Dodd wood, the route to the summit

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

On Saturday afternoon we headed up north to the edge of Bassenthwaite to Dodd Wood, a forestry commission site with multiple marked walking trails and car park. It's a fabulous place to visit but to be honest, I'd recommend arriving either a) early or b) out of season as the parking area is limited (approx 40 from recollecion) and serves the wood, tearoom and country house opposite.
We took the green trail to the summit of Dodd; classified as 4.5 miles and demanding. By my standards it was entirely do-able, with a fair portion uphill but fine. Excellent paths and waymarking so just take a breather for however often you fancy. The view going up was of other peaks shrouded in flowing cloud. There weren't many others on our path so it felt very peaceful.

Warning: an abundance of autumnal pictures to follow.






It was a day of wispy low flowing cloud, of murky outlooks and pockets of hanging fog. Our optimism for getting a view at the top wasn't high (mine especially) but upon meeting a couple on their descent who eyed up our cameras and told us not to expect to see much at the top it sealed my expectation of nada. 




Well as it turned out the clouds kept their distance at the top and we had a marvelous outlook over Derwent water and Bassenthwaite lake which unfortunately had flooded fields nearby, it was a dramatic sight from above
Yep, same trousers but a smile this time. Every day our trousers got so muddy that we did laundry every day - thank goodness our cottage had a washing machine, hot radiator and airer, we would have been sunk without them.









The Bassenthwaite ospreys reside nearby April to September and although it was mid October I kept my eyes peeled regardless. At one point we heard some unrecognisable call coming from the water side of the slope and I wonder what it was but nothing came into eyeshot.


This was a fabulous walk, only 4.5 miles long and took about a couple of hours. The only downside is the Dodd Wood car park is shared by the woods, the country house over the road and the tearoom (pay and display of course) and really there is far more demand than spaces so if you head along either wear your lucky pants or turn up early or out of season. The walk itself was easy, enjoyable, safe and had beautiful views. There are 3 shorter trails too, well waymarked if you don't fancy heading to the top.
Take care,
Sophie

You Might Also Like

3 comments

Popular Posts

Disclaimer

Sometimes I am sent items to feature as part of a post and these will be clearly mentioned as part of each post.Everything else is bought by myself. Any sponsored or collaboration posts will be clearly marked. Each post is my own content and all opinions are honest.