Cumbrian Way - Carlisle to Keswick (★★★★★)

Looking for some new walks I stumbled across a description of the Cumbrian Way, which promised a lower-level walk through the Lake District, that gives a route through the lakes, but without the whole obsession with wainwrights and steep scrambles.

This looked right up my street and looking into it I figured that the most enjoyable way to do it would be to do a northern section running between Carlisle and Keswick and then a southern section from Ulverston to Keswick - allowing for extra time in Keswick to just chill a bit on both walks.

For the northern section - which is the section walked on this particular trip - I had originally figured on walking Carlisle to Caldbeck and then Caldbeck to Keswick but looking at the distances, I eventually just figured that I would just walk the whole span in one go. 

This means 31 mile of walking in one day, but it was doable even with the limited light in late April - the only thing I would change is I probably would have stayed in Carlisle the night before. This is because I ended up pushing against the setting sun heading into Keswick and getting a slightly earlier start would have made life a bit more chilled. That said if I did it later in the year this would not have been an issue.

As it was I was on the very earliest train of the day and managed to get into Carlisle at 8:34 and then I headed west to joined up with the river near the station.

From here the beginnings of the walk are not too awe-inspiring - following a well concreted route along the rive, but as you break past the edge of Carlisle, this transitions into the beginnings of countryside with lots of people out and about on morning walks.

One of the reasons for looking to walk this route in April was to avoid the worst of the rain. October to January are a bit of a rain-fest in the lakes. February to March and June to September have moderate rain for the lakes. But, April and May the rainfall in the lakes is not so bad and so this was when I had planned to pay my visit (March and June are the best of the other months).

Another good thing about late April - and this one was unexpected - was that this was the time for all the dandelions to be out in flower and on the cycle route out of Carlisle past Cummersdale the fields were full of dandelions in full display. 

All in all, this made for quite a pleasant walk down to Dalston, although if I'm honest, on a second visit I would probably start the walk at Dalston train station and save the first 4 miles of walking out of Carlisle.

Dalston I found to be a very pleasant town - it had an older guy out using a spade to clear the grass off the cycle tracks / footpath, the school was very pleasant and even seemed to have its own sheep - and the rest of the village had a lovely park like feel. Heading over the river you pass by the old mills walking down towards Buckabank, and this felt like a really lovely place to live.

This more populated setting gradually swapped into a more rural setting, heading through fields of sheep to Hawksdale Hall and while the attraction of this walk was the trip through the lakes - I was surprised by how lovely this section was to walk through.

Then in the fields following Lime House School the first views out towards the lakes started to appear as I continued to walk through this very pleasant landscape.

First sight of the lakes walking through the fields heading south

By this point I was in a very good mood and enjoying the day - stopping off briefly to impress some elderly chaps off for a walk with my plans to walk to Keswick on this day (they asked where I was walking to - I was not showing off 😇).

Not too far after Lime House School, Rose Castle comes into view on the right hand side. As I had a bit of time I googled it, and it is a castle that has hosted kings over the years, including a visit from Edwards I in 1300 - and it formed part of the defensive line to protect against invasions from the north by the Scots. These days if you are after a fancy place to have a wedding it could be yours for a mere £10,000 (it probably is a wonderful place for a wedding).

After here the countryside is not in any way bad, but it transitioned into fairly standard countryside and fairly forgettable - with the peak of the first half of the trip having been either side of Lime House School - and the real highlight of this latter section was a short bonding session with the local cows who came over to give me a friendly lick.

Once past Sebergham - however - the path starts to bend to the west and before long you are start to get better views of the hills to be reached after passing through Caldbeck.

A look across prior to reaching Caldbeck

These views appear via small gaps in the trees before you head deeper into the woodland through Parsons Park, blocking out all views, before arriving at Caldbeck.

Caldbeck is a pretty small village and if you are looking to break this walk into two this is really the main option for accommodation - with nothing else really being an option from here on until you reach Keswick.

Having navigated through Caldback the path begins a fairly gradual climb (at least compared to what is visible to be climbed ahead) and the peak in the distance is the route that the path will be taking over the hills, climbing up to the peak on High Pike.

A rather nice view having already climbed a decent way up from Caldbeck already

At Nether Row you pass the last house on the way up and then its not long before the path takes more of a steeper upward gradient and here you just need to set a fairly gentle pace and settle in for the long-haul, because it will be a little while before the climb stops as you get up to High Pike. 

