Dales Way - Burneside to Ambleside (★★★★☆)

The prior day I had been walking the Dales Way from Dent to Burneside and today I would be continuing to walk along the Dales Way to Bowness-on-Windermere. Since this would be a fairly short walk my plan was then to cross over Windermere and head up the western side of the lake to Ambleside.

I had stayed overnight in Kendal, so the first task of the day was to get on the train and head back to Burneside, where I could begin the onward walk along the River Kent to Bowston. From here I continued on past Cowan Head, as initially the river was dotted with small clusters of houses.

Having made it past Cowan Head, the next section is a quiet stretch through the fields and it is along here that we officially enter into the Lake District.

With this ticked off, we head up to the road, which we follow to the edge of Staveley, before heading up over the A591 and up the ridge on the far side.

Looking back towards Staveley

From here we join up with a very minor road and after a right turn, head back out into the fields as we start to head towards Windermere.

Heading across the fields

Looking out towards the hills above Windermere

Through this section there is more of a Lake District feel, but although we are starting to close in on Windermere there are no views of the lake - and there will be none until the very end of the Dales Way.

Instead the route is heading on through the pretty landscape on the way to Cleabarrow, which sits on the edge of Bowness-on-Windermere.

Hills are getting closer

On the way into Cleabarrow there is a blockage on the path in the form of a large group of cows and whilst they are friendly, they are a bit stubborn and hesitant to move - but eventually I manage to convince one of the cows to open up a gap in their mass for me to head through, and my journey continues onward.

Here the number of people out and about starts to climb, and opposite Home Farm I take an early rest ahead of meeting up with the crowds down in the town.

A good spot for a rest

Heading on down the path, keeping Brant Fell to the south, I clear the final few fields before reaching Bowness.

Final fields

Bowness and the end of the Dales Way

Unfortunately Dales Way walkers don't get priority in terms of spending time at the monument, which provides vital rest for those who have walked up from town, but on the stack on the left of the monument in the above picture (viewed from the opposite side) is a plague marking 81 miles to Ilkley along the Dales Way. And here the Dales Way officially comes to an end.

Here I drop down the hill into the town itself, and with it being out of season in late September I am expecting to be smugly able to walk around a quiet town. But I am wrong and it is as busy as always in town - absolutely heaving for those unfamiliar with Bowness.

Making a quick stop to get some drink, bread and ham for some lunchtime sandwiches, I head out along the edge of the lake and on down to Ferry Nab.

Just about found a gap in the people for a photo

On the bench at Ferry Nab

Here I'm waiting for the ferry across the lake - and whilst it costs a lot more to go on the cruises the passenger ferry across the lake costs a mere £1.15. Once my ferry arrives I head over to the ferry, pay the man and hop on board as two other foot passenger and I set off across the lake (plus a load of cars, but we get our own foot passenger segregated section).

The far side

Windermere is one of the harder lakes to walk along as a lot of the lake frontage is private property, but you can walk along the far side of the lake without the same issue, as most of the residents of the western side of the lake are in fact trees.

So from here I head up along what is initially a road used to access the car parks on this side of the lake, taking in the views of Windermere.

Another lake picture

More of the same really

This initial stretch has great views, but eventually upon reaching Bass How the path starts to shift more into the forest, and what was a lakeside walk soon becomes a woodland forest walk.

Trees

Trees are very much the theme of the middle section of this walk up the far side of the lake, but just as the trees start to get a bit tiresome the path starts to return to the lakeside, and as I go to take a photo it is time for the Fighter Jets to do another fly-by.

Above the black branch that looks like a bit of a bowl is a fighter jet

Zoomed in

Obviously it the jets themselves are a bit small once you take a photo, but in real life they looked a lot bigger and I have a video as well for those who want to hear the sound :

This was probably the fourth time I had encountered these jets on this day, but mostly they had been playing far overhead without any realistic chance of them being in any way visible in a photograph (even with my skillful zooming techniques). But these jets are easier to spot in real life and you're likely to see them while walking in the Lakes.

But with slower progress than those jets, I continue on up the lake and find myself soon arriving at my turn off to head inwards from the lake, to join up with the road.

My final lake photo

Joining up with the road

Initially I'm walking along the road itself, but very quickly I divert off onto a track that follows the road that seems to be mostly used by cyclists.

Although there was a bit of road walking the view was okay

This path carries me through the whole stretch that would otherwise be along the road, before pulling off through Pull Woods, and then rejoining up with a bigger road - that we continue to follow via our own dedicated path to one side.

Our path alongside the road

Along this next stretch there are a few short sections where we are forced back onto the road to get around a house, but mostly we continue along via a lovely side path with views out across the fields.

View out across the fields

It is only once we get very close to Clappersgate that there is a short section to walk along the road - but even this is far enough, because as always the drivers can be quite aggressive in the Lake District and not very accommodating of any road pedestrians. In fact I'm pretty sure they are actively trying to run everyone over who has the termirty to walk along their roads.

Still, with a bit of patience we get through okay and use the pavement along the A593, before pulling off to one side to head over a footbridge that takes us into Ambleside. From here I head on through to the bus stop at Hayes Garden Centre.

Here I get the sightseeing bus back into Windermere where I will stay over for the night - enjoying the commentary that comes with every bus stop along the way. The commentator is a posh fellow who has fun facts for every stop along the way!

Enjoyment Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ★ / 5

A writeup of another walk that also joins up with Windermere can be found here - walking Pooley Bridge to Windermere.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 90 and 97 OS Landranger maps - while there is also a Dales Way guidebook for the section along that trail which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked.