Family-friendly Wainwrights: loops, lakes and picnic tops

A family-friendly Wainwright is a walk the whole group can share: a loop rather than a slog there and back, a summit with room to sit, and something on the way for the people who don't care about summits. Castle Crag in Borrowdale, High Rigg above St John's in the Vale and Dodd above Bassenthwaite Lake are good places to start.

This page is for mixed ages: a toddler in a carrier, a teenager who wants a proper climb and a grandparent who wants a steady pace. If your group is mostly young children, the Wainwrights for kids guide has shorter, easier tops.

How we picked

This is the Family Friendly collection in the Upfell app. A fell is on it when there is a clear, well-used route with no scrambling or exposure, the walking day is a half day or so, and the start has parking or a bus. We went through every fell against its route write-up and dropped the ones that had been tagged too generously. Most were big ridge tops such as High Street, Saint Sunday Crag and Wetherlam, fine walks but long days, or fells like Haystacks where the path needs hands.

The best first choices

• Castle Crag, 290 m. The lowest Wainwright. Walk from Rosthwaite along the River Derwent, then up the old slate spoil to the summit rock and Borrowdale's war memorial. The round is 4.5 km with 214 m of climbing. Look for Millican Dalton's cave in the quarry on the east side. There is a ladder stile with narrow rungs on the way.
• High Rigg, 357 m. Short enough from the church for anyone, long enough from Legburthwaite for a proper day. The ridge goes past High Rigg Tarn, and the church of St John's is small and usually open.
• Dodd, 502 m. Forest roads from the Old Sawmill tearoom, then cleared slopes with benches and viewpoints. The osprey viewing platform in Dodd Wood has let people watch the Bassenthwaite nest since 2001, and the wood is a stronghold for red squirrels.
• Silver How, 395 m. A loop from Grasmere past Allan Bank, where Wordsworth lived, up to a summit looking straight down on the village and lake. About 5 km with a little over 300 m of climbing.
• Rannerdale Knotts, 355 m. Between Buttermere and Crummock Water. Go in bluebell time: the valley on its east side is blue from late April, usually at its best around mid May. There are a few steps near the top where you might use your hands.
• Little Mell Fell, 505 m. For the grandparent who wants to tick one off. From the lay-by at The Hause it is 1.3 km there and back with 120 m of climbing, steep for the first bit, then easy grass.

Loops with water and picnic spots

Some of the best family days follow water most of the way.

• Glenridding Dodd: up The Rake from Glenridding and back down beside Mossdale Beck through woods, about 5 km with 330 m of climbing. Walk a little east of the cairn and nearly all of Ullswater is below you.
• Raven Crag: a short, steep climb through forest above the Thirlmere dam to a viewing platform with a guardrail, about 2.4 km there and back. Castle Crag, an Iron Age hill fort, is close by on the same ridge.
• Crag Fell: from Bowness Knott or Bleach Green, walk the Ennerdale Water shore to Anglers Crag, where a short stretch needs hands, then climb past the Crag Fell Pinnacles. The gentler way up is Ben Gill.
• Burnbank Fell: through the National Trust's Holme Wood above Loweswater, past Holme Force, a pair of waterfalls side by side, to a terrace path with a bench looking over the lake to the Grasmoor fells.
• Whinlatter: from the Whinlatter Forest visitor centre, forest trails lead to open tops with a view north to the Solway Firth and Scotland. Out and back is about 6.5 km with 280 m of climbing.

Bigger days for older children

When the teenagers want more, link two or three tops in one round.

• Arnison Crag and Birks from Patterdale: about 8 km with a little over 500 m of climbing and no hands on rock.
• Stone Arthur, Great Rigg, Heron Pike and Nab Scar from Grasmere, back by the coffin road from Rydal: 12.5 km with 800 m of climbing.
• Catbells, Maiden Moor and High Spy: walk the ridge south from Hawse End, drop to Grange and take the 78 back to Keswick.
• Coniston Old Man: the tourist route climbs through old slate workings to Low Water, then zigzags steeply to the top. On a clear day you can see Morecambe Bay, Blackpool Tower and the Isle of Man.

Parking

Castle Crag: the National Trust car park at Rosthwaite. High Rigg: the United Utilities car park at Legburthwaite, just off the A591 on the B5322. Dodd: the Old Sawmill tearoom car park. Silver How: Red Bank Road or Stock Lane in Grasmere. Rannerdale Knotts: free roadside spaces at Cinderdale Common, the small National Trust area at Hause Point, or Buttermere village. Little Mell Fell: the lay-by at The Hause, which takes four or five cars. Glenridding Dodd: the National Park car park in Glenridding. Burnbank Fell: the lay-by by the phone box at Waterend. Small lay-bys fill early, so have a second fell in mind.

What to take and when to go

A waterproof and a warm layer for everyone, food and water, a small first aid kit, and a map and compass. Pack the picnic for the top: Little Mell Fell and Burnbank Fell are rounded grassy domes with room to spread out. Walking poles help older knees on steep descents such as the Scree Gully steps on Silver How and the slate zigzags on Castle Crag. Cattle graze the fields at Hudson Place below Burnbank Fell in spring and summer, and in Glenamara Park below Birks.

Go on a dry day and check the Mountain Weather Information Service (MWIS) forecast for the tops. Spring brings the Rannerdale bluebells, and summer weekends bring the crowds, so start early. For bus-only days see Wainwrights by bus. For more ideas around a base, try the Keswick, Grasmere, Borrowdale and Buttermere guides. Bringing the dog? See dog-friendly Wainwrights.