Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill.
Ambleside's short-legs circuit and the one most people do twice a day from the town. From the Vicarage Road gate beside St Mary's the park runs flat and grassy to the River Rothay, over the arched Miller Bridge and up onto Under Loughrigg, the walled lane on the west bank with Loughrigg Fell rising straight off it. Turn left down the lane to Rothay Bridge and the riverside path takes you back into the park under the beeches. Westmorland and Furness Council's dogs order does not put a lead requirement on the open grass, but it does require leads on the sports pitches and it excludes dogs from the fenced play area, both of which sit in the middle of the park.
A guest house on Lake Road between the town centre and Waterhead, with eight of its rooms named as taking dogs: two standard doubles, a standard double or twin, two superior doubles, a standard family room and two junior suites. The supplement is £15 per night per dog, and the room takes one large dog or two small ones. The one hard limit worth knowing before you book is breakfast, where dogs are not admitted at any time. Dogs must be on a lead or carried in all public areas and off all furniture.
In the old Kelsick Grammar building on Stock Ghyll Lane, five minutes up from the market place and right at the foot of the path to Stock Ghyll Force. Its own site describes the welcome as being "for friends, families, and four-legged adventurers alike", and the building is one large room with an equally large terrace looking back over the roofs of the town. Breakfast and brunch run to 11.45am and lunch to 3pm, with pizza on Friday and Saturday evenings when booking is needed. It is the obvious stop coming down off Wansfell or the waterfall path.
Three and three quarter miles with a genuine 290 metres of climb in it, so short but not soft: a steep zigzag out of Rothay Park onto the knobbly top of Loughrigg, then a quick drop east to the little beach on Rydal Water. The start is Rothay Park in Ambleside, a five-minute walk from the bus stops, which saves paying for a space; the small Pelter Bridge car park on the far side is an alternative but holds barely twenty cars. Sheep graze the fell top all year so leads there, but the last mile along the river Rothay and the lake shore is safely enclosed, the stepping stones give dogs an easy paddle, and every wall on the route is crossed by a gate.
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