One of the best walks in the Lake District, I believe, is the Coniston Water walk. It is a favourite! This Lake District walk has everything: views of the fells and the lake, a lake-shore path, woods, great picnic spots! The route I am outlining here is a circular route and takes a couple of hours (longer if you have a picnic). It is fairly straightforward with one or two challenging stretches, mainly due to the eroded path along the shore. However, it is no where near as difficult as the other famous hike in Coniston: The Old Man of Coniston! More of this on another occasion.
We have walked this route along Coniston Water many times and headed over to Coniston today, a beautiful spring day in April, to walk it again. Let me know what you think!
The starting point for this Coniston walk
We start at Torver, as small village a couple of miles from Coniston village itself. One reason for starting the walk here is the parking. We opt to park in the church carpark in Torver. There is an honesty box for payment. It is just on the mainroad going through Torver, next door to the Church House Inn.
From the carpark, walk back to the junction past the church and the inn and take a left. A little way along this road, cross to where the Shepherd’s View caravan site is signposted. Follow this track.
It eventually veers off to the left and on to Torver Common.
Torver Common
We have rarely seen anyone else on this path as it wends its way over the moorland. It is beautiful.
This path is fairly easy going, but there is the odd stream to cross. The trail takes a sharp left turn as you step across one stream and continues over the Common.
Eventually, you come to a small wooden bridge and then to the road.
Cross the road and pick up the trail over the common on the other side.
This part of the trail heads down towards Coniston Water itself and you will join the lake shore path.
Coniston Water shore path
The views across the lake here are really quite beautiful.
The trail is fairly straightforward, but challenging in places because of the erosion. It is quite rocky and there are lots of tree roots, along with the odd stream to hop across.
It is also a good section of the hike to find a picnic spot – or go for a swim!
Follow the path along Coniston Water until you reach a path heading back up the hill to the left. There is a jetty where a couple of the tour boats come in just before this path.
Through the woods away from Coniston Water
Follow the path up the hill through the woods. It is uphill but not too steep and eventually levels off as you reach fields.
At this time of year, there are new born lambs in the fields! And don’t forget to look over to The Old Man of Coniston towering over the surrounding countryside!
Eventually you come to a trail over a field.
This leads down to the main path at the back of the church in Torver. Follow the path to the main road and round to where you left the car. Easy!
Map of Coniston Water Walk route
This is the tracked route we usually take and which I have described here. Clearly, there options along the way, but this is a good starting point.
If you found this post useful, you may like to check out these other posts about the Lake District
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I have always made a point of never accepting guest posts on AbFabTravels, but I have just made an exception! My daughter Beth is currently on a sabbatical and travelling the world. She has agreed to contribute a few articles, giving a young person’s perspective and insights into a different way of travelling. She is a fantastic writer so please check out her posts.
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