Our drawing of the route, over road and path data from OpenStreetMap. It shows where the walk goes and what it goes through. It is not a survey and not a navigation aid — carry OS Explorer on the hill.
Eleven miles and 890 metres of ascent, six hours for most people: a long grassy ridge walk up over Low Pike and High Pike to Fairfield, then back down the Rydal side by Great Rigg and Nab Scar, with no scrambling anywhere but a lot of stone wall to follow. It starts at the Rydal Road car park in Ambleside and finishes on the Rydal road a mile out of town, so most people walk the last stretch back along the pavement. This is the whole day out and a fit dog will manage it, but there is no water at all on the ridge between Low Sweden Bridge and Rydal Beck, sheep are on every part of the horseshoe, and the drop off the Dove Crag and Hart Crag edges is sheer - a dog that runs to a view needs a lead up there.
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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