Dalemain walk - Dalemain to Dacre

Route: Dalemain

Area: Eastern Lake District

Date of walk: 23rd May 2017

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly

Distance: 4.4 miles

Ascent: 400 feet

Weather: Sunny and warm

Dalemain is one of our favourite gardens. We first visited over 20 years ago and have been back many times since. There’s a magical quality about the garden and a feeling that this is a space that is lived in and loved by its owners. The garden is well worth a visit in its own right, but another of its attractions is that there are several public footpaths in the vicinity which make it possible to plan a walk starting from the house. Today’s route would be a new one for us

Starting from the car park at Dalemain we joined the path to Dacre – a wide track which is lined for much of the way with old oak and lime trees. The views over the surrounding countryside are beautiful throughout. On arriving in the attractive village of Dacre we sought out the local hostelry to slake our thirst – it was a boiling hot day, but as bad luck would have it the inn is closed on Tuesdays – and today was a Tuesday

We set out on the return leg, passing by the church as we did so and walked through a succession of fields in unspoilt countryside before arriving at the outskirts of Stainton. The path out of Stainton took us through Evening Bank Wood and a sea of wild garlic, and then down through the fields back to Dalemain where another treat lay in store – the beautiful gardens

It was a superb walk and I can’t recommend this route highly enough

For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box

Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)