Map: OS Explorer OL4

         The English Lakes North-western area

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Parking: We started from Chapel House Farm campsite where we stayed.

If you are coming into the valley for the day there is parking at the Scafell Hotel in Rosthwaite (£5 for a day)

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Route: Turn right out of the campsite carpark and follow the "pavement" for about 300m to the small crossroads. Turn left here towards the Youth Hostel. Pass the houses, cross the river and turn right along the river bank. Follow the river to a ford and continue straight ahead. Basically, follow the river downstream!

If you are starting at the car park, turn right (North) into Rosthwaite, through the narrow main-road gap between the buildings and then turn left. Follow this road / track out to the river and the Ford. There is a bridge further downstream so no need to get wet! Once you are on the West side of the river, you join the directions.

The track enters the woods and turns left uphill. There is a small clearing and just past this there is a small diversion to the left up to Millican Dalton's Cave. The "Professor of Adventure" lived here for a significant number of years, welcoming and guiding guests in the area. Return to the path and continue through the woodland to a campsite. Here the track becomes tarmac-covered for the campsite access. At a junction follow the road left up to the campsite buildings (farm) and go through the farmyard. Through a gate and across a field to a small woodland area. We turned left here, up around the back of the woodland but in wet conditions the right option to the road with a short road walk is perhaps better if you are less sure-footed and don't like walking through wet bracken (time of year dependent!)

Follow the path around the woods and across the hillside , behind another woodland and some houses until you meet a track coming down the hillside, close to the road. Turn left up this large track, ignore the path up to Cat Bells (a good option in nice weather!) and continue along the track. This track (marked Allerdale Ramble) contours the hillside all the way to the end of Cat Bells. It is part of a classic mountain bike route so be aware of bikes on this section. If you are lucky, the ice cream van will be in the woods at the end of this section! At the end of the track, cross the road, take a small path downhill (cuts the road corner) and turn right to the road hairpin. Don't follow the road around the hairpin but go downhill on the path. At the bottom you meet a larger track, turn left and follow the sign posts all the way to Portinscale which is reached after a short road section from the marina. Turn right after the cafe and go past the hotel to the river. Over a bridge onto the old road. After a short distance, turn right and follow the fenced track over the fields into Keswick. Turn left at the end of the track to the main road and turn right for Keswick centre. The 78 bus goes from the main bus station outside the Booths Supermarket. Of course, you may feel in need of refreshment at this stage but get near the front of the bus queue so you can bag the front seats upstairs for the return journey back to your car. 

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Verdict: This walk was planned as a low-level, wet-weather-day outing for us. Although a reasonable distance, there is little climbing along the route and all the paths and tracks are good quality - easy walking and good for navigation. Also, there are several options to cut down the road (eg Grange) or Lake to access the bus or the Steamers if you get tired or too wet on a wet day. The Little Chaps had this down as a favourite because of the bus ride but it is a decent walk in it's own right. A brilliant low level day. 

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