Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill.
A flat mile at the head of Windermere, useful when the fells are in cloud or the dog is old. From the Waterhead pay-and-display the promenade runs past the steamer piers, then Borrans Park opens out as mown grass down to a shingle shore where dogs can get in the water away from the boat landings. The far end of the field is Galava, the earthwork platform of the Roman fort, from which a path carries on to the mouth of the Rothay and Brathay. Note that the promenade itself is a dogs-on-leads area under the council's order, while the park grass behind it is not.
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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