Lake district driving roads
Discussion
Off across to the Lake District in a couple of weeks for the weekend. Have a mate who's blagged a Maserati for the weekend. Staying near Ambleside at the Drunken Duck. Anyone got suggestions for some good driving routes in the area? Will probably take the A686 Alson road to get there.
Quite a few. If it's a nice day try Hard knot pass. The views are stunning and its not to far away from the Drunken duck.
The road from Windemere to Keswick is also good (A591). At the end of that one you can turn left and go along the A66 which heads to Workington. Then follow the coast road down towards Barrow in Furness. There are some great long stretches on this on to open it up a touch plus there are no fixed cameras. This then leads onto the A590 and back to Windermere.
If you have time pop along to Devils bridge at Kirby Lonsdale on the Sunday. Plenty of bikes and sometimes some good cars up the side.
Oh and just be carfull when you go into or out of the Drunken ducks car park. Its steep then flatens out. If you take it easy it's no problem but to much speed and you will scrape your bumper.
The road from Windemere to Keswick is also good (A591). At the end of that one you can turn left and go along the A66 which heads to Workington. Then follow the coast road down towards Barrow in Furness. There are some great long stretches on this on to open it up a touch plus there are no fixed cameras. This then leads onto the A590 and back to Windermere.
If you have time pop along to Devils bridge at Kirby Lonsdale on the Sunday. Plenty of bikes and sometimes some good cars up the side.
Oh and just be carfull when you go into or out of the Drunken ducks car park. Its steep then flatens out. If you take it easy it's no problem but to much speed and you will scrape your bumper.
Edited by mblade123 on Friday 16th September 20:13
George H said:
Yes had looked at Kirkstone pass as it's on route in. Thanks 
mblade123 said:
Quite a few. If it's a nice day try Hard knot pass. The views are stunning and its not to far away from the Drunken duck.
The road from Windemere to Keswick is also good (A591). At the end of that one you can turn left and go along the A66 which heads to Workington. Then follow the coast road down towards Barrow in Furness. There are some great long stretches on this on to open it up a touch plus there are no fixed cameras. This then leads onto the A590 and back to Windermere.
If you have time pop along to Devils bridge at Kirby Lonsdale on the Sunday. Plenty of bikes and sometimes some good cars up the side.
Oh and just be carfull when you go into or out of the Drunken ducks car park. Its steep then flatens out. If you take it easy it's no problem but to much speed and you will scrape your bumper.
Cheers and thanks for warning about car park! The road from Windemere to Keswick is also good (A591). At the end of that one you can turn left and go along the A66 which heads to Workington. Then follow the coast road down towards Barrow in Furness. There are some great long stretches on this on to open it up a touch plus there are no fixed cameras. This then leads onto the A590 and back to Windermere.
If you have time pop along to Devils bridge at Kirby Lonsdale on the Sunday. Plenty of bikes and sometimes some good cars up the side.
Oh and just be carfull when you go into or out of the Drunken ducks car park. Its steep then flatens out. If you take it easy it's no problem but to much speed and you will scrape your bumper.
Edited by mblade123 on Friday 16th September 20:13
mblade123 said:
Quite a few. If it's a nice day try Hard knot pass. The views are stunning and its not to far away from the Drunken duck.
The road from Windemere to Keswick is also good (A591). At the end of that one you can turn left and go along the A66 which heads to Workington. Then follow the coast road down towards Barrow in Furness. There are some great long stretches on this on to open it up a touch plus there are no fixed cameras. This then leads onto the A590 and back to Windermere.
If you have time pop along to Devils bridge at Kirby Lonsdale on the Sunday. Plenty of bikes and sometimes some good cars up the side.
Oh and just be carfull when you go into or out of the Drunken ducks car park. Its steep then flatens out. If you take it easy it's no problem but to much speed and you will scrape your bumper.
+1 for Hardnot Pass, also Wrynose Pass (Excuse the car The road from Windemere to Keswick is also good (A591). At the end of that one you can turn left and go along the A66 which heads to Workington. Then follow the coast road down towards Barrow in Furness. There are some great long stretches on this on to open it up a touch plus there are no fixed cameras. This then leads onto the A590 and back to Windermere.
If you have time pop along to Devils bridge at Kirby Lonsdale on the Sunday. Plenty of bikes and sometimes some good cars up the side.
Oh and just be carfull when you go into or out of the Drunken ducks car park. Its steep then flatens out. If you take it easy it's no problem but to much speed and you will scrape your bumper.
