Dog-friendly South Lakeland & Furness

The pub side of the Castle Green Hotel on the eastern edge of Kendal, under Castle Green Lane and within walking distance of Kendal Castle and the river Kent path. The pub states that it is proud to be dog friendly and that four-legged companions are always welcome, and it keeps a range of dog snacks and dog drinks behind the bar. Food is wood-fired pizza, burgers and pub standards in the evening, with Sunday lunch from noon. Drinks run from three in the afternoon Wednesday to Saturday and from noon on Sunday, so it is an evening stop rather than a lunch one for most of the week.

Unsworth's Yard on Ford Road in Cartmel is a courtyard of a five-barrel craft brewery and tasting room, a cheese shop and pizzeria, a wine shop and a small plates restaurant, all under a retractable roof with heaters for the colder months. Oscar's Snugs, the upstairs wine bar, states that the snug areas are dog friendly and open Wednesday to Monday from noon. The brewery bar itself is open every day, with the stainless steel plant visible through the windows behind the bar. It is a two-minute walk from Cartmel Priory and the village square.

A Winster valley inn on the A5074 that farms and brews much of what it serves, with its own estate land behind the pub. Dogs are more than welcome in the bar area, but the inn states that dogs are not allowed in the restaurant, so a table with a dog means eating on the bar side. Two of the nine en-suite bedrooms are dog friendly, and no charge is published for them. It sits between Bowness and the Lyth valley, handy after Gummer's How or a Winster valley round.

A Main Street pub in Grange with a refurbished restaurant looking out over Morecambe Bay and six en-suite rooms upstairs. Dogs are very welcome in the bar area; the dining room is not included in that welcome.

A hillside inn on Strawberry Bank above the Winster valley, looking across to the Whitbarrow scar, and a natural stop off the Cartmel Fell and Gummer's How walks. The pub describes itself as proudly dog friendly and takes dogs in the bar, in the dining rooms, on the terrace and in all of its accommodation, suites and holiday cottages alike. The terrace is the reason most people come in summer, and it is a long way from the nearest bus, so a car is more or less required. The lane up from Bowland Bridge is narrow and steep.

A 1741 pub in Kirkland at the bottom of Kendal, next to the parish church and reputedly the only pub in the country built on consecrated ground. It states plainly on its own site that it is a dog friendly pub and invites you to bring your dog when you call in for a drink. Six or more real ales are on hand pull across the two bars, listed on chalkboards rather than a menu. It sits at the town end of the riverside path to Abbot Hall and the castle, which makes it a natural finish to a Kendal walk.

A vegetarian cafe and soup kitchen in Berrys Yard off Kendal Highgate, walk-ins only and consistently busy at lunchtime. It lists itself as dog friendly, and take-away is available if the tables have gone.

An independent licensed coffee house in a grade II listed building of 1575 on Stricklandgate, named after the nineteenth-century brush works that used the site, with the carved bristly hog still above the door. Its own site describes it as a dog friendly cafe, downstairs only, so the upstairs rooms are out with a dog. All-day breakfasts, main meals and afternoon teas, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, and coffee from Rinaldo's and Pennington's. Open nine to half past four Monday to Saturday and closed on Sundays, which catches people out at weekends.

A tea room and bakery under the glass canopy on Grange promenade, with a serious loose-leaf tea list and its own bread. The restaurant is openly dog-friendly, which makes it the obvious stop after a walk along the Kent estuary front.

A long-established walkers and cyclists cafe in Staveley Mill Yard, with a sofa area downstairs and tables by the river Kent. Dogs are warmly welcomed inside and water is offered without asking; you can carry a pint over from the brewery yard next door.

A vegetarian cafe inside Conishead Priory on the coast road south of Ulverston, open daily from eleven to five with last orders at twenty to five. The centre states that your four-legged friend is welcome, and provides water bowls and towels; there is a lounge next to the cafe where you can have lunch with a dog, plus outdoor seating under cover. Dogs must be on a lead here as they must be everywhere in the grounds. It is the obvious stop after the woodland and shore walk in the priory grounds, and the whole place shuts from mid-July to mid-August for the summer festival.

An unmarked circuit of about a mile and a quarter over twenty-seven hectares of low fell, bracken, wet flushes and birch scrub above the Winster valley, quiet even in August. Cumbria Wildlife Trust publishes the reserve as dogs on a lead and notes that cattle graze the site at times to keep the bracken down. That bracken also means ticks, which the Trust flags on the reserve page, so check the dog over afterwards. Parking is a small pull-in at Sandy Hill where donations are welcomed.

A short, steep waymarked circuit of about a mile and a quarter through the hanging ash and hazel woodland on the limestone shelf directly above Grange, with two small hay meadows opening out near the top and a view down over the Kent estuary sands. Cumbria Wildlife Trust publishes the reserve as dogs on a lead. It is a proper woodland path rather than a stroll, with steps, pedestrian gates and one stile on the way up from the Windermere Road layby, so a big dog will need lifting over that stile. Best in late spring for the bluebells and early purple orchids in the meadows.

A half-mile waymarked circuit of a small valley mire on the A684 Sedbergh road about five and a half miles east of Kendal, with boardwalk and bridges over the wettest ground. Cumbria Wildlife Trust publishes the reserve as dogs on a lead, and the reason is under your feet: the reserve is uneven and wet with ditches and areas of deep water either side of the path. One of the bridges on the circuit is currently closed, so check the Trust's page before setting off. It makes a good leg-stretch off the Sedbergh road rather than a destination in itself.

