Dog-friendly walks in Grasmere

A steep short pull out of Town End to a small dammed tarn on the shoulder of Heron Pike, with Grasmere and Rydal Water both laid out below. The climb goes up through the birches behind Dove Cottage and past the old Greenhead Gill workings, all on a made path but relentless for the first half hour. The tarn is shallow and reedy and the ground beside it is boggy after rain. The descent turns down Greenhead Gill and comes out on the A591 by the Swan, so watch the last few hundred yards for traffic.

The flat village loop in Grasmere, done on the days when Easedale is under cloud. From the Broadgate Meadow car park the lane runs down to St Oswald's churchyard, where Wordsworth is buried, and the riverside path follows the Rothay upstream past the gingerbread shop end of the village. At Goody Bridge you cross and come back along Easedale Road to Broadgate. The council's dogs order excludes dogs from the Broadgate Meadow play area and the High Fieldside play area, both in the village, but puts no lead requirement on the meadow or the riverside path.

Six and a half miles round, close to four hours, on a stone-pitched path that climbs beside Sourmilk Gill to the tarn and then comes back down the quieter Far Easedale valley. It starts from Grasmere village and follows Easedale Road out; Stock Lane and Broadgate car parks are both paid and both queue on summer afternoons, so the 555 bus from Ambleside or Keswick is the easier arrival. The tarn is the reason to bring a dog - clean shallow water at the outflow and no boat traffic - but the valley floor is working hill farm with sheep and lambs from March, the gill crossing at Stythwaite Steps runs deep after rain, and a big dog will need a hand over one narrow slotted stile on the Far Easedale side.

Four and a half miles and 300 metres of climb, about two and a half hours: a well-repaired zigzag out of Easedale onto the rocky crest known as the Lion and the Lamb, returning by the bridleway under Gibson Knott. Start from Broadgate car park in Grasmere and take Easedale Road; there is no roadside parking at the foot of the fell and the lane is a residents' bottleneck, so park in the village. The summit rocks are the one honest caveat - the final few metres to the true top involve a hands-on step up that most dogs cannot do and none should be lifted over, but the plateau just below is a fine turning point, and the whole fell is grazed so leads throughout.

Four and a half miles and a shade over two hours, the standard Grasmere circuit: field paths to the lake foot, the shore path under Loughrigg, then the Red Bank lane and the woods back into the village. It starts at the Broadgate car park in the middle of Grasmere, and because it is a lane-and-shore route rather than a fell walk it stays usable in poor weather when the tops are out. The lake has two proper shingle entries where dogs swim from, the woodland on the western side is dog-friendly through and through, but Red Bank is a narrow tarmac lane with no pavement and a steady trickle of cars, so that half mile needs a short lead.

The fell that fills the west window of Grasmere, and a far shorter day than Helm Crag or Easedale for the same view down the lake to Windermere. The path leaves Red Bank Road by the walled lane at Kelbarrow and climbs steadily onto the shoulder, with the drop into Great Langdale opening beyond the top. The return swings north-east over the rough ground above Allan Bank and comes down into the village behind the church. Every yard above the last wall is grazed Herdwick ground, so this is a lead walk once the tarmac ends.