Walking in the Lake District & Lake District Trails

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Other pages on Visit Cumbria that may also be of interest to visitors to this page are our main Activities page, Weather Report & Climate page, the Activity Providers page where you can find details of Guides, the Webcams page where you will find 50 webcams around the county, and our Safety advice page, particularly relevant to those aiming for higher level walking.
 
See also our new Walking in the South Lakes page >>

Major Cumbrian & Lake District Walks

Cumbria hosts a number of nationally and internationally recognised routes for walkers and cyclists :

 

• 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: 190 mile walk from St Bees, Cumbria to Robin Hoods Bay in North Yorkshire, originally designed by A. Wainright

 

• Hadrian’s Wall Path: 83 mile National Trail, from Wallsend, Tyne & Wear to Bowness-on-Solway, Cumbria

 

• C2C Cycleway: 140 mile cycle route developed by Sustrans from Workington or Whitehaven to Newcastle or Sunderland

 

• 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 Windermere lake.

 

• 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

 

• Cumbria Way: 75 mile walk from Ulverston to Carlisle, on well defined paths across the Lake District from South West to North East Cumbria

 

• 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.

 

• Wainwright Memorial Walk: 102 mile walk followed by A Wainwright through some of his favourite Lake District places starting and finishing at Windermere.

Other Lake District walks and rides :

• 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

 

• Kirkby Stephen Poetry Path

 

• Forest Trails: cycle and foot trails through the forests of Cumbria.

 

• A686 Penrith to Corbridge: The AA Magazine has chosen the winding A686 road from Penrith in Cumbria, though Alston, to Corbridge in Northumberland, as one of their ‘Ten Great Drives’.

 

• Western Lakes and Coast Car Tour: A car tour which will take you through some of the spectacular scenery of West Cumbria and coast.
   

• Church Trails – various trails designed by the Diocese of Carlisle.

Walks on restored railway lines :

• The West Cumbria Cycle Network: a 72 mile network of cycle routes linking off road sections on disused railways with the minor road system.

 

• Whitehaven/Ennerdale Cyclepath

 

• Keswick Railway Footpath

 

• Stainmore Railway walk