Three and a half miles and an hour and a half, a hundred metres of climb: out of the square past the priory, round the outside of the little steeplechase course and back by the field paths and the beck. Start in Cartmel village square - the racecourse car park is free and enormous on non-race days but closed when there is a meeting, and the village itself has almost no parking, so check the fixture list before you set off. It is gentle, low-level and short, which suits an old dog, and the beck gives a drink at two points; the course perimeter is grazed by sheep out of season and there are cattle in the fields towards Aynsome, so leads for most of the middle section.

A short there-and-back onto twelve hectares of limestone pavement on the shoulder of Clawthorpe Fell, entered by a kissing gate straight off Clawthorpe Road. Cumbria Wildlife Trust publishes the reserve as dogs on a lead. The footpath is slippery when wet, the ground is undulating and rocky with cliff edges, and the working quarry alongside has no public access, all of which argue for keeping hold of a dog rather than trusting recall. It is a good half-hour stretch off the M6 at Junction 36 rather than a day out.

Seventy acres of gardens, lake, streams and woodland behind the gothic pile of Conishead Priory on the coast road south of Ulverston, with paths running down through the trees to a quiet shingle and sand shore on Morecambe Bay. The grounds are open from dawn to dusk with free parking, and the Buddhist centre that owns them states that dogs must be kept on lead at all times, with bins provided round the property. Dogs are welcome in the cafe as well as the grounds, and water bowls and towels are put out for them. The centre closes to visitors from mid-July to mid-August for its summer festival, so check before making the trip in high summer.

A country manor bed and breakfast half a mile up the lane from Cartmel Priory, with four first-floor rooms, numbers five to eight, kept for guests with dogs. One dog per room at twenty-five pounds a night, paid when the room is reserved, and the house provides its own sanitised dog beds rather than allowing guests to bring their own. Dogs may use Bamford's, the dog owners' sitting room, and the courtyard beside it, and may join you at breakfast by arrangement with the house manager, but not the other public rooms. There is a dog wash with hot and cold water for after the walk, and a dog-sitting service at twenty-five pounds an hour with a three-hour minimum.

A large lakeshore hotel at the foot of Windermere, next to the pier where the Lakeside and Haverthwaite steam railway meets the lake steamers. The hotel takes two dogs per room at twenty-five pounds per dog per night and publishes no restriction on size, age or breed. Dogs may go into John Ruskin's Brasserie and the Conservatory but not into the Lakeview Restaurant unless they are assistance dogs. The Garden Rooms have their own private gardens, which is the sensible choice with a dog, and the hotel asks that dogs sleep in their own beds and stay off the furniture.

An old ferry inn at Canal Foot, at the seaward end of the Ulverston canal where it meets the Leven estuary, with the sands and the Cartmel shore straight out of the window. The hotel states that well behaved dogs are welcome to stay overnight for a small charge, and the towpath walk from Ulverston to the door is one of the flattest, most reliable dog walks in Furness. The charge is not published as a figure, so confirm it when you book, and the hotel does not publish which internal areas dogs may use. Canal Foot is a dead-end lane past the works, so the parking is at the inn itself.

A large Victorian hotel above Station Square, a couple of minutes from the Edwardian promenade and the ornamental gardens. Its published dog policy allows a maximum of two dogs per room at fifteen pounds per dog, in a limited number of dog-friendly rooms that must be booked directly with the hotel rather than through a booking site. Dogs are not allowed in the dining room but can be accommodated in the bar if on a lead, and the hotel requires dogs to be on leads at all times in public areas. Dogs may be left unattended in the room, and housekeeping will only enter if the dog is out or the owner is present with the dog on a lead.

A Victorian pile in gardens above Grange with bay views, a spa and self-catering lodges below the main house. Dogs stay in the Rock House rooms and the dog-friendly lodges rather than the main hotel bedrooms, and they are not allowed in the spa.

A family-owned hotel in old stone buildings on the bank of the River Kent, five minutes walk from Kendal town centre and the castle. It bills itself as dog-friendly and does dog-friendly dining and drinks in Tanners, its bar; the Riverview restaurant is the smarter, dog-free option.

The Cavendish family's estate at Cark, two miles from Cartmel, with formal and woodland gardens, a deer park and a cafe, open Wednesday to Sunday and bank holiday Mondays from mid-March to the end of the season. Holker states that dogs are very welcome everywhere on the estate except inside the Hall, and asks that they are kept on leads at all times and picked up after, with bins provided across the estate. Tickets are bought at the kiosk on arrival; there is no pre-booking. The gardens run to twenty-five acres and the wider parkland walks are the reason to bring a dog rather than the borders.

A preserved steam branch line running three and a half miles up the Leven valley from Haverthwaite through Newby Bridge to the pier at Lakeside, where the trains connect with the Windermere steamers. The railway states that the station welcomes dogs and that they ride the train free of charge, which makes it one of the cheapest days out in the district with a dog. The tea room at Haverthwaite station is open daily from nine until half four with last food orders at three. The 2026 steam season runs from 28 March to 1 November.

The deer park opposite Levens Hall was laid out three hundred years ago alongside the topiary gardens and is grazed by a herd of black fallow deer and rare-breed Bagot goats, with a designated footpath running through it beside the river Kent. Levens Hall states that dogs are welcome on a lead on that footpath, and that dogs other than assistance dogs are not permitted in the house, the gardens, Levens Kitchen or the gift shop. Dogs can sit with you in the courtyard areas outside the gift shop and Levens Kitchen, and in the Howard Room, where there is a log fire and water bowls outside. The park footpaths are open all year even when the house is shut.