The best places to go in the Lake District
If you are visiting the Lake District with the family, you can take advantage of the great range of things to see and do in the area, including the Beatrix Potter Attraction at Bowness, the boat trips on Windermere and the Lakes Aquarium near Bowness. Alternatively, if you prefer the great outdoors, some of the best easy walks can be found in the Lake District.
Walna Scar walks
Many more examples of these passes, some of them at a relatively high altitude and thus exposed to raw winter weather, and others very well used in their heyday, can be identified from a study of the map. The Walna Scar Road, connecting Coniston with Seathwaite in Dunnerdale, is a classic example: a pre-historic routeway passing close to Little Arrow Moor, with its stone circle and Bronze Age burial mounds, it rises to 580m (l,990ft) as it crosses the Walna Scar Pass, the fifth highest in the Lake District.
The way lies past the former Coniston railway station and then up to the open moor below the Old Man, passing the virtually dried up Boo Tarn and then through rock gateways the popular route to the towering Dow Crag, dominating the barren upland tarn of Goat's Water, forks right near here before reaching the summit of the pass and the long descent to Seathwaite.
Sticks Pass Lake District
Higher still, at 735m (2,420ft) (only Esk Hause is higher) is Sticks Pass, used by packhorses carrying lead ore from Greenside Mine near Glenridding to be smelted at Stonycroft, in the Newlands valley, and Brigham near Keswick. The name derives from the tall stakes, long since vanished, which were driven into the ground to mark the line of the track during the worst of the winter weather. At this height the winter snows can be both heavy and prolonged, and indeed the slopes to the south are alive with skiers nowadays when conditions are right. Generally, however, the surroundings at the summit of the pass are bleak and a little dreary, and it is only its elevation and its position in the heart of the Helvellyn range which assures Sticks Pass of real distinction.
Borrowdale and the Stonethwaite Valley
The well-used path from Borrowdale through the Stonethwaite valley and across Greenup Edge into Easedale and finally to Grasmere passes through an almost equally featureless landscape as it crosses the central watershed of the Lake District, but in its lower reaches to both east and west of this barrier it is quite delightful. Once again this was a busy packhorse route in its time, but it is just as important now as an easy walkers' route into the heart of Borrowdale.
Starting from the west, the route passes through the attractive hamlet of Stonethwaite, with its cluster of whitewashed stone farms and cottages, and after crossing Stonethwaite Bridge runs alongside the beck to Smithymire Island, the site of a bloomery established by the monks of Fountains Abbey to smelt their ore, carted along Langstrath from Ore Gap.
The way ahead is dominated now by the glorious ramparts of Eagle Crag, but the path lies to the left here, climbing to Greenup Edge and then down into the head of Far Easedale, a place of formidable crags, boulderstrewn slopes and the tumbling waters of the beck in its rocky trench. Lower down the scenery beconles more gentle and the old trade route crosses the beck on Stythwaite Steps before entering the village of Grasmere along a narrow lane.
Hotel Lake District
If you are looking for a romantic hotel in the Lake District, a luxury hotel or a boutique hotel, you can find a wide choice of Lake District accommodation in and around Windermere, Bowness, Grasmere, Coniston and Ambleside.
Camping and accommodation in the Lake District
Camping is another favourite pastime of Lake Distric walkers, and campsites with excellent facilities can be found in Coniston, Bowness, Windermere and Keswick. If you are looking for small hotel accommodation in the Lake District, check out the boutique hotels in the region.
Grisedale Hause
North-eastwards from Grasmere one of the busiest packhorse routes crossed the Helvellyn massif by means of Grisedale Hause on its way to Patterdale. The track is very clear as it climbs alongside Tongue Gill, passing yet more iron ore mines, to the Hause at 610m (2,004ft). This is the col separating the Helvellyn and Fairfield groups; to the north, beyond the bleak and exposed Grisedale Tarn in its rocky basin, is the path to Dollywaggon Pike, Nethermost Pike and then Helvellyn itself.
The way down into Grisedale is steep and rough at first, past Ruthwaite Lodge, originally built in 1854 as a shooting lodge but now in use as a climbing hut, and along the lower slopes of St Sunday Crag to the isolated farmstead of Elmhow. The ancient route crosses the seventeenth-century packhorse bridge here and approaches Patterdale along a surfaced road.
