Ennerdale Forest & Valley

Location : Ennerdale Bridge / Ennerdale Water : Grid Ref : NY 130145

The Ennerdale valley, around Ennerdale Lake, contains one of the largest forests in Cumbria, and every year produces the annual timber requirements of a town the size of Cockermouth.

Ennerdale is rarely busy, being a long way from the tourist attractions of central Lakeland. There are more than 20 miles of forest road, and many other paths open to the public in the Ennerdale valley.

The Ennerdale Valley has been, and is now again, at risk from the possibility of becoming the site of a vast underground nuclear waste repository – otherwise known as a geological disposal facility (GDF).

In 2013 it was saved when Cumbria County Council vetoed an advanced “stage four” search for a site for the radioactive waste facility.

In January 2018 the issue was raised again with the proposal that only the local “British Energy Coast” borough of Copeland would be consulted, removing Cumbria County Council’s right of veto, and so is now more at risk that ever before. Copeland Borough is also home to the Sellafield Nuclear Reprocessing Facility

There are several walks and trails through the forests and around the lake. Most start at Bowness Knott car park, at the end of the road from Ennerdale Village. Full details and printable maps can be found on the Lake District Forests and Forest Trails page