Our drawing of the route — the shape of the walk, not a navigation aid. Carry OS Explorer on the hill.
A long day out of Rosthwaite over the shoulder of Great Crag, taking in two tarns and the hanging valley at Watendlath. The bridleway climbs past the group of pines known as the Six Sisters, with the whole of the Seathwaite valley behind, before dropping to the tea room at Watendlath. From there the route turns south over boggy moorland to Dock Tarn, then down a pitched path through the old sessile oaks of Lingy End into Stonethwaite and back along the beck. It is graded challenging by the National Trust and the middle section is genuinely rough and wet underfoot.
Five and a half miles and about two and a half hours for 230 metres of climb: the Allerdale Ramble along the Derwent from Seatoller, then the slate spoil zigzag onto Castle Crag, the smallest Wainwright and the best view in Borrowdale. Start at the National Trust Seatoller car park at the foot of Honister, paid, around 60 spaces, and usually the last car park in the valley to fill. The riverside section is enclosed and the Derwent has deep pools a dog can swim in, but the final 80 metres onto the crag climbs loose slate spoil that cuts pads and is genuinely steep, and the summit is a small rocky platform with drops on three sides - many people leave the dog with a companion at the col.
A big spa hotel at the head of Derwent Water on the B5289, with the Lodore waterfall itself in the woods directly behind the building and the Derwent Water shore path a couple of hundred yards away. Dogs are taken in most bedrooms and some suites and have two rooms of their own to sit in, the Side Lounge to the right of the entrance and the Conservatory beyond the bar, where they can be with you for any meal. They are shut out of both restaurants and out of the Lake View Bar seating, though they may walk through the bar to reach the Conservatory.
A small hotel in four acres of grounds on the Borrowdale road between Lodore and Ashness, with a gate onto the Derwent Water shore path and the woodland below Falcon Crag. Dogs are taken in designated dog-friendly rooms in the main hotel and in Four Oaks Cottage, and the hotel does not charge for them when you book direct rather than through an agent. Not every room is a dog room, so it is worth ringing rather than booking blind.
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