Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill.
A mile and a bit of raised boardwalk out across a restored lowland raised bog on the edge of the Kent estuary, reached straight off the old A590 between Levens and Newby Bridge. The Cumbria Wildlife Trust reserve asks for dogs on a lead throughout, which matters here because the sphagnum and the cotton grass either side of the timber are fragile and there are adders on the drier banks in spring. The path ends at a viewing platform looking over the moss to the Whitbarrow scar, and a pair of ospreys nests within sight of it through the summer. The car park is small and fills on bright weekend mornings in June and July when the osprey chicks are visible.
A there-and-back of not quite a mile through old coppice woodland to a damson orchard above Witherslack, on the west side of the Winster valley. Cumbria Wildlife Trust publishes the reserve as dogs on a lead. There are no grazing animals, but the footpath in from the road is muddy with some steep sections and there is no through route, so you return the way you came. Damson blossom in April is the reason to come, and the Lyth valley damson stalls are on the road home.
A gentle mile around a low limestone knoll in the Winster valley, a mosaic of open grassland, juniper and hazel scrub that the Cumbria Wildlife Trust keeps in condition with cattle. Dogs are asked to be on a lead, and the cattle are the practical reason: they are on the reserve at times through the summer and are not always visible in the scrub. The top gives a wide view across to Whitbarrow Scar and down the Winster to the estuary. Parking is simply the wide roadside at the entrance off the old A590.
The best big view in the Winster and Kent country for the least effort: a steep pull through yew and juniper from Witherslack Hall onto the limestone plateau of Whitbarrow, then an easy walk over close-cropped turf to the cairn on Lord's Seat at 215 metres, with the Kent sands, Arnside Knott and the whole southern skyline of the Lake District laid out. Cumbria Wildlife Trust's Hervey Memorial Reserve covers the summit plateau and publishes dogs on a lead, because rare breed cattle and sheep graze the top lightly all year round. The scar edges are genuinely sheer in places, which is a second reason for the lead. Parking at Witherslack Hall is limited and there is at least half a mile of approach before you reach the reserve boundary.
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