After many times of visiting the Lake District I thought it was about time I made a post about some of the best places and hikes the Lakes has to offer. If you know already, then you are aware of the range of places that can be explored and so much you can do with mountains on either side of you where ever you drive.

However, if this is your first time visiting the Lake District or maybe just unfamiliar of what to do. Then let me start by saying, this place is truly amazing and takes you back to your grounds of nature. With mountains and trees either side of you or hiking up to see a waterfall or maybe visiting the many villages it has, you will always come home with a full heart!

Lets start with one of the most popular hikes which is **Helvellyn!**

Helvellyn is 950m high in elevation and is surrounded by green moorland hills.
The climb up to the Helvellyn summit can be done from many routes with different starting points. These vary in duration of the walk from either 3-4 hour to 8 hours depending on how long you make it.
A few of the starting points are from:
Patterdale (Which takes you over striding edge to the summit)
Thirlmere (The easiest and shortest route)
Helvellyn has become so popular over the years it is known that around 250,000 people do this hike each year.
The striding edge is the rocky mountain edge you see on my photo here. This is one of the most popular routes to climb to the summit of Helvellyn and can certainly get busy in the hot summer months.

Scarfell

Scarfell Pike is actually higher than Helvellyn which reaches 978m in elevation and the highest mountain in England! Another popular mountain that is hiked by many every single year and can be found more difficult as the climb is a straight up elevation all the way to the top. It is known for reaching bad weather on the Scarfell mountain and can be dangerous in bad weather such as snow. This is shown by the brick circular wall that was built up on top of the summit for hikers to block themselves from the bad conditions.

The hike takes around 3-4 hours depending on the weather conditions and how experienced you are. Normally taking 2 hours up and 2 hours back down.

Brothers Water Hike

This was one of the hikes we did when staying at our campsite at Sykes Side. This was a walk that we spontaneously decided to do when looking at one of the hills from our tent.
In this hike we managed to reach 4 summits in one day. These were not as high as some of the higher mountains however this taken us around 5 hours all together.

In this hike we did:

High Hartsop Dodd
Little Hart crag
Dove Crag
Hart Crag

After this hike and Helvellyn the day before our feet were definitely aching once we reached the bottom. But what a feeling after finishing it.
We headed back to the tent, got changed and headed to Brothers Water walking distance from our campsite. Finish the night by cooling off in the cold water and birthday celebrations with champagne by the water’s edge. WHAT A DAY!!

Grasmere & Rydal Walk

I remember doing this walk a few years back when staying at an Airbnb in Grasmere and came across this walk. You can start in Rydal and walk all the way to Grasmere Lake. This is a great walk if you are not looking for a mountain hike or anything to steep but still a great walk through the hills with amazing views.

You will walk through the stunning views of the White Moss Woods first.
Here you will then reach some caves knowns as the Rydal Caves and was originally a 19th century quarry but is now open for public to enter inside. We went inside the first one which we climbed up to get into or you can enter the second one which you can step over the stepping stones and walk straight in.

If you are bringing a dog with you then this walk is perfect for dogs too and you can take them to the Grasmere water for a drink or to cool off. Some people also like to get in and swim in the summer - so pack your swimmers!!

Old Man of Coniston!

Old Man is another very well-known and popular choice in the hiking world of the Lake District! This mountain is 800m in elevation and is the highest peak in the Furness fells.

Old man is a great walk which from the summit overlooks the view of Coniston Lake and is slightly shorter taking around 2-3 hours to finish the walk. Once again, this walk has many different routes which ranges in difficulty to the summit!
This walk can get very busy in certain times of the year making the foot path busy due to its outstanding views and iconic zig zag paths across the hills.

The Jack Dimond path is the shortest and quickest route to take which will be around 2.5 hours to the summit, whereas the longest route is a circular route taking around 4-6 hours. You can also start from Coniston centre itself where there is parking, this walk takes around 2.5 - 3 hours.

Thirlmere

Arriving at Thirlmere there is parking with toilets off the side of the road. Here you can start a few different walks.

Here is where you can start your walk up to the Helvellyn summit by crossing over the bridge in the car park and keeping right (sign posted) which starts with a steep incline straight away to the very top.
Crossing the bridge in the car park you can keep left and walk over the side of the hills which you will reach a waterfall in the beck. This walk has amazing views and is an easy walk to enjoy.
You can walk out of the car park and turn left onto a path which will take you through Thirlmere Forest, this will take you all the way around Thirlmere Lake which is a 10-mile-long circular walk.

Skiddaw

Updated:

Adding to this list I thought I would share the first hike of 2023 that I did in the lake district this January. Which was of course Skiddaw.
This Mountain has a range of 931m high and also the third highest in England.
This was my first time doing Skiddaw and was in the snow in rather bad conditions with no sun and not much visibility. This hike takes around 4-5 hours depending on the condition of the weather and how fast it takes you.

We stayed in the YHA walkers hostel in Keswick and then drove to the Latrigg Car Park. This is free to park but only has limited spaces so make sure you get there early. From here go through the gate and follow the fenced bridleway left. Here you will see the path which takes you straight up.

You can also start the walk from Keswick town centre if you are not staying in the area or this suits you best.

Be sure to either take a map with you or if you feel confident you can use your phone for maps and follow the path on there.
Be sure to keep an eye out to stay on the path as you can easily get lost. Getting signal at the top shouldn’t be a problem as we did even in the snow.
If you get good weather, the views here as incredible.

There’s many more I could write about

If you have any more you would like me to write about or have somewhere in mind - send me an email or message me over on Instagram! I’ll be happy to help!

Jess

Some of the best hikes in the Lake district