Grange walk - Borrowdale walk - Derwent Water walk -

Route: Grange

Area: Central Lake District

Date of walk: 30th September 2022

Walkers: Andrew

Distance: 4.2 miles

Ascent: 300 feet

Weather: Mixed cloud and sun

Today’s walk is a slightly longer version of my previous walk in Borrowdale, one of the most beautiful parts of the Lake District. I started from the same place, the National Trust Bowderstone car park. Instead of heading towards the famous Bowderstone (which is well worth a short there and back detour for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet) I headed in the opposite direction, into Cummacatta Wood. This is part of the Borrowdale rainforest and is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It also gets international recognition as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), the highest tier of protection given to habitats in Europe

There was a real sense of being in a jungle as I followed a narrow path through the ancient woodland, which was full of ferns, moss and mushrooms. There were dramatic views of the crags beside Grange Fell along the way. Eventually I reached the edge of the wood and Derwent Water came into view. I followed a track to the roadside and walked along a narrow pavement for a short distance. I then branched off to join a path through the fields which brought me to the lovely Chinese Bridge over the River Derwent (the name was inspired by the shallow arch). There followed a delighful section across the head of Derwent Water, where a boardwalk provides easy access over a marshy area

This was the far point of the walk and from here I followed a section of the long distance Cumbria Way below the slopes of Maiden Moor. A short stroll along a lane brought me into the village of Grange. Grange is situated at the entrance to the ‘Jaws of Borrowdale‘, where the valley squeezes between Grange Fell and Castle Crag. As a result I was able to walk from one side of the valley to the other in under five minutes. At the edge of the village I crossed the double arched bridge over the River Derwent and turned right along the road. Instead of following the road back to the start I re-entered Cummacatta Wood, met up with my original path and retraced my steps back to the start of another lovely walk in Borrowdale

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)