangers' hands setting a large flat stone into a path on a hillside, with a spade and loose soil beside it
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Erosion control is as old as pack horse routes and mining tracks. Soil inversion was used by the Romans. Stone-pitching has been adapted over time to make wet descents less slippery.

Fix the Fells began in 2001 and has repaired over 200 paths covering more than 400 km. In 2025, 147 volunteers gave 3,206 days to maintaining and repairing Lake District paths.

Questions

Questions people ask

Why do hill paths erode?

Trampling removes grass and vegetation, exposing the soil. Rain then washes it away, and the steepness of the path and the weather make it worse.

Is it better to walk beside a muddy path?

No. Walking at the side widens the damage. The Countryside Code says to stay on marked paths even if they are muddy, unless wider access is available.

What is stone pitching?

Large local stones are set into the ground, flattened side up, to make small irregular steps. It looks natural and needs little maintenance.

Why use sheep's wool on paths?

On boggy or peaty ground, rolled fleeces form a 'floating path' under stones, protecting the peat while letting water drain.

Who repairs the Lake District paths?

Fix the Fells: teams of National Trust and Lake District National Park rangers, helped by volunteers, with partners including Natural England.

Sources

Where the facts come from

  1. Fix the Fells: Path repair techniques
  2. Fix the Fells: Frequently asked questions
  3. Fix the Fells: What we do
  4. Fix the Fells: home page (volunteer figures for 2025)
  5. GOV.UK: The Countryside Code, advice for countryside visitors

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