Powter Howe Wood:
Powter Howe Wood can be found close to Bassenthwaite Lake in Thornthwaite. There is a free car park at the start of this walk for plenty of cars, the first photo below shows the car park sign to look out for. You can see this sign from the road side, the postcode that we used to take us to this car park was CA12 5SQ
The route:
The start of this walk is through a kissing gate at the far right hand side of the car park, you will see a wooden sign pointing you straight on for the lakeshore and right for a short walk around the wood (photo 2). For this walk we decided to carry straight on and head down to the lakeshore, the path is well maintained and easy to follow. You will soon come to a fork in the road, it is here where you dip right to head down to the lakeshore (photo 3). After venturing through two gates you walk under a bridge (photo 4) and arrive at Bassenthwaite Lake. We visited here on a very wet and windy winter day, the paths were very muddy and boggy. However, we look forward to returning in the summer months and enjoying a picnic and paddle overlooking the stunning Bassenthwaite Lake.
Follow this path round in a very short circle and you will soon return back to the bridge. Here retrace your steps under the bridge, through the two gates and back to the fork in the road. You could return to the car if you wanted to at this stage, however we decided to continue our loop, clockwise, around the wood. Again, the path is very easy to follow – if you are stuck at all please do consult The Hiking Household Strava at the bottom of this page where you will see our route in detail.
This 1.35 mile loop is wonderful on a rainy day, the trees offer shelter from the elements and the short distance allows it to be accessible for those little legs of the family. We visited this walk on a particularly stormy day and I would not recommend any form of pram when the ground is so slippery, there are also a few steep sections when exploring the wood so do watch out. Due to the terrain, even on a dry day, I am not sure an off road pram would manage this track. Do comment below if you have succeeded in doing this.
A wonderful, easy and short walk that has the added bonus of being close to the lakeshore and offering breathtaking views of the surrounding fells. This walk could easily be paired with many of the longer walks we have reviewed on this site: during the summer months why not head up Barf, Sale Fell or Ling Fell and end your walk with a little paddle in a secluded area of Bassenthwaite Lake?
Please click on the links below to be taken to some of the surrounding walks in this area:
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