Alcock Tarn from Town End

The flat village loop in Grasmere, done on the days when Easedale is under cloud. From the Broadgate Meadow car park the lane runs down to St Oswald's churchyard, where Wordsworth is buried, and the riverside path follows the Rothay upstream past the gingerbread shop end of the village. At Goody Bridge you cross and come back along Easedale Road to Broadgate. The council's dogs order excludes dogs from the Broadgate Meadow play area and the High Fieldside play area, both in the village, but puts no lead requirement on the meadow or the riverside path.

Six and a half miles round, close to four hours, on a stone-pitched path that climbs beside Sourmilk Gill to the tarn and then comes back down the quieter Far Easedale valley. It starts from Grasmere village and follows Easedale Road out; Stock Lane and Broadgate car parks are both paid and both queue on summer afternoons, so the 555 bus from Ambleside or Keswick is the easier arrival. The tarn is the reason to bring a dog - clean shallow water at the outflow and no boat traffic - but the valley floor is working hill farm with sheep and lambs from March, the gill crossing at Stythwaite Steps runs deep after rain, and a big dog will need a hand over one narrow slotted stile on the Far Easedale side.

Four and a half miles and 300 metres of climb, about two and a half hours: a well-repaired zigzag out of Easedale onto the rocky crest known as the Lion and the Lamb, returning by the bridleway under Gibson Knott. Start from Broadgate car park in Grasmere and take Easedale Road; there is no roadside parking at the foot of the fell and the lane is a residents' bottleneck, so park in the village. The summit rocks are the one honest caveat - the final few metres to the true top involve a hands-on step up that most dogs cannot do and none should be lifted over, but the plateau just below is a fine turning point, and the whole fell is grazed so leads throughout.