Graham’s Walks Vitals
- Distance: 2.6 miles/4.2 km
- Elevation: 526 ft/160 m
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Start: Glen Mary Bridge
- Graham’s Cafe: Not on this one but Joey’s Cafe a kiosk in the National Trust car park is a great choice for refreshments.
- Classification: None
The Maps
The Area
Tarn Hows is a popular destination. If you want a walk where you don’t see anyone, this is not the place. This popularity isn’t anything new, charabanc would travel up from Ambleside and Windermere in the 1890s. That said, I’ve never known the tarn to be over-run with people; there’s plenty of space to spread out and there’s probably less public transport now than there was in the days of the charabanc.
The walk starts from the Glen Mary Bridge car park, a name that was given to the local area by John Ruskin who thought that the name Tom Gill wasn’t picturesque enough.
It’s a National Trust car park making it free for members. Much of the land around here is owned and operated by the National Trust including the tarn itself.
If Glen Mary car park is full, which it can do, there are a few other parking spaces just off the main road alongside Yew Tree Tarn from where you can also begin this dainty walk.
It’s worth noting here that a “gill” is a local Cumbrian name for a valley with a stream in it, with Scandinavian roots. A “glen” is a Scottish name for the same thing.
On the other side of the road from Glen Mary Bridge is Yew Tree Farm which is notable for several reasons. The farm is part of an estate of land known as Monk Coniston which stretches all the way down to the shores of Coniston, and included Tarn Hows.
When this land was put up for sale in 1930 a local couple Mr and Mrs Heelis, him a solicitor, her an author and illustrator who is better known as Beatrix Potter, purchased it. They were determined that the estate shouldn’t be broken up or developed.
The National Trust wasn’t the large organisation it is today and weren’t in a position to buy the land. Beatrix later donated the land to the National Trust, but with a stipulation, the local Herdwick sheep were to continue on the land, each farm being allocated a minimum headcount.
The Herdwick allocation probably saved the breed from extinction in this area of the Lake District, but it hasn’t always been easy, the wool is course and they develop slowly so you can’t use the lamb meat.
In recent years, however, the farmers at Yew Tree farm have found a way of making the Herdwick profitable and now have over 1,000. Sue and I spent a wonderful day at the farm on a Herdwick Experience where they tell you about the history of the sheep, about the resulting hogget which is used in several Michelin Starred restaurants in the area and can be purchased from the farm.
They also, as part of the experience, take you to meet a group of the sheep who like to be petted. You sit in a field and they join you, sitting alongside you as you scratch their backs.
A lamb is a sheep that is less than a year old, a hogget is a step between one and two years.
Oh, yes, also, Yew Tree Farm is one of the main locations for the ‘Miss Potter’ film with Rene Zellwigger and Ewan McGregor.
The Walk
This is a walk of three parts.
The first part takes you rambling up through an ancient wood alongside a cascading stream, it’s not hard but it is uneven in places.
The second part is around the tarn which is more like a promenade than a ramble. The main path around the tarn is flat, wide and well paved.
The final part is working your way back down to your car the same way as you arrived.
Glen Mary to Tarn Howes
Near to the entrance of the car park there’s a footbridge across the stream which is your guide to the tarn. There aren’t any decisions to make on this route, you follow the well worn path on the ground which follows the general route of the stream.
There are several delightful waterfalls on your way up the hill, some you explore via short detours.
Part way up the hill, through a small gate, the cutting narrows significantly, the walking gets a bit more tricky, you’ll struggle to get lost though.
The stream takes you to the tarn where it flows out via a small dam. There used to be three small tarns in this area, the dam raised the water level to join them together into the larger expanse of water we see today. Much of what people assume is natural in the Lake District has been tinkered with by humans.
Around the Tarn
The tarn is banded by a circular route which brings you back to the dam. On your way around there are several places to drift off the main path to see something of interest or get a better view. This is a great place to let children explore there are still plenty of trees to climb even though the area has been heavily impacted by storms over recent years.
The promenade is very picturesque with photo opportunities around many of the corners.
It’s traditional for us to go clockwise around the tarn, so we head left, but could just as easily head right. The end of the tarn is marked by a bridge which is accompanied by a seat with glorious views along the full length of the tarn.
Having promenaded down one side it’s time to do the same along the other.
At the other end of the tarn there’s another car park operated by the National Trust, you could use this as a start to the walk, but where’s the fun in that.
There are some toilets in the car park, and a rather fine refreshment kiosk.
Tarn Howes to Glen Mary
Wether you’ve decided to take the detour off to Joey’s or stayed on the promenade you need to head back down to the dam.
From the dam get back on the path back to Glen Mary Bridge. Unfortunately, slippery paths are always worse descending.
Alternatives and Extensions
There aren’t many options for variant walks through the woods along the stream, you can sometimes venture closer to the stream, but that’s about it.
Once you get to Tarn Hows there are a few more options to add in extra distance and difficulty. Near the beginning you can head off to Tom Heights from which there are good views of the surrounding hills (it’s been a few years since I’ve been up there so I’m hoping the views are still there). You can join the Tom Heights path on to the walk up to Black Fell. Black Fell is one of the smaller, and easier Wainwrights so you can get an easy tick.
Another route up to Black Fell is from a stile at the end of the Tarn via the Iron Keld Plantation. The path to Iron Keld Plantation can also be used to access a route that circles the tarn from higher up. The higher route gives better views of the surrounding hills and is less well travelled.
From the car park at Tarn Hows there’s a different route back to Glen Mary Bridge, I’ve never walked it so can’t comment.
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One of your best Graham, I really enjoyed it. I’ve never been to Tarn Hows, put off by the short walk and lack of cafe. It seems a long way to go for such a short walk, but I’m tempted now, by the extra diversions
Thanks Steve. It tends to be a walk we do when we are also going somewhere else – normally a swim.