As every dog owner knows, there are some walks you'd rather avoid because of the dreaded stiles. There's nothing like passing a muddy dog over a stile to get you totally covered in grime! But for those people with big heavy dogs, a stile will often make a walk impossible.
So we are huge fans of a series of walks for people with large dogs created and written by Sharon Leedell. Inspiration for the books came from Sharon's very handsome German Shepherd, Misty, and you can tell that the two of them have had the best of times researching the walks in these books!
The first mini-guide in the series covers North and West Cumbria, centre-ing around Keswick and taking in the lesser known Ravenglass and Egremont as well. If you find the popular parts of the Lake District too busy, then Ravenglass is well worth exploring. We've listed a good number of dog-friendly pubs with excellent food, B&Bs, tourist activities for families with dogs and dog-friendly beaches near Ravenglass on Driving with Dogs and this is still an unspoiled corner of the Lakes.
The walk routes are well-chosen and if you do even half of them you'll be rewarded with an insider's view of the county that many tourists never find. This corner of the Lake District really does have it all: lakes, forests, woodland, big hills and secluded valleys. You may well find yourself with a fantastic view all to yourself in the middle of August and that's no mean feat.
Sharon doesn't say so, but these walk routes are ideal for people who struggle with stiles too. Anyone with hip, knee or back problems can find clambering over endless stiles a misery. So if you're looking for walks of varying lengths in the Keswick area, or wondering what to buy a keen walker who's struggling with stiles this could well be your solution. We've added the book to the Bookstore where you can see more pics and a link through to Amazon.
Misty's Mini Guides Series 1 - North and West Cumbria includes 20 walks with illustrative maps, illustrations and walk text. 48 pages. ISBN 9781916275850 £11.99
