To the Fells

Heading out on to the fells and out and about around Derwentwater is easy from the Lairbeck Apartments given our great location.  If you download a free app called All Trails, you can see which walks are in the area for your ability and tastes, but here are some of our favourites:

Catbells

Catbells is perenial favourite of many Keswick visitors.  A distinctive looking fell with its camel humps to the right of Derwentwater, it's a medium level climb which offers amazing views of the Borrowdale Valley, Newlands Valley, Keswick and Derwentwater, so a lot of reward for your efforts.

The starting point is Hawes End, which you can either walk to in around an hour via Portinscale from Lairbeck Apartments, or wander through town and Hope park to Derwentwater to catch a Keswick Launch boat ride, also around an hour in all. Whichever route you take, it's a magnificent way to begin your day!

Come back down the Derwentwater side towards Grange for a drink by the river and catch an open-top bus back, or carry on walking to Maiden Moor and High Spy if you're conquering the Wainrights.

The K2T path

The K2T path (Keswick to Threlkeld) is around 5k long and criss-crosses the Greta river beautifully over numerous bridges.  A flat walk on a smooth asphalt surface, the prize is the journey itself as well as Threlkeld village cafe's great views or lunch at the Horse and Farrier in Threlkeld.  Walk back via Latrigg or CastleRigg stone circle, or take the 10 minute bus journey (every half hour).

Loop the Lake
The Derwentwater loop leads you all the way up Walla Crag, down to Lodore Falls, across the end of Derwentwater and back via the west side under Catbells, through Lingholm and Portinscale.  The route takes around 3-4 hours but is lovely and, if you follow the road down the Borrowdale Valley instead of heading up Walla Crag and Lodore Falls, it's mostly flat.

Latrigg

As one of the lower Wainwrights in terms of height, Latrigg is a lovely 2-3 hour trek. It has a park bench with stunning views from the top and a nice green plateau, so take a picnic and enjoy your well earned views over Keswick and the Borrowdale valley.  The route loops around the back of Latrigg, which also serves as the starting point for a hike up Skiddaw.  Heading down from Latrigg, take the eastern route and drop on to the K2T path for your return in to Keswick.

The Big Fells

Depending on how adventurous you are, Helvellyn, Blencathra and Skiddaw are the big fells here, but you’ll need to be prepared and take a day each to conquer them!

Heading up Skiddaw you'll be able to bag a number of smaller Wainrights en route, and one of the best loops is the 16km loop via Carlside. Lairbeck Apartments are a perfect place to jump on to this route.

Blencathra has a number of routes and ridges to get to the top, but the nicest route is to head up to the back of Latrigg, then venture in to the spectacular Glenderaterra valley. From it's farthest point, before the return along the oposite side to Threlkeld, head up the rear of Blencathra via Mungrisdale Common then on to the summit of Blencathra.

Helvellyn has a number of routes to the summit, all extensively mapped on the All Trails app, but you will have to drive to reach the starting points, the nearest of which is the Swirls car park at Thirlmere.

Happy trekking!