Distance 4.5 miles (7km)
Classification Easy
Duration 2 hours
Begins Great Wood car park
OS grid reference NY271214

Walk in a nutshell
From the car park the path rises through the woods with the giant cliff of Walla Crag towering above. A clever U-turn takes walkers up to the summit of Walla Crag and past Lady's Rake. Dropping down further, you come to the picture perfect Ashness bridge before turning for home, crossing Cat Gill on the way.

Why it's special
On this walk over Derwent Water, the "jewel of the Lake District", the views are truly magnificent. Walla Crag overlooks the lake and, if the weather's kind, you can see the Solway Firth and the hills of Galloway in Scotland. Ashness bridge, with Derwent Water and Skiddaw as a backdrop, is one of nature's classic scenes and a favourite since the time of pioneering photographers the Abraham brothers.

Keep your eyes peeled for
Walla Crag – one edge of a series of volcanic rocks that form the jagged "Jaws of Borrowdale". Lady's Rake, a narrow cleft in the face of Walla Crag, was the perilous route reputedly taken by the Countess of Derwent Water from Lord's Island (one of the seven islands on Derwentwater) to evade pursuers after the arrest of her husband for his part in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. Ashness bridge is the name given to both the ancient packhorse bridge and the hamlet it graces. The latter was Judith Paris's home in Hugh Walpole's Rogue Herries chronicles.

Recover afterwards
At Lakeland Pedlar, a scrummy vegetarian cafe where everything – including the vast range of desserts and cakes – is homemade.

If it's tipping down
Keswick's famous Pencil Museum will come to the rescue, with its family fun days and friendly giant called Drew.

How to get there
From Penrith railway station, take the X50 bus to Keswick then the Borrowdale Rambler 78 to Great Wood car park (or walk from Keswick – it's only 1.5 miles along a lakeside path).

Step by step

1 From Great Wood car park, with the main road behind you and the cliff of Walla Crag rising up in front of you, take the small path that passes the picnic table out of the top left corner of the parking area. Continue for about half a mile, rising steadily through the woods.

2 After crossing a couple of small streams, the woods give way to fields on your left and views over Keswick to Bassenthwaite Lake and Skiddaw.

3 The paths cross to form a T-junction. Turn right (signposted Castlerigg and Walla Crag), following the path with the deep valley of Brockle Beck to your left.

4 Crossing the beck at the wooden footbridge, follow the track up to the gate and turn right along the tarmac lane. At the fork below Rakefoot Farm, bear right towards another footbridge, recrossing the beck.

5 The route now becomes a stony track rising through a gate, towards more open ground, with a wall to your right.

6 At the end of the wall, take the greener track straight ahead.

7 Follow the track towards an isolated tree on the skyline, then bear left towards the summit of Walla Crag.

8 Cross the wall at the stile and bear left towards the cairn and summit. When leaving, with the lake behind you, head downhill to your right into the top of Lady's Rake, where another stile recrosses the wall.

9 At the cairn just below the stile, take the track to the left that arcs across the moorland. Bear right across the heads of the streams of Cat Gill and eventually you will see the track heading for the white buildings of Ashness Farm in the distance.

10 Cross Barrow Beck at the wooden footbridge, then turn right downhill to the view of Ashness bridge.

11 Head down the road to a signpost indicating the route back to Great Wood. After the first gate, keep to the lower path.

12 As you approach Great Wood, the path rises at a wall to cross a bridge over Cat Gill. Proceed to the car park.