Why not discover a new you and come visit a few of our favourite Lake District views. Come enjoy the wellbeing effects of visiting the Lake District and experience the value of the landscape for inspiring and restoring the spirit.
Below we have compiled a list of some of the go to places for you, all in striking distance of the cottage.
1. Great Langdale Valley and its Fells
One of our favourite spots in the Lake District, we nearly lived there ourselves.
Great Langdale is a valley in the Lake District National Park, the epithet Great distinguishing it from the neighbouring valley of Little Langdale.
The Great Langdale is a popular location for hikers, climbers, fell-runners and other outdoor enthusiasts who are attracted by the many fells ringing the head of the valley.
Among the best-known features of Great Langdale are the Langdale Pikes, a group of peaks on the northern side of the dale. The Pikes themselves include (from west to east) Pike of Stickle, Loft Crag, Harrison Stickle and Pavey Ark.
Pike of Stickle, also known as Pike o’ Stickle, reaches a height of 709 metres (2,326 feet). Despite the peaked profile the summit is wide enough for a sizeable cairn surrounded by a small level area. Loft Crag and Gimmer Crag steal the attention in the foreground while Bowfell impresses across Langdale. A wide swathe of the Southern Fells is in view, whilst even distant Skiddaw puts in an appearance.
Loft Crag has an altitude of 2,238 feet (682 metres). It lies between Harrison Stickle and Pike o’ Stickle and is usually climbed in conjunction with these two peaks. The fell has a small sharp summit, below which rises Gimmer Crag, which is one of the top rock climbing venues in the Lake District.
Harrison Stickle is the high point of the Langdale Pikes and its crags fall south and east from the summit, presenting an arresting view from the valley floor 2,000 ft below, or from further afield. To the north, the main ridge of the central fells passes over Thunacar Knott before climbing to High Raise. The craggy eastern face of this ridge continues north as far as Harrison's near neighbour, Pavey Ark, visually the most impressive face in the area. The south-western border of Harrison Stickle is formed by the deep ravine of Dungeon Ghyll, which cuts through the parapet of the Langdale Pikes and into the lower hinterland of Harrison Combe. Across the Ghyll westwards are Thorn Crag, Loft Crag and finally Pike of Stickle. Below the steep eastern face of Harrison Stickle lie Stickle Tarn and its Ghyll, thus ensuring that all drainage from the fell is to Great Langdale. The tarn is a water filled corrie about 50 ft deep, this being enhanced by a dam. The water is used for public consumption in Great Langdale.
Pavey Ark is 700 m (2,297 ft) high. The main face is a little over a quarter of a mile across and drops about 400 ft. To the south-west it merges into the crags of Harrison Stickle, while the northern end peters out into the valley of Bright Beck. Stickle Tarn is wholly within the territory of the Ark, a corrie tarn which has been dammed to create additional capacity. The stone-faced barrage is low enough not to spoil the character of the pool, and the water is used for public consumption in the hotels and homes below. The tarn has a depth of around 50 ft.
Jack's Rake is the most famous ascent of the Pavey Ark precipice. It is classified as a Grade 1 scramble, but it is within the capability of many walkers, though it does require a head for heights and is considerably harder in bad weather.
Bow Fell at the head of Great Langdale
Other Fell of the Valley include the highest fell Bow Fell. Other notable Langdale fells are Crinkle Crags, at the head of the Oxendale valley, and Pike o' Blisco on the southern side of the valley.
Dungeon Ghyll is a ravine on the north side of the valley, starting on the fell slopes between Harrison Stickle and Loft Crag/Pike o' Stickle. It is narrow, and a No Through Route for walkers. Much more open is Stickle Ghyll, which descends from Stickle Tarn. There is a well–trodden path from the Stickle Ghyll car park opposite the New Dungeon Ghyll hotel up to the tarn, parts of which have been improved with stone slabs to reduce erosion. Another waterfall, known as Dungeon Ghyll Force, is up a path behind the Old Dungeon Ghyll hotel (great spot to finish any walk) and if not here try the Stickle Barn further up the valley bottom.
2. Elterwater and its Riverside walk
Elterwater is a small lake that lies half a mile (800 m) south-east of the village of the same name. A 30 minute drive from the cottage. Both are situated in valley of Great Langdale. From the village the wide flat path along the river travels to the lake with its backdrop of the Langdale Pikes. Only a quarter of the houses in Elterwater are permanently occupied, the rest being holiday cottages, the Brittania Inn is the village's hub a great place to pop in after any walk to and back from the lake. In 1947, German artist Kurt Schwitters created one of his Merzbau in a barn at Cylinders in Elterwater. The Merz Barn building itself is now owned by the Littoral Trust, still survives and can be visited free of charge. The Cylinders site and associated buildings are used for exhibitions and artists’ residencies and projects, including an annual D.I.Y. Summer School in July, and an autumn event and guest lecture.
