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Whinlatter Forest Park Walking and Cycling

6.84 miles (11 km)

Ordnance Survey Map Open Streetmap Enjoy some fantastic walking and cycling trails in this huge park in the Lake District. There are fantastic views of Bassenthwaite Lake, Derwent Water and Keswick as you make your way through the mixed species forest and peaceful glades. The park also has two fantastic purpose built mountain bike trails with cycle hire available within the park. The red graded Altura Trail is a challenging 19 km mountain singletrack, the Quercus Trail is an easier 7.5 km trail. The C2C cycle route also runs through the park so you could continue your ride on the Whitehaven to Keswick or Whitehaven to Penrith cycle route.
Walkers can head south of the park and enjoy a climb to Grisedale Pike.
It's a popular and challenging climb with wonderful views to the Cumbrian coast, the Vale of Keswick, the Pennines and the head of Derwentwater. On a very clear day you can even see the Belfast Hills and the Southern Uplands of Scotland.

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Whinlatter Forest Park OS Map Ordnance survey map - Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking

Whinlatter Forest Park Open Street Map Open Streetmap - Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking

Further Information and Other Local Ideas

Just to the south you can pick up the Coledale Horseshoe. The popular circular walk starts from the village of Braithwaite, exploring the wonderful hanging valley and visiting several of the area's significant peaks on the way. The route also passes close to Force Crag Mine. The Scheduled ancient monument dates back to the 1800s and is now run by the National Trust. It's an interesting place to visit with information boards detailing the mine's history and some pleasant walks along the Coledale Beck.

Photos

Forest trail, Whinlatter Forest - geograph.org.uk - 759388

 Forest trail, Whinlatter Forest. Whinlatter Forest has been developed as a major tourist resource, with a number of waymarked trails, such as the one here seen leaving the main B5292 road.

Whinlatter Forest Park Sign

The summit of the Whinlatter Pass, in Cumbria, and the entrance to the Whinlatter Forest Park. 

Whinlatter Visitor Centre - geograph.org.uk - 103983

Whinlatter Visitor Centre. Whinlatter Forest, whilst still a working plantation, has many kms of tracks, paths marked out for recreational use. The Visitor Centre contains an interpretative display and has interactive activities. as well as the usual tourist sales and services.

Track in Whinlatter Forest Park - Skiddaw in the background - geograph.org.uk - 1255608

Track in Whinlatter Forest Park - Skiddaw in the background

Hospital Plantation - geograph.org.uk - 1745392

Hospital Plantation View from the summit of the south loop of the Whinlatter Forest mountain bike trail, on Hospital Fell. Between the conifers is the grassy ridge of Kinn. In the middle distance are (from the left) Swinside (NY2422), Derwentwater and Barrow (NY2221). In the far distance is the snowy Helvellyn ridge.

Aiken Plantation, Whinlatter - geograph.org.uk - 91229

Aiken Plantation, Whinlatter. There is quite a lot of felling and replantation in this area - to be expected in a working forest.

Waymarked cycle-walkers route, Winlatter - geograph.org.uk - 91218

Waymarked cycle/walkers route, Winlatter. The Forestry Commission plantations at Winlatter have many waymarked routes for walkers and off-road cyclists.

Unexpected Daffodils - geograph.org.uk - 1298325

 Unexpected Daffodils. Someone's garden escape flowering mid May 1550 feet up in Whinlatter Forest.

Video

GPS Files

GPX File

Whinlatter Forest Park.gpx (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold>Download Linked File)

Memory Map Route

Whinlatter Forest Park.mmo (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold >Download Linked File)