Camping barns in Grizedale Forest
Hit the forest between two well-known Lake District lakes for hikes, biking, and ropes courses.
- Grizedale Forest
Popular camping styles for Grizedale Forest
Camping barns in Grizedale Forest guide
Overview
Grizedale Forest stands tall as one of England’s iconic outdoor destinations. Encircled by the Lake District National Park, this was one of the UK’s first public areas of forestry, and today, campers can take off from the visitor centre to several marked trails and a high-level ropes course. The focus in the forest’s west is fabled Coniston Water with its watersports and cross-lake boat trips, while northern Grizedale hosts a legendary mountain biking route and is bounded by Hawkshead village. Meanwhile, Lake Windermere brushes the eastern limits of the forest. The nearest camping sites can be found just south of Grizedale Forest.
Where to go
Central Grizedale
Halfway along the road running north-to-south through the forest is the visitor centre and its Go Ape high-level ropes course, featuring one of Britain’s longest series of ziplines. Here you can also find Segway hires and several walking and cycling trails. The best waymarked walk is the 10-mile, artwork-dotted Silurian Way. Nearby, Carron Crag offers excellent views and access to camping and caravan parks on the forest’s southern edge and to the northeast around Hawkshead.
Southern Grizedale
From the parking areas arranged around the southern end of the forest, hook up with the way-marked Silurian Way, tackle a forest biking trail, visit the churning rapids of Force Falls, or take advantage of the Grizedale Forest’s most conveniently located campsite, south of Satterthwaite village. Further east toward Windermere are the magical Graythwaite Hall Gardens, open in spring and summer only.
Coniston Water
One of the Lake District’s most celebrated lakes, Coniston Water frames Grizedale Forest’s western end. The Brantwood country estate, former residence of the Victorian writer and arts patron John Ruskin, sits caught between forest and lakeshore along eastern Coniston Water. Cross-lake summertime ferries connect to Coniston village and the western shore, where you can walk the Cumbria Way along the lake’s only road-free stretch. Pitch in southern Grizedale or along Coniston Water’s west shore.
Hawkshead & Northern Grizedale
The winsome village of Hawkshead, much of which is owned by the National Trust, is a fine base for adventures into the forest’s northern reaches. Hawkshead heads up Esthwaite Water and houses the Beatrix Potter Museum, displaying the writer and illustrator’s original artworks. The forest’s best mountain-biking is also in the north, on trails like the challenging, red-graded singletrack North Face Trail. Hawkshead offers the handiest pitching.