The name Elterwater means either Lake of the Swan or Lake of Alder.
The river Brathay which provides outflow from Elterwater, flows south to join Lake Windermere, near Ambleside.
3. Hardknott and Wrynose Pass
Are formed from a single track road right through the middle of the Lake District, which is very steep and twisting, but great fun in the car or bike. The road shares the title of steepest road in England with Rosedale Chimney Bank in N. Yorkshire . It has a maximum gradient of 1 in 3 (about 33%).
Hard Knott Fort (known to the Romans as MEDIOBOGDUM) is near the Eskdale end of Hard Knott Pass section of the road. The fort, one of the loneliest outposts of the Roman Empire, built between AD120 and AD138, is on a spectacular site overlooking the pass which forms part of the Roman road from Ravenglass to Ambleside and Brougham at Penrith. It was built by the Romans to link the coast fort and baths at Ravenglass with their garrisons at Ambleside and Kendal. The Romans called this road the Tenth Highway.
At the top of the Wrynose Pass is the Three Shire Stone, marking the meeting point of the historic counties of Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland. Prior to the early 19th century, three "county stones" existed in the same spot.
4. Claife Viewing Station
You will find this hidden gem on the western shore of Lake Windermere. The viewing Station has recently undergone a two year restoration project by the National Trust. Claife was one of several viewing stations around the lake which were constructed for the earliest wealthy tourists to the area in the late 1700's. In the early 1800's the station was used for parties and dances, and the windows had coloured glass which designate the changing seasons. Now, you will find the café in the courtyard before walking up to the viewing station itself.
Take a traditional wooden launch from Bowness or Ambleside to the Wray Castle Jetty, then walk the four mile route along the serene western shore of Windermere to Claife Station before being transported back to complete the circuit. You could also travel across the lake on the Windermere car ferry from Bowness either on foot or with the car.
5. Loughrigg Terrace
Park at the White Moss car park near Rydal Water, and you have a choice of stunning routes to choose from. You may just be content to take the path over the ornate footbridge and up through woodland, and then turn right onto Loughrigg Terrace, overlooking Grasmere.
In the other direction you can head along to Rydal Caves for a few photos.
You may also enjoy the full walk to the summit of Loughrigg, and you can plan to take in all these locations en route.
Back near the car park there's a lovely picnic spot overlooking the River Rothay.
6. Easdale Tarn
The walk to the tarn starts in the village of Grasmere and follows a mostly gradual route up into the hills, through farmland, it then follows Easedale Beck and then the aptly named Sourmilk Gill up to the Tarn.Here the Tarn makes the perfect spot for a well deserved picnic. The circuit is just over 5 miles long the shortest route.
7. Blea Tarn
Blea Tarn is situated in a small hanging valley between Great Langdale and Little Langdale. The tarn itself was shaped by glacial ice moving over the col from nearby Great Langdale, but the ice was cut off as the glacier shrank, leaving "moraines very different from those at the head of the main valley". A car park for twenty vehicles is sited close to the tarn with an all-ability trail leading around the tarn. The tarn is forested on its western shore with rhododendrons also found there, the other shores being grassland. Although Blea Tarn is close to both a road and car park, it is in fact a mountain tarn. From the car park, cross the road and head through the gate opposite, following the path down towards the tarn. Turning right behind the tarn, you then head through woodland and out onto the open fell beyond. Follow the main path uphill towards the road and you'll witness fabulous views back down to the Little Langdale valley fells, and later Great Langdale. It's recommended that you return the way you came, rather than on the road.
8. Lake Windermere
England’s longest lake and the Lake District’s most popular! Explore all the attractions on the shore or take in the sites from the water with a cruise. All this can be done within a 20 minute walk down the hill to Bowness from the cottage itself.
9. Old Man of Coniston and the Lake
The Old Man of Coniston is a fell in the Furness Fells in the English Lake District. It is 2,634 feet (803 m) high, and lies to the west of the village of Coniston and the lake, Coniston Water. The fell is sometimes known by the alternative name of Coniston Old Man, or simply The Old Man. The mountain is popular with many and has a number of well-marked paths to the summit. The fell has also seen extensive slate mining activity for eight hundred years and the remains of abandoned mines and spoil tips are a significant feature of the north-east slopes.
The fell is normally climbed from Coniston village via Church Beck and the mines. Alternatives include the south ridge and the path to Goat’s Water, both ascending from the Walna Scar Road.
