Walk · Cumbria

Kendal, The Helm and the river Kent

Kendal

10.1MILES

4h 23mON FOOT

230mCLIMB

CircularSHAPE

The route A-road B-road Lane Track Path Water Woodland

Off-road 78% 22% shares tarmac with cars

Field & moor path 48%Lane & track 30%Road with traffic 22%

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. 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

Kendal town hall on Highgate, south along the Kent by Nether Bridge

Parking

Paid town car parks; the walk passes Oxenholme station at its far point, so it can be cut in half and finished by train

Directions to the start →

Ten miles and four and a half hours for only 230 metres of climb - south out of Kendal along the Kent, over the long whaleback of The Helm above Oxenholme, and back by field paths and the Natland lane. It starts in central Kendal and can be shortened by catching the train back from Oxenholme, which is a mile from the summit and takes dogs free of charge. The riverside first half is level, shaded and full of water access, and The Helm itself is short grass with a trig point and a big view of the Howgills, but the hill is grazed with sheep the year round, several of the field boundaries have narrow slotted stone stiles, and a mile of the return is on a lane with no pavement.

THE SMALL PRINTLeads on The Helm, which is grazed all year, and on the mile of pavement-free lane at Natland. Several narrow slotted stone stiles that a broad dog cannot pass unaided.

House rules, decoded

Livestock — leads on

Water bowls

REGION · CUMBRIA

GRID · 54.3272, -2.7452

SOURCE · HTTPS://WWW.KOMOOT.COM/GUIDE/2765973/HIKING-AROUND-KENDAL

Kendal, The Helm and the river Kent

House rules, decoded

1657 Chocolate House Tea Room

19 The Wine Bar

5 O'Clock Somewhere

Cottages you can book near Kendal

Tell us the pub we have not walked into yet.

Get the new stamps first.

Your patch, watched for you.