In the great rush to conquer the biggest and apparently the best of the Lake District's mountains, the vast majority of walkers visiting the region overlook the fact that some of the choicest routes lead not to the highest summits some of which provide dull walking in the extreme but to the tops of the lower fells.
These outstanding routes, often uncrowded but always worthwhile, traverse varied and attractive country and offer better views than those available from the heights. Some of the best are included below, though there are many others, most of which can be discovered from the map or from lowlevel reconnaissance in the dales.
Mellbreak and Crummock Water
An obvious example which will be familiar to those whose knowledge of the area extends beyond the tourist traps as far as the delightful western dales is Mellbreak, 510m (l,676ft) high but with the presence of a much higher mountain because it stands alone above the western shore of Crummock Water. The most arresting profile of the fell though, is not its forbidding frontal assault on the eye from across th lake, but its endon, pyramid peak aspect from Kirkstile: from here it simply has to be climbed. The best route lies along the lane to Kirkhed, then through bracken to the base of Raven Crag.
The crag can easily be climbed, keepmg away from the gullies and rock faces which confront Crummock Water, across heathery slopes to the north top of the fell. Sadly this is not the summit of Mellbreak: a level walk of about half a mile now follows before the highest point is underfoot. The great advantage of this easy walk across the summit plateau is that a tremendous panorama of the Buttermere fells develops as thee walk progresses.
Dodd and Skiddaw
The little satellite fell of Dodd usually goes unconsidered amongst the fells in the Skiddaw group, but it is in fact a very fine viewpoint and an easy walk from the Keswick to Carlisle road. Starting from Mirehouse, the route lies alongside the Skill Beck for much of the way, with good views along Bassenthwaite Lake, as far as Long Doors.
A wretchedly difficult route over unstable scree leaves from the col to climb Carl Side and eventually Skiddaw, but the way to the top of Dodd is much easier, through a pine wood and over rocks, swampy ground and then easy rocks again. A memorial tablet marks the summit, from which there are excellent views of the central and north western fells across Derwentwater. A choice of routes along waymarked forest trails now leads back to Mirehouse.
Walna Scar walks
Many more examples of these passes, some of them at a relatively high altitude and thus exposed to raw winter weather, and others very well used in their heyday, can be identified from a study of the map. The Walna Scar Road, connecting Coniston with Seathwaite in Dunnerdale, is a classic example: a pre-historic routeway passing close to Little Arrow Moor, with its stone circle and Bronze Age burial mounds, it rises to 580m (l,990ft) as it crosses the Walna Scar Pass, the fifth highest in the Lake District.
The way lies past the former Coniston railway station and then up to the open moor below the Old Man, passing the virtually dried up Boo Tarn and then through rock gateways the popular route to the towering Dow Crag, dominating the barren upland tarn of Goat's Water, forks right near here before reaching the summit of the pass and the long descent to Seathwaite.
Sticks Pass Lake District
Higher still, at 735m (2,420ft) (only Esk Hause is higher) is Sticks Pass, used by packhorses carrying lead ore from Greenside Mine near Glenridding to be smelted at Stonycroft, in the Newlands valley, and Brigham near Keswick. The name derives from the tall stakes, long since vanished, which were driven into the ground to mark the line of the track during the worst of the winter weather. At this height the winter snows can be both heavy and prolonged, and indeed the slopes to the south are alive with skiers nowadays when conditions are right. Generally, however, the surroundings at the summit of the pass are bleak and a little dreary, and it is only its elevation and its position in the heart of the Helvellyn range which assures Sticks Pass of real distinction.
Borrowdale and the Stonethwaite Valley
The well-used path from Borrowdale through the Stonethwaite valley and across Greenup Edge into Easedale and finally to Grasmere passes through an almost equally featureless landscape as it crosses the central watershed of the Lake District, but in its lower reaches to both east and west of this barrier it is quite delightful. Once again this was a busy packhorse route in its time, but it is just as important now as an easy walkers' route into the heart of Borrowdale.
