A beautiful short walk up to Walla Crag summit to admire the view over Derwent water, Bassenthwaite lake and the summits of Cat Bells, Maiden Moor and High Spy. The ascent can be a bit strenuous for some walkers but the view from the top is well worth the effort. This walk goes down by Great Wood forest. Family and dog friendly.

Information to walk to Walla Crag summit:

• Distance: 4.5km
• Duration: 2h (slow pace)
• Ascent: +282m
• Level: Moderate
• Car Park: Great Wood National Trust car park, Borrowdale Rd, Keswick CA12 5UP, Fees apply to non-members of the National Trust
• Child friendly: Some steep steps at the beginning of the walk and rocky path that can be hard for toddler. Then grassy path and large forestry track. Not pushchair friendly.
• Dog Friendly: Yes – some areas with sheep around Walla Crag summit. Two stiles with dog gate to cross.
• Amenities: No toilet, picnic tables at the car park.

During last autumn, we decided to bring Marcus to Walla Crag summit as his first summit attempt. Matt and I with Skye have done this walk several times (before having Marcus); however I had never written a blog post about it. Not sure why. We like the view from this little summit and the plains between Walla Crag and Blueberry Fell at the top is gorgeous.

We have walked several paths around Walla Crag from going up to Blueberry Fell and Ashness bridge, or exploring Great Wood forest to even finding our way to Castlerigg stone circle and walking back via Keswick village. This time we wanted a short walk and we wanted to start by tackling the steepest part first. As such, we decided to go up following Cat Gill stream before going left to reach Lady’s rake and then Walla Crag summit. We went down following Brockle beck and then through Great Wood Forest.

Read about our walk to Walla Crag, Blueberry Fell and Ashness bridge here.

It was a lovely morning, not too windy and with a clear sky. Marcus managed to walk a little bit on the way up and Matt helped him during the final part to reach the summit. He definitely loved the rocky path, which is a scrambling for his little legs. But what he loved most was running on the grassy path down the summit to the crossing with Brockle beck. We were very happy with his walking and are looking forward to spring/summer longer days out in the fells.

Have you done this walk?

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Find all our dog friendly walks in the Lake District National Park on this page. To discover more of our UK adventures it is here.