Spring Evening Walking in the Lake District

In the final instalment of our National Walking Month blog series our walking enthusiast, Matthew, talks of his love of spring walks in the Lake District and shares three of his favourite routes for evenings spent exploring the landscape.  

Part of my role working for the Lake District National Park is to communicate my passion for this precious landscape with the public, and one of the questions I am often asked is what time of year is my favourite for walking in the Lakes. That is an easy one for me to answer.

Spring is my favourite time of the year; when the lambs are playing in the fields and the woodlands are carpeted with bluebells. At this time of the year I do a lot of my walking in the evenings after work. With the lengthening daylight through spring and early summer you can still have a good three to four-hour walk and you will find that even in the more popular areas you will have the place to yourself…except for the occasional deer or fox to keep you company!  

Amongst my favourite spring time evening walks is Place Fell from Patterdale. Starting with a walk along the terrace overlooking Ullswater you take a slanting diagonal path up the hillside to a summit called the Knight, before following a clear path to the summit of Place Fell with views of mountains in all directions.

The view here is magnificent looking west across Ullswater with the Helvellyn group behind. You then follow the main path down to Boredale Hause before taking a well-used path back down to Patterdale. You may even be lucky enough to see some of the herd of wild red deer which populates this area eastwards towards Martindale.

Another of my favourite evening walks is Harter Fell in the Duddon Valley from Birks Bridge car park. The view from the summit is great looking across to the Scafell and Bow Fell groups of fells, including Scafell Pike. The walk through the forest back to the starting point is a peaceful wander with only birdsong for company.  

If you fancy a less strenuous wander, then my final favourite in Rydal could be for you. It’s a low-level walk around Rydal Water from either Pelter Bridge car park or White Moss common, taking in Loughrigg Terrace and the coffin route.

If these are new routes for you, why not join a Guided Walk of Place Fell, see Scafell Pike up close or take to Grasmere and Rydal. Take a look through our full schedule of Guided Walks.