Tarn How is a beautiful dog walk in the Lake District

Tarn Hows is a beautiful spot for a dog walk in the Lake District, situated between the villages of Coniston and Hawkshead. Managed by the National Trust, this area provides a wonderful short hike with stunning mountain views and charming countryside to enjoy with your dog.

Distance	Total Time	Difficulty
3.5 km	00:58	Easy

Information panel at Tarn Hows describes the place very well: 

“Tarn Hows is a place of iconic beauty, with dramatic views of the Langdale Pikes and Coniston fells encircling the tarn. It was gifted to the National Trust by the world-famous author Beatrix Potter in 1930, as part of the wider Monk Coniston estate. As well as being one of the grandest pieces of 9th century landscape design in the Lake District, it’s a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its mire systems (boggy ground) and water quality, which support rare habitats and species.”

This hike was our second in the Lake District and it’s definitely worth the visit. It’s an easy, flat and short dog walk with amazing views.

The address we used to get to the Tarn Hows car park was: National Trust Tarn Hows, Ambleside, Cumbria, LA22 0PP.  It cost £5.00 for 2 hours, £6.50 for 4 hours. Parking is free for National Trust members.

There is a cafe in the place, where you can buy treats for your dogs as well as their human companions.

Don’t forget to check the post notes at the bottom of the page, with maps, a detailed table about the hike and links to everything mentioned in the post.

The Hike

There is not much to describe in terms of the route we took for this hike. All we really did was to turn right after entering the site from the carpark and followed the path around the lake. 

The first part of the walk offers the best views of the Tarn Hows lake as the path is on higher ground. The second part of the walk is also pretty but not as much and maybe a better approach would be to start the hike turning left from the carpark – a minor point really. 

There are a couple of perfect spots for a little dip in the water.

One thing we missed was the Tarn Hows viewpoint to our right not long after we started the walk. That is something to check out next time.

All in all a great and very easy dog walk in the Lake District and the girls absolutely loved it.

Cheers,

Ademar