Tarn Hows Circular Walk
Get ready to soak up some really special views of the Lakeland fells on this easy circular walk for all the family.
Map
Start:
Tarn Hows Car Park
1
From the car park, cross the road and take the left hand fork following the track down to the lake side. Pass through the gate and continue on the track in a clockwise direction around the Tarn.
The creation of Tarn Hows
Tarn Hows is part of a designed landscape created by James Garth Marshall of Monk Coniston in 1865. He built the dam at the outflow of one of three small tarns, and planted hundreds of trees to create a landscape in order to enhance the view.
2
Follow the track as it continues around the Tarn to a point where a path crosses the main route. Continue straight ahead around the tarn and back to the car park if a level surfaced path is required. Otherwise to extend the walk and take in good views, pass through the gate to the left of the track and proceed uphill to an upper track. Continue on this track in the direction signposted to Consiton, Hawkshead and Old Car Park until reaching the Viewing Car Park. Note this extension is unsuitable for mobility scooters and pushchairs.
The Cumbria Way
The first section of the track is part of the Cumbria Way, a 112km long distance track created in the 1970's by a local Ramblers Group, linking Ulverston in the south, through the heart of the Lake District to Carlisle.
3
From the car park cross the road and pass through the gate following a footpath across the field, keeping the Tarn to the right hand side. This path can be muddy in bad weather. An alternative is to follow the road back towards the main car park.
Tarn Hows was registered as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1981. The Tarn is nutrient poor and supports a particularly diverse range of acquatic flora. It is fed at its northern end by water which drains through a series of mires, which are rare nationally important plant habitats.
4
Continue on the track as it passes downhill and up again before descending back through a gate into to the main car park.
Conservation with cows
You might spot the eye catching Belted Galloway cows quietly grazing around here. They belong to our tenant farmer and are becoming an unlikely conservation hero. Smaller herds of cattle grazing across larger areas of land significantly improves the diversity of wildlife in that landscape and government agri-environment funding enables the farmers to continue this work sustainably.
End:
Tarn Hows Car Park
