Dog-friendly The Western Lakes

A walkers inn at the entrance to Boot, with a bar known for its whisky shelf and the Eskdale Mill path over the bridge. Dogs are allowed in the bar and the snug only: they are not allowed in the bedrooms at all, which is the opposite of most Eskdale inns and worth knowing before you book.

A seventeenth-century hall turned inn in Gosforth, the last village of any size before Wasdale, with a bar that serves the full menu to walkers straight off the fells. Dogs are welcome in the bar and the beer garden; the restaurant is kept dog-free.

The third of Boot's three pubs, set back off the lane above Dalegarth station with a large beer garden looking up the Eskdale valley and six changing cask ales, most of them Robinson's with Cumbrian guests. The inn's own site confirms in a reply from the licensee that all of its rooms are dog friendly, which puts eight or nine bedrooms into play in a valley where beds are scarce at weekends. Nothing is published about the bar, conservatory or snug, so ask when you arrive rather than assume. It is five minutes' walk from the terminus of the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway.

A refurbished village pub on Gosforth square, more sports bar than fell-walkers' snug, with a big screen, a pool table and thirteen rooms above. It publishes a dog-friendly bar and beer garden and, unusually for this corner of Cumbria, an actual menu for dogs: a plain beef burger called the Woof Whopper at five pounds, sausages at two pounds, cooked chicken at three, dog ice cream and a berry frozen yoghurt. It is the obvious stop on the way in or out of Wasdale, ten minutes from Nether Wasdale and twenty from Wasdale Head. Nothing is published about dogs in the bedrooms.

A sixteenth-century inn just off the Georgian square at Broughton-in-Furness, with six refurbished en-suite rooms and a bar and lounge of leather sofas at the quiet southern end of the Duddon. Its own about page says dogs are welcome in the bar area and that two of the bedrooms are dog friendly, while its booking page says all the rooms are; ring before you travel if you need certainty. It is a sensible base for the Duddon Valley, the Lickle and the low fells around Broughton, none of which get the Wasdale traffic.

The last inn before Hardknott Pass, at the head of Eskdale, with its own bar, cafe and a bragging list for those who have driven the pass. Dogs are welcome whether you are calling in for a drink or staying, and can share a bedroom for five pounds a night; there are dog B&B and dog dinner packages, and the kitchen will lay breakfast in a private room so your dog can join you.

The refurbished cafe at Dalegarth for Boot, at the Eskdale end of the fifteen-inch gauge line, serving lunches, snacks and ice cream to walkers coming off Stanley Ghyll and the Esk path. Dogs are allowed on the lower floor but not upstairs, where Wakefield's afternoon tea room is, so the ground-floor seating and the platform are the places to sit. There are toilets and a large pay-and-display car park here, which makes it the practical starting point for most Eskdale walks. Water bowls are set out around the station.

The railway's cafe on platform one at Ravenglass, doing light meals, snacks, ice cream and hot drinks between trains. The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway's own visitor information permits dogs on the lower floor of its station cafes, which here is the whole seating area, and there are water bowls marked "paws for a drink" around the station. Dogs must be on a short lead. It is the obvious first or last stop of a day on the line, and the estuary and the Roman bath house are five minutes' walk away.

A short, sharp climb of about 340 metres from the Greendale roadside onto the rocky southern nose of Buckbarrow, the crag that everybody photographs from the Wast Water road without knowing its name. The path leaves the road near Gill Beck and goes almost straight up through bracken and broken rock bands to the 423-metre top, so it is steep rather than long and a fit dog will manage it easily while a short-legged one will not enjoy the rock steps. The reward is the whole of Wast Water, the Screes and the Scafells from a top most people drive past. It is grazed fell throughout, with Herdwicks on the lower bracken slopes all year.

Five miles there and back on the corpse road that Wasdale Head once used to carry its dead over the fell to St Catherine's in Eskdale, before it had a churchyard of its own. The track leaves Boot behind Eskdale Mill, climbs steadily up the west side of Whillan Beck onto Eskdale Moor and drops to Burnmoor Tarn at 252 metres, a big shallow sheet of water with Illgill Head behind it and the ruin of Burnmoor Lodge on the shore. The going is a broad grass and stone track the whole way, which makes it one of the few Eskdale fell routes a dog can do without scrambling. It is all grazed common with Herdwicks on it and the National Trust asks for a short lead throughout Eskdale.

A little over a mile of easy woodland paths in a Forestry England wood on the hillside directly above Eskdale Green, with the remains of an Edwardian Japanese garden hidden in the middle of it: stone lanterns, a dry stream bed, clipped acers and a great deal of rhododendron, cleared and replanted by volunteers. The paths zigzag up through larch and beech and loop back, so it works as a half hour before the pub or an hour with a slow dog. There is no livestock and no through road, which makes it one of the few places in Eskdale where a dog can be off the lead if it recalls reliably. Forestry England's dog code asks you to keep a dog close and in sight and to use a lead if it does not always come back when called.

Three and a half miles from the roadside at Greendale Cottages, up the gill past a string of rock pools to Greendale Tarn and round over the 585-metre summit of Middle Fell. It is the quiet side of Wasdale: the Scafell crowds are all in the next valley, and from the top the whole length of Wast Water and the Screes is laid out below, with the Isle of Man visible on a clear evening. Greendale Tarn sits in a deep hollow and is a good place for a dog to cool off. The National Trust rates this a dog-friendly trail but asks for dogs under close control, and its Wasdale guidance asks for a short lead throughout the valley because there is sheep on the fell and in the intake fields.