Starting from the west, the route passes through the attractive hamlet of Stonethwaite, with its cluster of whitewashed stone farms and cottages, and after crossing Stonethwaite Bridge runs alongside the beck to Smithymire Island, the site of a bloomery established by the monks of Fountains Abbey to smelt their ore, carted along Langstrath from Ore Gap.
The way ahead is dominated now by the glorious ramparts of Eagle Crag, but the path lies to the left here, climbing to Greenup Edge and then down into the head of Far Easedale, a place of formidable crags, boulderstrewn slopes and the tumbling waters of the beck in its rocky trench. Lower down the scenery beconles more gentle and the old trade route crosses the beck on Stythwaite Steps before entering the village of Grasmere along a narrow lane.
Hotel Lake District
If you are looking for a romantic hotel in the Lake District, a luxury hotel or a boutique hotel, you can find a wide choice of Lake District accommodation in and around Windermere, Bowness, Grasmere, Coniston and Ambleside.
Camping and accommodation in the Lake District
Camping is another favourite pastime of Lake Distric walkers, and campsites with excellent facilities can be found in Coniston, Bowness, Windermere and Keswick. If you are looking for small hotel accommodation in the Lake District, check out the boutique hotels in the region.
Grisedale Hause
North-eastwards from Grasmere one of the busiest packhorse routes crossed the Helvellyn massif by means of Grisedale Hause on its way to Patterdale. The track is very clear as it climbs alongside Tongue Gill, passing yet more iron ore mines, to the Hause at 610m (2,004ft). This is the col separating the Helvellyn and Fairfield groups; to the north, beyond the bleak and exposed Grisedale Tarn in its rocky basin, is the path to Dollywaggon Pike, Nethermost Pike and then Helvellyn itself.
The way down into Grisedale is steep and rough at first, past Ruthwaite Lodge, originally built in 1854 as a shooting lodge but now in use as a climbing hut, and along the lower slopes of St Sunday Crag to the isolated farmstead of Elmhow. The ancient route crosses the seventeenth-century packhorse bridge here and approaches Patterdale along a surfaced road.
In the great rush to conquer the biggest and apparently the best of the Lake District's mountains, the vast majority of walkers visiting the region overlook the fact that some of the choicest routes lead not to the highest summits some of which provide dull walking in the extreme but to the tops of the lower fells.
These outstanding routes, often uncrowded but always worthwhile, traverse varied and attractive country and offer better views than those available from the heights. Some of the best are included below, though there are many others, most of which can be discovered from the map or from lowlevel reconnaissance in the dales.
Mellbreak and Crummock Water
An obvious example which will be familiar to those whose knowledge of the area extends beyond the tourist traps as far as the delightful western dales is Mellbreak, 510m (l,676ft) high but with the presence of a much higher mountain because it stands alone above the western shore of Crummock Water. The most arresting profile of the fell though, is not its forbidding frontal assault on the eye from across th lake, but its endon, pyramid peak aspect from Kirkstile: from here it simply has to be climbed. The best route lies along the lane to Kirkhed, then through bracken to the base of Raven Crag.
The crag can easily be climbed, keepmg away from the gullies and rock faces which confront Crummock Water, across heathery slopes to the north top of the fell. Sadly this is not the summit of Mellbreak: a level walk of about half a mile now follows before the highest point is underfoot. The great advantage of this easy walk across the summit plateau is that a tremendous panorama of the Buttermere fells develops as thee walk progresses.
Dodd and Skiddaw
The little satellite fell of Dodd usually goes unconsidered amongst the fells in the Skiddaw group, but it is in fact a very fine viewpoint and an easy walk from the Keswick to Carlisle road. Starting from Mirehouse, the route lies alongside the Skill Beck for much of the way, with good views along Bassenthwaite Lake, as far as Long Doors.
A wretchedly difficult route over unstable scree leaves from the col to climb Carl Side and eventually Skiddaw, but the way to the top of Dodd is much easier, through a pine wood and over rocks, swampy ground and then easy rocks again. A memorial tablet marks the summit, from which there are excellent views of the central and north western fells across Derwentwater. A choice of routes along waymarked forest trails now leads back to Mirehouse.
Labels: Dodd and Skiddaw
posted by Windermere Boutique Hotels | 02:17
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