Walk · Cumbria

Rothay Park, Miller Bridge and Under Loughrigg

Ambleside · LA22 9DH

1.3MILES

35mON FOOT

20mCLIMB

CircularSHAPE

Off-road 72% 28% shares tarmac with cars

Field & moor path 62%Lane & track 10%Road with traffic 28%

Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill. Off-lead information here is what walkers reported or what signage allows — never our advice. Whether and when a dog is off the lead is the owner’s decision and legal responsibility; keep dogs under control near livestock and follow signs on the day.

Starts at

Rothay Park gate, Vicarage Road, beside St Mary's Church, Ambleside LA22 9DH

Parking

No car park at the gate. Use Rydal Road pay-and-display or the Low Fold car park in the town centre, both about five minutes' walk east. Rydal Road fills by mid-morning on summer weekends and in half-

Directions to the start →

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.

THE SMALL PRINTSchedule 3 of the Westmorland and Furness Council Public Spaces Protection Order 2024 No.002 (Dogs) lists "Ambleside Rothay Park play area" as a dog exclusion area, so dogs may not enter the fenced playground at all. Schedule 2 lists "Ambleside Rothay Park Play Area" and "Ambleside Rothway Park Sports Pitches" as dogs-on-leads areas. Elsewhere in the park and on Under Loughrigg no lead requirement applies, though the lane carries cars. Clause 2.1.1.5 bans walking more than six dogs at once anywhere in the district. Breach is an offence carrying a fine up to level 3 on the standard scale.

House rules, decoded

Off-lead allowed

REGION · CUMBRIA

GRID · 54.4285, -2.9663

SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.WESTMORLANDANDFURNESS.GOV.UK/SITES/DEFAULT/FILES/2025-07/PSPO%20NO.%20002%20-%20DOGS_15.11.24.PDF

Rothay Park, Miller Bridge and Under Loughrigg

House rules, decoded

2 Cambridge Villas

3 Cambridge Villas

ASAP Coffee

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Tell us the pub we have not walked into yet.

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