High Pike is a fell not a mountain, but at 658 meters above sea level it is pretty tall. Mountains are generally over 600 meters and having come up from Carlisle which is only about 30 meters above sea level it does feel like for the purpose of this walk it could possibly be considered a small mountain? But it's not, so at this point you haven't just climbed a mountain 😠. 

But an eternity later, as you do reach the top, what you find are some very lovely views out over the surrounding area and across to the peaks beyond.

Looking out to the peaks from the top

Having made it up to the top, you find yourself in proper walking country and most of the other walkers out here have much larger packs and were likely camping over somewhere. From here to Keswick there really isn't all that much other than hills, streams and plenty of marshy spots to bury your feet in.

But initially the path is heading directly south on a fairly flat level and then as you arrive at Grainsgill Beck, it is time to start heading downhill into the valley below.

The descent itself is a bit of a scramble as there are rocks to go around and even with it having been very dry there is plenty of water around to swallow up your feet in. But as you start to make your way to the base of the hill you start to get better views into the valley and also start to see more sights of the old mines.

Having dropped down into the valley

The mining works here are part of Carrock Mine which was mining wolfram, which based upon my memory of the sign is an ore used to make tungsten (this may not be correct).

As it is, the mine has been long disbanded and there are only small hints of its former presence. However, it definitely must have been one of the prettiest mining spots when in operation. I perhaps could be persuaded to become a miner.

From here the going is pretty easy, and the path turns right and start to head along the base of the valley towards Keswick. This part of the walk is a delight and although I have tried to limit the photos to the particular highlights to avoid it being an endless stream of pictures, there is almost no point along the route that hasn't got an amazing view.

Walking along the valley towards Keswick

After heading past Great Calva the path rises up slightly and heads up to Skiddaw House which is a very remote hostel based in this valley - and according to its information the highest hostel in Britain. Albeit accommodation for those content to have no phone signal etc. It does - however - have lights, heating and hot water before I put too many people off.

Here the path turns to the left and after following up with a right turn Lonscale Fell lies up ahead.

Lonscale Fell up ahead

Personally I'm not a huge fan of the paths that run along the edge of a steep drop (I'm not afraid of heights, but I am afraid of drops) and the path can just be seen in the picture above cutting up onto the ridge and then it hugs the edge of the ridge.

Doing the same route again I would instead take the next left on the path and follow the lower route on the other side of Glenderaterra Beck. As it was the path continued on and up along the side of the ridge and then after some very careful walking to avoid a nasty fall to my early and untimely death (without being overly dramatic about it), the path bends round to head west ahead of a dip down to Keswick.

The view having rounded the corner and finally had some fencing put in to keep me safe

By this point the sun can be seen to be getting a little lower in the sky, but it had been a big climb up to High Pike, so I'd been taking it gently to keep my tired legs happy and with Keswick coming up ahead you can fairly easily judge your pace to match the progress of the day.

And so in the final light of the day it was time to begin that final descent into Keswick : 

The final stretch heading into Keswick

This was my final destination for the day and there was time left in the day to get something to drink before an early collapse into bed.

The Following Day : 

Normally I will split these routes into separate days for each walk, but one of the plans around this trip was to have the opportunity to follow up the previous day with a more lazy explore around Keswick, and so the next day I headed out for a bit of wander after some breakfast.

Next time I think I will do a full loop of the lake, but on this occasion I went up the first part of the path to Cat Bells and settled down to look over the lake - which had some pretty marvelous views. Going up the hill felt a bit heavy going after the previous day, and two older ladies who past me were kind enough to have a good old natter about how remarkably slow I was: "You have to remember that not everyone is as fit as us" 😯

After I had (eventually) finished having a good cry over those remarks, I headed back down the hill and then enjoyed a very gentle stroll along the edge of Derwent Water with all the dog walkers, where I was thankfully safe away from abusive grannies.

But it was a perfect gentle walk along the edge of the lake before heading back to catch the bus to Penrith to catch the train home.

Heading round the lake

The lake with some trees

The lake with a pier

UPDATE - For an additional walk heading through Carlisle, see the walk from Bowness on Solway through to Haltwhistle along Hadrian's Wall stopping off at Carlisle along the way.

Enjoyment Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 85 and 90 OS Landranger maps - while there is also a Cumbrian Way guidebook (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked.