cliff camping

All enquires please email bookings@honister.com

Cliff Camping

Prepare yourself for a truly unique experience that is sure to put your head for heights to the test.

The extreme camping experience will commence with a crossing of the infinity bridge, which is the longest of its kind in Europe! Then you will abseil down the crag to your wild camping spot for the night. You will sleep 500 feet above the Honister pass as your tent suspends from the rock.

Certainly, this cliff-face camping experience is not for the faint of heart!

Cliff camping isn’t all adrenaline-filled discomfort though! In fact, you will soon be more than comfortable thanks to our luxury sleeping bags and Cumbrian food hampers. You’ll even be treated to a delicious Burrowdale bacon buttie on the next morning of your camping experience!

Please note that this experience has limited availability and is weather dependent.

A member of our expert team will be on call 24/7 in case of an emergency.

One Portaledge overnight stay (2 people) – £500

Two Portaledge’s overnight stay (4 people) – £800

Photography credit to Trail Magazine – Tom Bailey

Harry R
via Tripadvisor
Great experience! Thank you to Gary for being an amazing guide and taking such brilliant photos! We would definitely recommend to anyone interested 😊
Jo W
via Tripadvisor
Second to none experience amazingly down to earth receptionist who made you feel like family the moment you walked through the door … the best customer service received at a tourism centre and via Ferrata was immense …recommend to all
Julian C
via Tripadvisor
We did the Via Ferrata Xtreme on a beautiful sunny day. Outstanding experience, very well run facility. Our guides Elt and Alana made the whole experience great and safe. They were friendly and happy to explain the workings of the mine and the history. Would highly recommend!
Justin B
via Tripadvisor
Myself and my lad did the Via Verrata experience. What an amazing day, gets a bit Hairy at points but just follow your rules and all great. The views are fabulous and the guide was great. All in all its a definite for the bucket list and a fantastic day out.

Key FAQS

At Honister, we provide a range of family activities guaranteed to leave you with fun-filled memories for life! From indoor climbing to canyoning, we’ve got you covered. See the Adventures page for our extensive offering of adrenaline-packed activities.

We provide a range of activities that feature outdoor climbing. You can choose from:

Canyoning
Cliff camping
Via Ferrata Classic
Via Ferrata Xtreme

We have a café located in the main visitor area, known as The Bait Cabin. It is open daily and serves paninis, soups, bacon sandwiches, ice cream and homemade cakes, along with a variety of refreshing drinks.

We also have WiFi available to our customers, as well as parking facilities – FREE for Honister customers and £5.00 per day per vehicle if you are not a customer.

Dogs are not permitted on any paid activity, however, they are welcome in the café, shop.

Honister’s Via Ferrata, Climb The Mine and Infinity Bridge activities do not require a high level of body strength, but some activities can be physically demanding and therefore do require reasonable levels of fitness. For more experienced climbers with higher levels of fitness, the Via Ferrata Xtreme is the choice for you.

Please see our booking terms for more information on fitness level, height and weight requirements.


Many of our activities are child-friendly, particularly if there will be adults present too. You’ll find minimum age requirements on our individual adventure activity pages, as well as guidance on whether adult supervision is necessary.

Please consult our booking terms for further information.

Our Climb The Mine activity is the perfect indoor climbing adventure for a rainy day! Climb the Mine follows the route of the original underground mine workings and is complete with vertical climbs, rope-bridge crossings, steel ladder ascents, run-away zip line and a Tarzan swing.

You’ll be able to explore a secret world of hidden passages and magnificent cathedral-sized caverns where miners used to extract rock for roofing slates, before emerging to a spectacular view of one of England’s highest mountain passes.

No. This is agreed to in the terms and conditions at the time of booking.

We will, however, issue you with a voucher which is valid for 12 months if cancelled 48 hours BEFORE the date of your activity. If you cancel WITHIN 48 hours vouchers will not be issued.

Yes. Located in the main visitor area. It is open daily serving paninis, soup, bacon sandwiches and homemade cakes with teas and coffees.

Whilst we try to cater for all dietary requirements sometimes it is not always possible.

No. The bus operates to take mine tour customers to the mine entrance only.

Keswick is 8 miles, Cockermouth 13 miles.

Yes! we do, available for our customers only

No. The closest public phone is in Seatoller (at the bottom of the pass).

Yes. They are welcome in the café, shop and public viewing area.

They are not permitted on any paid activity.

No. We currently do not have a zip wire, however late 2018 our plans for a zip wire (the first of its kind in the Lake District) were approved so please keep an eye out for further information that will be released in due course.

We will only cancel our activities in the case of Strong Winds or electrical storms.

Honister reserves the right to make any operational changes at any time which are considered necessary for safety or operational matters.

For safety reasons we may introduce amendments to the route or activity termination.

If the weather does force us to cancel an activity, we will endeavour to contact all customer prior to arrival and an alternate activity or an opportunity to rebook will be offered. Refunds will not be given.

FREE for Honister customers.

£5.00 per day per vehicle, if you are not a customer.

Tickets are available from the Shop.

On leaving the B5289 the main entrance for customers wishing to park at Honister is at the front of our Visitor Centre. Turn immediately right for our main ”Visitors’ Car Park”, turn left for the “Overflow Car Park”.

We do not recommend you use our coach/wagon entrance as the track is not suitable for passenger vehicles.

Coaches are welcome to park at Honister free. We have lots of space, but please phone ahead and we can help with traffic flow.

We regret no overnight parking unless previously arranged.

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