Dog-friendly walks in Keswick

The quiet western shore of Derwent Water, on the side with no road, reached by the Keswick Launch to Hawes End jetty. The outward leg runs south along the lake edge through the parkland at Brandelhow, the first ground the National Trust ever bought in the Lake District, past the Low Brandelhow jetty and the bronze hands sculpture to the picnic table at High Brandelhow. The return doubles back on the upper woodland track beneath a line of Douglas firs to the Hawes End Adventure Centre. It is flat, shaded and lined with shallow gravel entries to the water, which makes it one of the better hot-afternoon walks in the northern Lakes.

Eight and three quarter miles and 410 metres of climb, four and a half hours: out of Keswick by Portinscale and the west shore to Hawes End, up Skelgill Bank onto Catbells, then down to the Newlands valley and back. Start from the Lakeside car park in Keswick, or take the Keswick Launch to Hawes End - dogs travel for a small fare and it removes three road miles. The ridge is superb for a dog with the head for it, but be honest about the two rock steps low on Skelgill Bank, which are hands-on for people and awkward for a short-legged dog, and the summit ridge is narrow with drops both sides; the fell is grazed throughout and there is no water above the Hawes End gate.

A stile-free mile and a quarter from the Lakeside car park, along the Derwent Water promenade and back over the low wooded hill of Cockshot Wood, with the whole line of Catbells and Causey Pike across the water. There is an optional 250 yard spur out to Friar's Crag, where the path narrows to under three feet and drops steeply to the lake, so it is worth thinking twice with a strong dog. Around Strandshag Bay you choose between a compacted upper path through a sheep-grazed field and a rougher lower path on the shoreline with boulders and tree roots. It is the one walk in Keswick that works with a wheelchair or a pushchair as well as a dog.

Five miles and 260 metres, about two and a half hours: the graded zigzag up Latrigg's south side for the classic look down on Keswick and the whole length of Derwent Water, returning by Gale Road and the old railway path. It starts in Keswick at the top of Spooney Green Lane, with a footbridge over the bypass - the small Gale Road car park at Underscar knocks 200 metres of climb off but holds only a dozen cars and the lane to it is single-track. The zigzag is a broad, well-drained grass and gravel path with no stiles, which makes it one of the easier fell tops for an older dog, but the summit plateau is grazed by sheep and the north edge drops away steeply into the Glenderaterra valley.

Ten and three quarter miles and about four and three quarter hours, near-level shoreline the whole way round with only 260 metres of climb in it, most of that on the Manesty side. Start at the Lakeside car park by the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick, paid and large but full by ten in season; the Keswick Launch stops at seven jetties round the lake and takes dogs, so the walk can be cut short at any of them. This is the best long lake walk in the county for a dog - shingle bays every few hundred yards, shade under the Brandelhow oaks, and bowls outside the theatre cafe - but the Calfclose Bay and Manesty fields are grazed, the launch jetties get crowded, and the short stretch of the Borrowdale road at Barrow Bay has no pavement.

Four and a half miles from the Great Wood car park on the Borrowdale road, up through oak and larch to the edge of Walla Crag, then south along the rim above Falcon Crag and down to Ashness Bridge. The outward leg follows Brockle Beck past Rakefoot Farm; the top of the crag is an unfenced edge with a straight drop to the lake, which is the reason the National Trust puts leads on the whole route rather than just the fields. The return runs along the lakeside road and back into Great Wood. Note that the car park is not where the Ordnance Survey map shows it.

Five and a quarter miles, 290 metres of climb, around two and a half hours: up Springs Wood and the Brockle Beck path to the edge of Walla Crag, then down Cat Gill to the lake and back along the shore. It starts in Keswick itself, from the Lakeside or Central car parks, so no separate drive is needed; Great Wood National Trust car park on the Borrowdale road cuts the walk to under three miles if you want the crag alone. Walla Crag is the honest caution here - the summit path runs along the lip of an unfenced 200-metre face and a dog that pulls needs to be on a short lead well before it; the woods below and the shoreline return are enclosed and much easier going.