A mile and a bit there and back, climbing 130 metres from the little car park at Jubilee Bridge at the foot of Hardknott Pass to the walls of Mediobogdum, the Roman fort that sits on a shelf 250 metres above the Esk with the whole of Eskdale laid out west of it. The path is grass and stone and steep in places but short, and you can walk the full circuit of the fort walls, the headquarters building and the commandant's house before dropping back. There is no shelter and no water on the way up. It is grazed fell, with Herdwicks around the fort itself, and the National Trust asks for a short lead throughout Eskdale.

Ten and a half miles, 700 metres of ascent and close to six hours: the Burnmoor track out of Wasdale Head, then the whole grassy crest above the screes over Illgill Head and Whin Rigg, dropping to the lake foot and returning by the road. It starts at the National Trust car park at Wasdale Head, which is free to members, holds around 40 cars and empties into one single-track road with a fourteen-mile drive out to the coast. Understand what this route is and is not - the ridge itself is broad grass and safe walking for a fit dog, but the shoreline Screes path below is a mile of unstable boulders that no dog should be taken along, and the ridge edge above the gullies is unfenced with a 400-metre drop; leads the whole crest, and no water at all between Burnmoor and the lake.

A bed and breakfast in a seventeenth-century farmhouse at Bolton Head, on the lane between Gosforth and Nether Wasdale, ten minutes from the foot of Wast Water and half an hour from Wasdale Head. Its own site states that dogs are welcome in three of the bedrooms, which is the only published bedroom dog policy in Gosforth parish. No charge is published, so agree it when you book. It is a useful fallback when Wasdale Head is full, which it is most summer weekends.

A small glamping site of five-metre canvas bell tents pitched in a wooded corner of the seventy-seven acre Muncaster gardens, each sleeping up to four. Two well-behaved dogs are welcome for an additional charge, but the estate is surrounded by working farmland and asks for dogs on a lead at all times on site. Staying here puts the whole garden and the terrace walk on the doorstep, though dogs are still barred from the castle state rooms and the Hawk and Owl Centre. Ravenglass, the estuary and the railway terminus are a mile down the hill.

Seven converted farm buildings around a yard at Boot, on a working farm beside the Whillan Beck, with the most detailed published dog policy anywhere in Eskdale. Six of the seven take dogs but the number varies by cottage: two large or three small at the Farmhouse, two at Wastwater, two at Scafell only if they sleep in crates, one large or two small at Hardknott, Wrynose and Stanley Ghyll, and one small dog at Whillan Beck. There is an enclosed shared paddock and a garden by the beck, though dogs are not allowed off the lead in the shared gardens. No dog under a year old is accepted at all.

Seven acres of level camping ground in old Lakeland oak woodland at Nether Wasdale, looking across to the Wast Water Screes and about two miles from the foot of the lake. The site takes a maximum of two dogs per pitch at three pounds each and requires them to be kept on a lead on site. A strict quiet policy applies, with no noise between 11pm and 7am and no loud music at any time, so this is not the place for a dog that barks at every passing torch. The riverside walks along the Irt and the low-level path to the lake foot start from the village.

Self-catering accommodation in the old stable block at Muncaster Castle, a mile above Ravenglass: nine en-suite bedrooms, a bunk room and bell tents sharing a communal kitchen, dining room and lounge. Dogs cost ten pounds each per night, up to two per room, and must be on a lead in all the public areas and never left alone in the bedroom. Staying here does not by itself get a dog into the gardens, which need a dog ticket bought on arrival, and dogs are not allowed in the castle state rooms or the Hawk and Owl Centre at all. The seventy acres of woodland garden and the Esk estuary path are on the doorstep.

A four-bedroom National Trust stone cottage sleeping seven, standing on the edge of Eskdale campsite at the foot of the Hardknott pass. Two dogs are welcome. It was a farm labourer's cottage and keeps a Rayburn in the kitchen, which matters when a dog comes back off Harter Fell soaked. The Esk stepping stones, Stanley Ghyll Force and the corpse road to Burnmoor Tarn all start within walking distance, and Boot's three pubs are about fifteen minutes down the lane.

A lived-in castle above the Esk estuary with seventy acres of wild woodland garden, a hawk and owl centre and terrace views to the Scafells. Dogs go free in the gardens provided they are on a lead and cleaned up after, and there is a separate doggy seating area for the bird of prey displays; the Castle state rooms and the Hawk and Owl Centre are out of bounds.

The fifteen-inch gauge line, known locally as La'al Ratty, runs seven miles up from the estuary at Ravenglass to Dalegarth for Boot at the head of Eskdale, and it takes dogs the whole way for a flat fare. Dogs are allowed on the trains, in the ticket offices and gift shops, and on the lower floors of both the Turntable Cafe at Ravenglass and Fellbites at Dalegarth, but not in the Joan Pullman observation carriage, First Class carriage 140 or the Ruth director's saloon. Water bowls marked "paws for a drink" are set out around both terminals. Most of the open carriages are unglazed, so a wet dog and a wet walker dry out at much the same rate.