Sometimes, I feel like our Wainwright bagging mission means that we miss out on some of the beautiful low level walks that the Lake District has to offer. However, after walking 20 miles in 2 days to bag 9 Wainwrights during our Easter visit, the blister on my heel made me put my foot down and we spent our last morning in the Lakes following one of the way marked trails at Whinlatter Forest – England’s only true ‘mountain forest’.
We (I) picked the shortest, easiest trail on offer, the Comb Beck trail (orange way markers). In my defence, I had a blister and it was forecast for heavy rain for most of the day, so not exactly a day to be spent on the fell tops anyway! It was spitting as we drove across from our cottage, but miraculously stopped when we pulled up into the car park, and somehow stayed bright and clear for the hour that we were walking. I couldn’t help but feel slightly smug as we got back to the car and the heavens opened, just as the majority of people were arriving (the early bird catches the worm and all that).
I really enjoyed this walk, regardless of the fact it was only an hour long. I think I needed a break after lots of long days out on the fells! Despite its short length, it still feels like you’ve been for a ‘proper walk’ – while the route is well way-marked and uses excellent forest tracks and paths, there is plenty of up and down. The gradient is never too steep though, and the climb is always short enough that you’re back on the flat before you really start to feel out of breath.
Being a forest walk, there aren’t really any mountain vistas on this route (although the alternative ‘Wow’ trail sounded like it might have one or two up its sleeve). Nevertheless, the forest is beautiful in its own right, and it was especially vibrant following a good long spell of rain the night before – everything seemed extra green. It also had that wonderfully fresh smell that you only find in forests after rain.
At the end of our walk, we called into the (dog friendly) cafe at the main visitor centre to warm up with a hot drink. We slightly regretted having breakfast at the cottage looking at the menus on the table! The visitor centre has great facilities, with a large well stocked gift shop, bike hire centre and clean well maintained toilets in addition to the cafe. The last thing to do before setting off for home (and the joys of the A66 on bank holiday Monday) was to pay for parking – the car park uses number plate recognition to time your visit, so you just need to pay when you leave.
Dog friendly rating – 5/5. There’s really nowhere better for a dog walk than a good forest – especially in the Lake District, where it’s one of the only places where you don’t need to worry about coming across livestock. You could walk all the way around this trail with your dog off lead, and there are no stiles or other obstacles to worry about. Ours loved the section of the trail running alongside the beck, although I think they were disappointed it wasn’t deep enough to swim in! Just keep your eyes peeled for mountain bikers whizzing down the tracks which are shared with MTB routes.
Where we stayed
We stayed in The End, a small Airbnb near Mosser, part of a farm steading which had a few holiday cottages. The accommodation was beautifully decorated and very comfortable, with the basics you need to cook and chill out at the end of the day. Being rather rural it used a septic tank system which I think was the cause of the strong drains smell we experienced on day 2 of our trip, but happily this cleared up and had disappeared completely by the time we left. The main draw of the accommodation for us was the excellent location, being just a 20 minute drive from both Keswick and Ennerdale. We even managed a day trip up to Dumfries in 90 minutes!
Dog friendly rating – 4/5. Dogs were very welcome in the cottage and there was no extra charge, which was lovely – usually I end up paying £20 extra per dog per trip! There is a large shared garden area you are welcome to use with your dog, as well as hot and cold outside taps to give them a rinse down after a walk. Dogs are not allowed upstairs or on the furniture, but there is a handy built in stair gate to keep them downstairs when you go to bed (small enough that an athletic dog could probably jump over).
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Short walks through forests are some of my favourites, often a sensory experience!
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Me too, always the most peaceful kind of walk!