List of hill passes of the Lake District

The Lake District National Park was created in 1951 covering an area of over and, although its population is only 42,000, over 10 million visitors arrive each year, mostly attracted by the lakes and fells. Geology About 500 million years ago The high ground became gradually eroded and to the south the land subsided. Glaciers formed preferentially at existing streams which had developed at the many rock faults produced by crushing during the continental collision. The terrain was ground away leaving characteristically steep-sided glacial valleys which became ribbon lakes. Travelling between valleys was difficult on foot or by pony because of the steep passes across the mountainous ridges. With no roads suitable for wheeled traffic until the late 18th century, for long-distance transport of goods long trains of horses were used with ridge routes being preferred although Esk Hause and Stake Pass (see below) are thought to have been used in this way. However, for travel within the region, routes were best kept as low as possible consistent with avoiding excessive detours so summits and ridges were to be avoided as far as possible. In the late 18th century the region started to become popular with travellers and the "Lake Poets" began seeing the lakes and mountains as beautiful rather than horrifying. In Victorian times, encouraged by the arrival of the Kendal and Windermere Railway, ==Hill passes==

The passes are indicated in the following maps that are identical except for the annotation included. Both show the regions defined by Wainwright for his books. The first map shows the passes with their sequential numbers in the table. It also marks major lakes, valleys (dales) and a few important mountains. The second map shows the passes with their names (or a col on the route) and a few major towns. The colouring of the routes is merely to separate different adjacent ones. File:Lake District-pass numbers,fells,lakes.svg|Showing pass numbers, lakes, valleys and mountains File:Lake District-pass names,towns.svg|Showing names of passes and towns Notes for table header ==Selection criteria==

The hill passes listed are routes within the Lake District National Park between two different valleys where a pathway is marked on the Ordnance Survey 1:50000 or 1:25000 map. Passes to be considered may be listed as "pass" or "hause" in the Ordnance Survey 1:50000 gazetteer provided also that a route crossing the ridge is marked on the map. Also included are routes described as passes in Wainwright's Guides and in other authoritative sources provided still that they go between different valleys. To be listed a pass does not necessarily have a name (though most do have names) nor does it need to cross a col (but nearly all do traverse cols). A few have been excluded when the gain in elevation seems rather small (less than about – this particularly applies with paved roads. ==Notes==