Secret Lakes: How to escape the crowds in our most popular national park
With its dramatic fells, glossy lakes and all-round head-turning good looks, the Lake District can be too damn gorgeous for its own good.
Over 19 million of us visit during the year; almost twice the number to the next most popular National Park, the Peak District. Often what we come to enjoy is spoilt: neon-clad walkers over-loading fell-paths, crowds swamping pretty village streets and cars choking roads and car parks.
But your experience needn’t be like this. Point the sat-nav a little off-centre and you’ll find equally beguiling lakes, lush valleys and come-hither views - and, probably, with more sheep than people for company.
Walk on the quiet side
For quiet walking, Eskdale, in the western lakes, is often overlooked. Yet it’s possible to climb Scafell Pike (England’s highest mountain) from here - though this route is not for the inexperienced. But there are fine walks from the wonderfully named Boot - a hamlet literally at the end of the road - either along the River Esk to Dalegarth Force and Esk Falls or up Harter Fell and Muncaster Fell. And the best thing about Eskdale is that you can leave the car at Ravenglass, on the A595 coastal road, and take a steam-train ride on the diminutive Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway which follows the former iron-ore route (ravenglass-railway.co.uk; £10 to £15 return) into the heart of the valley at Dalegarth, 10 minutes’ walk from Boot.
Wordsworth’s other home
Mention Wordsworth, and most people head to Grasmere’s tiny Dove Cottage. But the poet’s childhood home - a handsome Georgian townhouse in Cockermouth - has more space, and nothing is off-limits. Browse the housekeeping books to discover the rules of Mrs Wordsworth’s kitchen or see if you can master the trick of using a quill pen. Then explore outside to find hidden fragments of Wordsworth’s poetry tucked amongst the flowers and fruit trees of the cottage garden (nationaltrust.org.uk; £7.90).
A lake (almost) to yourself
If you want to lose the crowds but still need the fix of a lake-view, you can’t do much better than Ennerdale Water. There’s no road around the lake (there are car parks at the western end) so if you walk some or all of the lake circuit (eight miles), you can be on your own much of the time. The reflections of the surrounding peaks in the water are mesmerising while, at night, the area comes into its own as a starry dark-sky site. To refuel, try The Fox & Hounds (foxandhoundsinn.org) or The Gather (café and shop) (thegatherennerdale.com) - both community-owned enterprises in nearby Ennerdale Bridge.
Beach walks and sunsets
Not many people associate the Lake District with beaches but Silecroft, tucked just inside the south-western corner of the National Park, offers a couple of miles of gently shelving sand and pebbles and without a hint of amusement arcades, cafes and tacky beach shops to spoil the views. Indeed, on fine days, there’s a chance of seeing the Isle of Man, while evenings can offer spectacular sunsets.
Wildlife-spotters are rewarded with gannets, terns, ringed plovers and oystercatchers, as well as natterjack toads in the coastal scrub. Rising up behind the beach is the 600-metre (1968-foot) Black Combe, a relatively easy climb that rewards with sweeping views up and down the coast from St Bees Head to Morecambe Bay. On ultra-clear days, it’s claimed you can see into Scotland and even the peak of Snowdon in Wales.
Seaside - but not as you know it
If you want seaside with a resort feel, the Lake District can offer that, too. Admittedly, there’s no sand, despite the alluring name: Grange-over-Sands. Due to the changing tidal currents in Morecambe Bay, which the town overlooks, the sand has slipped to the far side of the grassy foreshore. The clock also seems to have stopped somewhere in the 1950s - but that’s the charm.
Walk the promenade, admire the ornamental gardens, browse the old-fashioned, and stoutly independent, shops beneath their cast-iron-and-glass canopies - ironmongers, shoe-shops, antiquarian books - then indulge in tea and scones and cakes at The Hazelmere café (thehazelmere.co.uk).
Stunning views and quiet valleys
For spectacular views but with a doddle of a gentle climb, the 321-metre (1054-foot) Gummer’s How, above the south-eastern shores of Lake Windermere, is not as popular as you might expect. The starting point lies on a narrow former packhorse route from the lake to Kendal. From the summit, you’ll have sweeping views north to Skiddaw, east to the Pennines, west to Coniston Old Man and south to the sea.
Continue along the wiggly road a couple of miles to the wonderfully named Strawberry Bank where the Masons Arms pub is perfectly placed to capture soulful views down the soft Winster valley. Quite different from the drama of other Lakeland valleys, Winster and the neighbouring Lyth Valley are just as captivating - and quieter.
Not your usual gift shops
If it feels like every gift- and craft-shop is overrun with Peter Rabbits and moody photographs of island-dotted lakes, head north to ‘back o’ Skiddaw’ countryside. At Caldbeck, with its babbling brook and grave of sing-along huntsman John Peel, Priest’s Mill - an 18th-century watermill - has been converted into small studios where a co-operative of artists and craft workers sell their produce including Herdwick wool throws, wooden bird-boxes, limited-edition prints and needlework (priestsmillcaldbeck.co.uk).
More unusual items are on show at The Upfront Gallery (up-front.com), a converted barn at Unthank, around 15 minutes to the east of Caldbeck, which showcases affordable contemporary art, jewellery and - particularly popular with children - colourful puppets (there’s an on-site puppet theatre). Both places have cafes, the latter inventively vegetarian.
