National park
Dog walks in the Lake District, and lead rules
Trekosa finds dog walks in the Lake District to suit your dog and you. Tell us once what your dog finds hard, and we show you walks with the roads, stiles, livestock and council dog rules already marked.
This national park lies in Cumbria.
Do dogs have to be on a lead in the Lake District?
On open access land, yes: by law from 1 March to 31 July, and near farm animals at any time of year. Everywhere else, the park authority asks for a lead wherever there may be farm animals.
- On open access land, your dog must be on a lead no longer than 2 metres from 1 March to 31 July, and at any time of year near farm animals.The law. Natural England, on GOV.UK.
- The park authority asks you to keep your dog on a lead anywhere there may be farm animals.Asked of visitors. Lake District National Park Authority.
- In lambing season, and while lapwing, curlew and skylark nest on the ground, it asks for a lead near farm animals.Asked of visitors. Lake District National Park Authority.
- On paths shared with horses it asks for close control or a short lead, and says to let go of the lead if cattle come at you.Asked of visitors. Lake District National Park Authority.
- On about 30 pieces of land the park owns or has an access agreement for, among them Torver Commons and Glenridding Common, your dog must be under proper control and must not worry any animal.A byelaw. Lake District National Park Authority.
- At Drigg Dunes nature reserve near Ravenglass, dogs must be on a lead, except on public rights of way.A byelaw. Lake District National Park Authority.
- Since 18 March 2026, a dog that attacks or chases farm animals can bring its owner an unlimited fine, on roads and paths as well as in fields.The law. GOV.UK.
Each read on the page named beside it on 29 September 2026. Rules change, so check the page before you go.
What the walks in the Lake District are like
We have measured 64,700 walks in the Lake District so far, each against the same public map data as everywhere else: where the path runs, what is beside it, the roads it meets and what is on the way. Each bar is the share of those walks the sentence is true of, and the mark beside it is Cumbria as a whole.
What is beside the path
On open access land for a third or more: 78% of the walks in the Lake District, against 54% across Cumbria.
Shares of walks where the ground beside the path is a given kind for the stated part of the way.
| Walks that | Share of walks measured |
|---|---|
| Under trees for a third or more of the way | 35% |
| Beside water for a tenth or more | 80% |
| On open access land for a third or more | 78% |
| Through a park or green space for a third or more | 7% |
| Beside crop fields for a third or more | 76% |
| Beside farm grassland for half or more | 92% |
| No farm grassland at all | 1% |
| Off road for four fifths or more | 61% |
| On roads or lanes for half or more | 18% |
| Through built-up streets for half or more | <1% |
What might stop you
No stile, gate or cattle grid: 58% of the walks in the Lake District, against 64% across Cumbria.
Shares of walks with none of each thing on the way. A road counts when it runs within about fifteen metres of the path.
| Walks that | Share of walks measured |
|---|---|
| Never beside a fast road | 93% |
| Never beside a busy road | 87% |
| No busy road to cross | 88% |
| No stile, gate or cattle grid | 58% |
| No steps | 95% |
What is on the way
Pass a busy beauty spot: 69% of the walks in the Lake District, against 50% across Cumbria.
Shares of walks that start by, or pass, each of these.
| Walks that | Share of walks measured |
|---|---|
| Start where you can park, at a car park or on a minor road | 38% |
| Pass a pub | 10% |
| Pass a dog-waste bin | 6% |
| Pass a public toilet | 8% |
| Pass a drinking-water tap | 2% |
| Pass a busy beauty spot | 69% |
The walks in the Lake District are much like Cumbria's in how far they go and their shape: no row differs by 5 points or more.
Measured on 30 September 2026 from the map. A walk counts as in the Lake District when its middle lies inside the boundary. How these figures are made
Walks in the Lake District, for your dog
If you live in Cumbria, it is your home county, and every walk in it is free, for good. Tell the app what your dog finds hard and it shows you walks that suit, with anything that might stop you shown first.
Anywhere in Great Britain, even with no signal.
Further is the Trekosa subscription: walks beyond your home county, and help on the walk itself. The OS Explorer map, 1:25,000, on any walk while you have signal. Press Offline on a walk and its map stays on your phone until you remove it, for when the signal goes. Drift off the path and you get a quiet buzz.
The first 250 households have it for good. After that, £4.99 a month or £34.99 a year.
Towns and villages
In the Lake District: Windermere, Keswick, Bowness-on-Windermere, Ambleside, Dacre, Gosforth, Staveley, Coniston, Haverthwaite, Colton, Bootle, Caldbeck, Hawkshead and Patterdale.
On its edge: Kendal, Cockermouth, Cleator Moor, Grange-over-Sands, Arnside, Milnthorpe, Levens, Stainton and Broughton in Furness.
Where you may walk in the Lake District
Every walk we show in the Lake District keeps to public rights of way, open access land or woodland open to the public, and one that leaves them is refused before you see it.
There is military live-firing ground in the Lake District: Eskmeals Firing Range. We hold its edges, and a walk is checked against it before we show it.
Councils can also make orders about dogs, and each council's are on its county's page: Cumbria.
Other parks nearby
Every walk in the Lake District is checked against the same data as everywhere else we cover. See what we check and where it comes from.
© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right.