Walking

DSCF0266retouchedIf you fancy exploring a bit on two feet rather than two wheels you’ll be in good company! Walking is a long-established tradition in Cumbria, attracting thousands of visitors every year to enjoy ridges, fells, tarns, summits and sandy bays that have become famous over the years.

There are loads of leaflets, maps, guidebooks, tours and guided walks available to help you enjoy and explore. And you may find yourself walking in the footsteps of Alfred Wainwright himself – famous for writing more than 40 walking guides, predominately for the North West of England.

As well as a dense network of local footpaths and bridleways providing public access across the county, Cumbria hosts a number of nationally and internationally recognised routes for walkers.

Useful links:

Great Asby Fell near OrtonSome of the longer walking routes:

  • Cumbria Way: 75 mile walk from Ulverston to Carlisle, on well defined paths across the Lake District from South West to North East Cumbria
  • Pennine Way: A 267 mile walk from Kirk Yetholm in Scotland, to Edale in Derbyshire, passing through the North Pennines area of Cumbria
  • Coast to Coast walk: the famous 190 mile walk from St Bees, Cumbria to Robin Hoods Bay in North Yorkshire, originally designed by A. Wainwright
  • Hadrian’s Wall Path: 83 mile National Trail, from Wallsend, Tyne & Wear to Bowness-on-Solway, Cumbria
  • Dales Way: Ilkley to Bowness-on-Windermere. 81 miles through the heart of the Yorkshire Dales and across the Pennines into Cumbria to finish by the shores of Lake Windermere.
  • Lady Anne’s Way: 100 mile walk through places associated with Lady Anne Clifford (1590-1676). It starts at her birth place, Skipton, goes through Wharfedale and Wensleydale and finishes in Cumbria at Brougham Castle near Penrith, where she died.
  • Reivers Trail: A trail around places in Cumbria associated with the ‘Reivers’ (an old name for robber or bandit), many of which contain a ‘pele tower’. In addition there are a number of routes contained within Cumbria itself
  • Allerdale Ramble: 55 mile walk through the Lake District, and along the coast from Seathwaite (Borrowdale) to Grune Point (Silloth)
  • Cumbria Coastal Way: 190 mile walk on coastal paths and country lanes, from Silverdale Station (east of Barrow-in-Furness) to Gretna (north of Carlisle).
  • Cumberland Way:  80 mile walk from Ravenglass on the Irish Sea, on open fells avoiding mountain summits, across the former county of Cumberland, to arrive at the border of the former county of Westmorland, and the market town of Appleby.
  • Furness Way: 75 mile walk across southern Lakeland from Morecambe Bay at Arnside to the Irish sea at Ravenglass taking in the Lyth Valley and the Duddon Valley
  • Westmorland Way: 94 mile walk, mainly low level, across the former county of Westmorland and the Lake District from Appleby to Morecambe Bay at Arnside.
  • A Pennine Journey: A 247 mile circular walk from Settle recreating the original journey made by A. Wainwright in 1938, passing through the North Pennines, Eden Valley and Yorkshire Dales areas of Cumbria

Venture into the Lake District