Coniston Water is the third-largest lake in the Lake District by volume (after Windermere and Ullswater), and the fifth-largest by area. It is five miles long by half a mile wide (8 km by 800 m), has a maximum depth of 184 feet (56 m).
The Victorian artist and philosopher John Ruskin owned Brantwood House on the eastern shore of the lake, and lived in it from 1872 until his death in 1900. Ruskin is buried in the church yard in the village of Coniston, at the northern end of the lake. Arthur Ransome set his children's novel Swallows and Amazons and the sequels around a fictional lake based on Coniston Water. In particular the books' Wild Cat Island with its secret harbour is based on Peel Island.
Coniston Water was the scene of many attempts to break the world water speed record. On 19 August 1939 Sir Malcolm Campbellset the record at 141.74 miles per hour (228.108 km/h or 123.168 kn) in Blue Bird K4. Between 1956 and 1959 Sir Malcolm's son Donald Campbell set four successive records on the lake in Bluebird K7, a hydroplane.
In 1966 Donald Campbell decided that he needed to exceed 300 miles per hour (483 km/h) in order to retain the record. On 4 January 1967, he achieved a top speed of over 320 miles per hour (515 km/h or 278 kn) in Bluebird K7 on the return leg of a record-breaking attempt. He then lost control of Bluebird, which somersaulted and crashed, sinking rapidly; Campbell was decapitated by the K7's windscreen. The attempt could not be counted as a record-breaking run because the second leg was not completed. The remains of Bluebird were recovered from the water in 2001 and the majority of Campbell's body was recovered later in the same year.
10. Scafell Pike
If you are a well-prepared and experienced walker, England’s highest mountain at an elevation of 978 metres (3209ft) above sea level, has to be on your Wainwright's tick list! If you’re not a walker, you can still admire the impressive fell from the valleys of Eskdale or Wasdale.
11. Wastwater
Famous as England’s deepest lake and for the dramatic screes that tumble into the water, Wastwater is also a tranquil spot to reflect while you take in the rugged Wasdale valley scenery. We love to take our kayaks for a paddle here and take everything in.
It is a glacial lake, formed in a glacially 'over-deepened' valley at 258 feet (79 m) deep. The surface of the lake is about 200 feet above sea level, while its bottom is over 50 feet below sea level.
12. Helvellyn and Striding Edge
Voted England’s favourite walk, in 2018 Helvellyn is a popular ascent for well-equipped and knowledgeable walkers. It also makes an impressive backdrop to beautiful Ullswater. It took myself four attempts before I felt comfortable about summiting it.
Helvellyn is the third-highest point both in England and in the Lake District, and access to Helvellyn is easier than to the two higher peaks of Scafell Pike and Sca Fell. The scenery includes three deep glacial coves and two sharp-topped ridges on the eastern side (Striding Edge and Swirral Edge). The north-east ridge is known as Swirral Edge, a sharp arête which joins the summit ridge at a point half-way along, and which terminates in the shapely pyramid of Catstye Cam.
The east ridge is another sharp arête known as Striding Edge. This joins the summit ridge at its southern end, not far from Helvellyn's summit. It passes over the subsidiary top of High Spying How and leads to Birkhouse Moor before descending to its final top, Keldas, beside the south end of Ullswater.
Helvellyn was one of the earliest fells to prove popular with walkers and explorers; beginning especially in the later 18th century. Among the early visitors to Helvellyn were the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth, both of whom lived nearby at one period. Many routes up the mountain are possible so that it may be approached from all directions.
However, traversing the mountain is not without dangers; over the last two hundred years there have been a number of fatalities.
13. Buttermere
Often regarded as England’s best view, this pretty lake makes for an easy, family-friendly walk with gentle paths and a tunnel carved into the rock on the north east side. It offers one of the best round-the-lake walks in the Lake District. The walk is relatively easy and level with a great 'reward for effort' ratio. The views mean that your photos make it look like you've been somewhere much more rugged.
14. Orrest Head
Said to be where Alfred Wainwright first got a taste for the region, Orrest Head is an easy fell walk that rewards you with stunning views over Windermere and can be accessed by you a short walk away from the cottage. A must do if you come stay with us!
15. Aira Force and the Ullswater way
One of the most spectacular waterfalls in the Lake District, Aira Force near Ullswater is surrounded by woodland and has viewing platforms to make the most of the sight of cascading water. Best visited after heavy rain! Probably the most famous of the Lake District waterfalls, Aira Force provides also a glimpse of a landscaped Victorian park with dramatic waterfalls, arboretum and rocks scenery. The main force falls 70 feet from below a stone footbridge and is on land owned by the National Trust.
