Lakes overnight wild camp

[bigbear]

Any suggestions for a location where one might sling a hammock and have a fire (done carefully, responsibly and tidied up afterwards) thats off the beaten track and not a commercial campsite ?

many thanks if someone can save me the weeks of trial and error that seems to be the alternative to good old fashioned asking !

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

not wild but bridge end farm at thirlmere in the lakes has some wild bits. we went through the main site and up a hill out of the way. further up above us i found a fire circle on flat ground with some small birch that will take a hammock. not what you asked for but thought it worth a mention. there is a pic showing the fire circle with views to raven crag on google earth.

 

[bigbear]

thanks, that's kind, but I can hammock at the climbing hut Owned by my club in the valley, it's more a remote location I am after.

Nick

 

[tallywhacker]

There are some good woods near windermere imo, i think the area is claiff heights? Where the car ferry lands (north west coast of windermere). The tracks are well used but easy to wander off, the view from up there is awesome and if you time it right there are sweet chestnuts everywhere and fungi everywhere. Be prepared to have to rummage to find somewhere though as it is heavily walked, where they supposedly buried the crier of claiff is quite an eerie area to spend the night if you ever read the folk lore.

The duddon valley is a very nice area too, my favourite place in the lakes actually and plenty of woods to explore. Just watch for the truly massive ants, they are some african species and they bite a lot. I would choose this area any time tbh, especially if you just like to wander till you find somewhere as there are loads of potential site up the duddon valley. There is a bothy somewhere in either hartley close or forge wood too, i cant remember which it has been a while since i went to it.

The last place i went to was near eskdale, near the lal ratty station (ravenglass and eskdale station) there is a wood called either newall or low wood i cant remember which, but i'm referring to the broad area anyway. The site tbh was not ideal, it is heavily walked. The plus points on this place are that it is central to some good walks and a bridge to jump off which is why i went there. I guess i would actually suggest this area as a waste of time for hammocking.

Between the duddon valley, coniston water and windermere you will find some of the best scenery about and have plenty of woods to explore as do their surrounding tributaries. That being if you like solo wandering without a real plan. The areas change a bit too much to have any static good sites i can suggest, most areas are forestry areas so some degree of trial, error and wasted walking is probably mandatory if going off grid. The only definite hangs i can suggest to you will also mean getting an early morning wake up by a warden. It's just how it is up here.

 

[tallywhacker]

I answered the same question on another thread just now, i notice i got a bit more specific so rather than editing the above post ill just add it here as both are similar but slightly different:

Not really able to give true specifics but i will try, for the most part the area is too dynamic due to forestry work and tourism unless you want a location you could be moved on from. There are some very good areas around the duddon valley, coniston water and lake windermere. The safest bet with walking options is probably windermere, near the car ferry, there is a wood full of sweet chestnuts and fungi called heald wood. Towards claiff heights from the ferry there is a place called three tubs tarn that is also nice to sit, very heavily walked but you'll be hard pressed not to find a hang with a view along the walk somewhere. There are some cracking views from heald wood onto windermere.

Avoid grizedale and broughton beck area if looking around coniston unless your ballsy, very heavily worked by the FC and the deer come though at quite some speed. The shorelines of coniston and windermere get patrolled too by either the LDNPA or NT.

I would say the duddon valley but then i am biased, i grew up around there and think it looks fantastic, i also prefer to walk off beaten routes and be away from the tourists. You'll get a hang in
forge/hartley close wood and there is a bothy in/around there to be found and good views. There is another wood with a good view at ulpha a little further up, i think that's church wood. Wallowbarrow gorge i also like, although far more hazardous, limited on where you can get a hang and it can be a real bad walk when wet it has some powerful rapids to stare aimlessly at. Don't get tempted to swim in the gorge though, it is a killer, lots of undercuts in the rocks and that's an understatement, its a bcu 5+ last time i checked. In fact i'll deter you more and tell you how a friend lost his fingernails trying to dig his way out of one of those undercuts... Further up towards dunnerdale and yet more trees and views, last time i was there there where a few decent areas.

Not sure about the northern end of the lakes, there tend to be less trees up that end.

To be honest it's probably easier to pick somewhere on a map, put it forward and see if there is a reason not to use it when it comes to the lakes xD

Hope some of that was useful and apologies for not combing that into one post, it's getting late

 

[bigbear]

Many thanks