Lake District National Park Things to Do

As this park was right next to where we were staying at Bank Ground Farm, we visited twice on our trip and did three of the walking trails. One moderate trail and the easy Ridding Wood Trail with its sculptures in the woods along the way on one day and another moderate trail the other day. The trails are well marked and enjoyable.

Opening hours:
10:00 - 17:00, Summer
10:00 - 16:00, Winter

This is kind of a miniature Disney World where the family walks through themed rooms and exhibits. There are sights, sounds, smells, and films. It's quite cheesy but it was our 7-year old daughter's favourite thing on our whole trip to the Lake District. She especially liked the photo taken against movie-blue plain backdrop that turned out developed with her inside one of the books (for an extra cost, of course).

This is a quaint old country house which has a timed ticket entrance system to avoid congestion. There is memorabilia throughout of the time Beatrix Potter lived here. There is also a nice garden. If you are not a BP fan, it will be fairly boring.

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The Coniston Boating Centre offers rentals of row boats, sailing dinghies, canoes, kayaks, and electric motor boats. It was a bit gusty the day we were there and the guy didn't believe I could handle a sailboat in that wind, so wouldn't rent me one. As it was a bit too windy for "Canadian" canoes and I didn't feel like rowing half the length of the lake, this left the electric boat option.

The boat is obviously easy enough to drive: forward or reverse, on or off, steer. It is covered at the front so can offer some shelter from rain and it is comfortable enough. The problem with the electirc boats is that they are so slow, and in the end, quite boring.

It was useful to see the sight we had come to see, however: Peel Island, or Wildcat Island of Arthur Ransome fame.

On the lake we also saw another example of cautiousness and liability-awareness taken to an extreme. We saw a group of teenagers learning to canoe, wearing helmets as well as lifejackets. The water was calm. Surely, the only way to hurt your head canoeing on a calm lake is for someone to hit you with a paddle? Ridiculous.

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There were so many places in the Lake District I wanted to see, that I would have needed to either spend several weeks there (which I didn't have the time nor the money ), rent a car and rush around on my own ( which I didn't want to do) or look for a guided tour which covered at least some of the places on my wish list.
I found the Mountain Goat Company and booked their High Adventure Tour. It was a great tour!

I was picked up at my B&B in Kendal. The company uses vans only, so our group was small. The tour guide was also driving and he did an excellent job! He lives in the Lake District, is a member of the Mountain Rescue Team and just loves this area. I could hear his enthusiasm for the Lake District in every sentence , that is, once I had got used to his accent. In the beginning I had some problems, but he was very patient.

He took us to the high passes, Hardknott and Wyrnose Pass. I was very glad I hadn't rented a car. We saw some tourists, driving very slowly and carefully, especially as it was raining most of the time. We went to Wastewater and Coniston Water and our guide also took us to a spectacular waterfall not in the original program, but he kept saying he'd have to show us the beautiful spots of the Lake District.

Despite the many stops, I never felt rushed. Certainly, had I been on my own I would stopped more here and less there, but I wouldn't have seen most spots in the first place. So I think the timing was set very well.

The tour war £ 33, a very good value for my money.

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Well, we certainly chose the right weekend to visit the fall. My only regret was we did it on the Saturday and not the Sunday, after a night of torrential rain!!! Still, it was impressive enough, even if it did rain for most of the walk.

The site belongs to the National Trust who bought over 750 acres of Gowbarrow Park, including the fall, when the land was in danger of being sold to be built on. It's a beautiful Victorian landscaped park, set in a fantastic woodland of pines, ash, birch, yew,oak, beech, hawthorn and I'm sure many more species of trees. The contrasts of the greens of the trees,the greys of the rocks and the inky black of the water were incredible.

The non too strenuous circular walk up and around the river and fall is relatively easy but some parts, particularly the steps, are steep and can be slippery. Make sure you wear decent footwear and a good waterproof as although you are under trees most of the time, the drips are often worse than the rain!
If I remember rightly, there are three bridges for viewing and changing sides. These were originally built from timber but were replaced with slate and are in keeping with the surroundings. The two upper bridges were built in memory of two brothers, from the Spring-Rice family from nearby Watermillock, one who died in the Boer war and the other in 1918. The lower, upper bridge is where you view the 69 foot waterfall and what a view you get.Be prepared to get a little wet if it's in full spate! I really wouldn't have liked to have fallen in the swirling brown torrent.... not a pleasant thought.

Wordsworth was a frequent visitor here and wrote the poems, The Somnambulist and Airey Force.

As it's a National Trust place, you pay to park. Not sure how much, as we had membership. There are toilets and a cafe.

Beautiful forest with visitor centre and lots of facilities. There are 8 marked walks ranging in distance and difficulty from and nice stroll (which we did) to a good 10 mile hike. You can buy a guidemap from the visitor centre, or just follow the markers.

There are around 90 sculptures all over the forest and you see some of these on whichever walk you choose to follow. Some are less obvious than other so keep your eyes peeled!

If you're not really into hiking (like me) this might make it a bit more interesting.

Visitor Centre, shop & tearoom opening times: 10am until 5.00pm (summer) 4pm (winter)

The giftshop sells a variety of things - I bought a bag of chocolate cow pats for my friend which I thought might suit her sense of humour!

Whenever I go anywhere with mountains I insist on finding every mountain pass to drive along. Whinlatter pass, in the middle of Whinlatter Forest Park, is on the B5292.

The actual forest park itself has a number of walks although we didn't have time to do any of them:
-3 high level strenuous walks
-8 marked trails of various lengths and ease
-2 childrens walks

There is a visitor centre, shop and Siskins Cafe opening times: 10am until 5:00pm (summer) 4pm (winter).

If you click on the Whinlatter section of the website below it will give you more detailed info.

Another useful website is Cumbria Directory