The Langdale Valley in The Lake District National Park offers some of the finest mountain scenery that Cumbria has to offer.
You can reach The Langdale Valley by driving from Ambleside on the A593 towards Skelwith Bridge. Take the B5343 at the junction of the Skelwith Bridge Hotel and follow the road past beautiful Elter Water. You can stop and take the path around Elter Water but parking is limited here on the narrow road. The road will take you past The Langdale Hotel and Spa and Wainwrights’ Inn. It will be hard to find a parking spot until you reach the small public car park in front of the New Dungeon Ghyll pub. You can either park here or drive further on until you reach The Old Dungeon Ghyll pub, which is famous for the popular Hikers Bar.
If you like walking you can park your car in The New Dungeon Ghyll car park and take the steep, well defined path up to Stickle Tarn. On the way up you will see dramtic scenery and waterfalls. Eventually you will reach the calming waters of Stickle Tarn where you will have close up views of the peaks of Harrison Stickle and Pavey Ark which are both over 700 metres high.
The views up The Langdale Valley are stunning so take a camera to record the moment.
The walk to Stickle Tarn will take about 3 hours and is nearly 4 miles in total. Wear good walking boots because this is a fairly challenging walk.
The Dungeon Ghyll pub awaits you on your return and you will have certainly earned that pint. Food is served throughout the day in the Hikers bar from 12pm until 9pm.
There are many other footpaths in the area and this part of beautiful the Lake District is well worth exploring.
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