The route to the pass starts from Stanah in the west and rises over the west ridge of Stybarrow Dodd. It remains to the north of both Sticks Gills, so that most of its length is carried by Stybarrow Dodd. In 1928 the route was still marked by a number of sticks, from which it was supposed that the pass had been named. By the 1950s these sticks had vanished.