Round Grasmere lake by Red Bank

A steep short pull out of Town End to a small dammed tarn on the shoulder of Heron Pike, with Grasmere and Rydal Water both laid out below. The climb goes up through the birches behind Dove Cottage and past the old Greenhead Gill workings, all on a made path but relentless for the first half hour. The tarn is shallow and reedy and the ground beside it is boggy after rain. The descent turns down Greenhead Gill and comes out on the A591 by the Swan, so watch the last few hundred yards for traffic.

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.