Walk · Cumbria

Brandelhow Park and the Octavia Hill shore

Keswick · CA12 5UE
N 880 YD
3.6MILES
1h 30mON FOOT
70mCLIMB
CircularSHAPE
Off-road 98% 2% shares tarmac with cars
Field & moor path 55%Lane & track 43%Road with traffic 2%

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
Hawes End jetty, Derwent Water, grid ref NY250213, reached by Keswick Launch from the Lakeside landings CA12 5UE
Parking
No car park at Hawes End; the lane parking at Hawes End and Skelgill is a handful of verge spaces that fill before 9am for Catbells. Park in Keswick at Lakeside or Central and take the launch
Directions to the start →

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.

THE SMALL PRINTThe National Trust trail notes say "Dogs are welcome, under close control." Cattle and sheep graze the Brandelhow parkland in summer, and dogs travel on the Keswick Launch for a small fare and must be kept off the seats.

House rules, decoded

Livestock — leads on
REGION · CUMBRIA
GRID · 54.5813, -3.1619
SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.NATIONALTRUST.ORG.UK/VISIT/LAKE-DISTRICT/BORROWDALE-AND-DERWENT-WATER/OCTAVIA-HILL-WALK-AT-BRANDELHOW-PARK-DERWENT-WATER
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