The waterfall can be one of your views along the Ullswater Way. The Ullswater Way is a 20 mile walking route that goes around the whole of Ullswater lake. You can do the walk in one go, or do a smaller section combined with a boat trip or bus ride.
More information about the walking route can be found here:
16. Surprise View and Ashness Bridge
Walk up to Ashness Bridge as part of the spectacular Walla Crag to Ashness Bridge trail. Whatever the season you are guaranteed a wonderful photo opportunity at the bridge. It is famous for being a fine viewpoint across Borrowdale towards Skiddaw. It or its predecessor may have been a packhorse bridge conveying packhorse traffic from Watendlath to Keswick
While you're there, why not head to nearby Surprise View where you can see how great ice sheets carved out this impressive landscape. Surprise view a popular viewpoint is one of the most photographed in the Lake District and it’s not hard to see why! At Surprise View you can look out over the whole of the Derwentwater, Keswick, and beyond to Bassenthwaite Lake.
17. Rannerdale
The picturesque ‘hidden’ valley is awash with beautiful bluebells in the spring. Remember to avoid trampling the flowers so future visitors can also enjoy the spectacle too! It needs special care at bluebell time, please play your part in looking after this beautiful display and stick to the paths.
Situated between Buttermere and Crummock Water lies Rannerdale Knotts. It has everything you could wish for in a Lake District fell - panoramic views as well as peace and quiet.
18. Tarn Hows
This stunning tarn offers an easy, accessible walk up to and around it. The Tarn is one of the most visited spots in the c district, a beauty spot that must not be missed. It is not entirely typical of the local landscape, for the tarn is partly artificial, being three tarns joined together in the 19th Century, and most of the trees surrounding it are conifers. The attraction is its sheer beauty, surrounded by thick woodland, and views towards Wetherlam, the Helvellyn range and the
Langdale Pikes.
There is a 1.5 mile path round the tarn that is level and well maintained and thus suitable for wheelchairs. When the Tarns and its setting came up for sale in 1929, they were bought by Beatrix Potter who sold the half containing Tarn Hows to the National Trust and bequeathed the rest of the estate to the Trust in her will.
19. Castlerigg Stone Circle
High above Keswick, with its breathtaking views and the mountains of Helvellyn and High Seat as a backdrop, this stone circle is the oldest in Britain raised in about 3000 BC during the Neolithic period. The precise function of these early circles is not known, but their importance possibly centred on their large internal areas with their formalised entrances. Sites such as Castlerigg were undoubtedly important meeting places for the scattered Neolithic communities, but whether as trading places or as religious centres, or even both, is not known
20. Blencathra
Finally Blencathra, also known as Saddleback, is one of the most northerly fells in the English Lake District. It has six separate fell tops, of which the highest is the Hallsfell Top at 2,848 feet (868 metres). This fell is my own personal favourite and I remember every detail of my first ever summit of it and my avoidance of Sharp Edge. Between Tarn Crag and Foule Crag is Sharp Edge, an aptly named arête which provides one of the most famous scrambles in the area you really have to have a head for heights for this one. Hiker and author Alfred Wainwright noted that: ‘The crest itself is sharp enough for shaving (the former name was razor edge) and can be traversed only à cheval at some risk of damage to tender parts';). The best bit in reality for me though is the view at the top, it is very extensive, enhanced in every direction by the sharp fall of the slopes from the summit. To the west is the bulk of Skiddaw, and from west round to north-east the Back o’Skiddaw fells make up the foreground, backed by the Border hills and the Cheviots.
The Pennines form the horizon from north-east to south-east and to the south the Helvellyn range is seen end-on, with vistas of the Forest of Bowland and North Wales to its left and right respectively.
The skyline from south to WSW is the best feature: a serrated skyline of all the major Lakeland peaks, these being, clockwise, Coniston Old Man, Crinkle Crags, Bowfell, Esk Pike, Scafell Pike, Great Gable, Kirk Fell, Pillar, High Stile, Grasmoor and Grisedale Pike. On a clear day to the right of this, the Isle of Man and the Mourne Mountains are visible. Derwent Water and Thirlmere are the major lakes visible. Surely this has already captured your sense adventure?!
While our fells are relatively small, conditions especially on the summits can be challenging - and at any time of year.
Heading out for a walk, then what you wear and what you take is important to make sure you have a pleasant and safe day out. Check out our "Walkers Check List" on our Things to do Page before you go out on any of our suggestions.
Next move for you is obvious, surely?... yep you got it, go check out our Rates and Availability Page and book your stay with us for your next adventure that's waiting here in the Lake District at our home away from home 18 in the Corner.