As a family who live in the Lake District with our four young children, we, of course, adore being outside with our children.
Prior to having children, my husband and I loved to hike in the Lakes. When we had our first child, we were sure that our fell walking days would have to be put on hold for a good few years – how wrong we were!!
In fact, those first two years when your baby still fits in a baby carrier and hasn’t realised how much more exciting it is to be on their feet is the perfect time to get hiking and exploring.
Here are five wonderful Lake District walks that are perfect for baby carrying, and some are also pram accessible.
Brothers Water
Brothers Water is a small lake in the Hartsop Valley in the Lake District. This is such an incredible walk!
The route takes you along the shoreline of Brothers Water, and what makes this such a great walk is the level terrain – the path is wide and safe and is accessible with a single or double pram.
The route we took was approximately 2.5 miles, however, you can walk as much or as little as you want. The path is relatively sheltered, making this a good walk for wetter days too.
Aira Force
Aira Force is a waterfall in Matterdale in the Lake District. From the High Cascades car park, it’s approximately a 1.7-mile loop. It took us 90 minutes to complete the trail, bearing in mind we have lots of little legs and explorers that do take up more time!
This walk is not pram accessible due to the number of steps to get down to the waterfall. However, it’s very family friendly. There’s so much to see, and the excitement of the huge waterfall at the end keeps any baby in a carrier entertained!
Tarn Hows
Tarn Hows circular walk is a Lake District classic as it’s a short walk that’s accessible for prams, making it a brilliant family walk.
There’s a pay & display car park and you get some really special views of the Lakeland fells – whatever the weather!
This walk is approximately two miles long and very easy to navigate – just follow the path clockwise around the Tarn.
Catbells
This is a classic fell walk of the Lake District with some incredibly breathtaking views. The ‘picnic route’ that we take is often quieter and involves much less scrambling – far better for little legs or those carrying babies.
This route is approximately four miles long and, while it’s steep in parts, our 3-year-old managed it no problem. A wonderful family walk with spectacular views.
Sale Fell
Sale Fell is a little fell of about 2.4 miles. This walk is wonderful for little legs because it isn’t too steep.
You’re also able to park directly at the bottom of the fell, which really does help. It took us about 2 hours 30 minutes to complete it, and that was with a lot of slow walking, a picnic stop and a very exciting game of ‘skidding down the hill’ which involved a lot of going up…and then coming back down again! This is also a lovely fell walk for babies in carriers.
If you’d like to find out more of the walks that Laura and her family have completed, you can follow @thehikinghousehold on Instagram. All their walks are also mapped and documented in detail on www.thehikinghousehold.com.