Edited by mblade123 on Friday 16th September 20:13
)
I had a superb time up there
I have a .itn of a 120mile loop I did around the Lakes last year
it is roughly as follows
Windermere A591
Keswick then B5289
cockermouth then A5089
Egremont then A595
lady hill then A593
Hawkshead hill then B528
across Lake Windermere on ferry... back to start point
I'll gladly send the tomtom.itn out to anyone that wants it
Edited by y2blade on Friday 16th September 21:37
Bear with me here, drink, age and time away have dulled the memories.
Any road around Ambleside can be good fun traffic permitting. Between the scenery, terrain and the nature of the jinking twisting roads, you should find fun wherever you go (except between Ambleside and Windermere which is now a neutered speed throttled shadow). If you must go this way, head up towards Troutbeck and take the back roads.
My favourrite lap. Starting at the Duck, head down the road past Brathay quarry. Bear right at the junction. Follow on till just before Hawkshead. Take the right turn before Hawkshead (B5285) follow on into Coniston. Towards Coniston bear right heading for Ambleside. When you hit Skelwith Bridge take the left over to Langdale. At Langdale right hand turn takes you over Red Bank (quite steep) towards Grasmere. Then follow the main road back towards Ambleside ready for heading back to the Duck.
Not a mammoth trek, and open to variations, for example, take in Tarn Hows between Hawkshead and Coniston. You won't get many open throttle opportunities, but you will have to gauge the road for the many tight turns.
Really nice country to look at, plenty to see and plenty of places to stop for views or food and drink.
Any road around Ambleside can be good fun traffic permitting. Between the scenery, terrain and the nature of the jinking twisting roads, you should find fun wherever you go (except between Ambleside and Windermere which is now a neutered speed throttled shadow). If you must go this way, head up towards Troutbeck and take the back roads.
My favourrite lap. Starting at the Duck, head down the road past Brathay quarry. Bear right at the junction. Follow on till just before Hawkshead. Take the right turn before Hawkshead (B5285) follow on into Coniston. Towards Coniston bear right heading for Ambleside. When you hit Skelwith Bridge take the left over to Langdale. At Langdale right hand turn takes you over Red Bank (quite steep) towards Grasmere. Then follow the main road back towards Ambleside ready for heading back to the Duck.
Not a mammoth trek, and open to variations, for example, take in Tarn Hows between Hawkshead and Coniston. You won't get many open throttle opportunities, but you will have to gauge the road for the many tight turns.
Really nice country to look at, plenty to see and plenty of places to stop for views or food and drink.
mblade123 said:
Did you get there then and if so how was it?
Yes got there last weekend. I noticed another Aston in the car park on Sunday morning. Anyone on here?We had a great night at the Drunken Duck but have to say the driving turned out to be a washout. The weather was awful. Lots of rain, poor vis and lots of slow moving traffic. The quality of the road surfaces in Cumbria left a lot to be desired too. After my mate bowled up in his Maserati GranCabrio on Friday night we enjoyed a few bevvies at my local. SHMBO reckons she got a dodgy glass of vin rouge
Anyhow, planned departure on Saturday am was delayed for partial recovery. After grandparents took kids set off and took A69 to Langley Castle and then A686 to Alston. Stopped at a nice little pub called the Elk's Head at Whitfield for a bite to eat. Good puddings! Stopped briefly at Hartside Top cafe for a photo which was the only one we ended up taking as the weather was so poor. From Penrith took A66 to Keswick. Had planned to cut across early towards Ullswater from Troutbeck but the road was closed so drove on and took the A591 from Keswick to Ambleside and then to the Duck. The view did improve slightly by the time we got onto the A591 and we could at least begin to see we were in the Lake District. I commented to the OH that the views were quite dramatic only to get the reply "Not as dramatic as the inside of this car will be if we don't get off these twisty roads soon!!" 
Perhaps fortuitously there was a heap of slow traffic so we were travelling pretty slowly until we got there. No point in trying to get outdoors so straight to the bar where we stayed put until dinner. 
Good beer, nice meal and wine and a comfy bed. I'd certainly recommend the Duck for a visit. Late breakfast (they'd run out of blackpudding 
) and then set off for home. Weather was even worse than the previously day and OH still tender and not enamoured by thought of more windy roads so we opted to head for home. Took Kirkstone Pass to Patterdale (much more fun when it's dry and there's a bit of a view), past Ullswater and back onto A66. OH refused to go back over Hartside Top so M6 upto Carlisle and then A69. Would have taken Military Road just north of A69 to Newcastle but didn't fancy risking her wrath or having to clean out the car.What did I learn?
1.Don't take OH to pub especially for red wine if planning blast in Aston next day
2. Lake District is called that for a reason.
3. Roads in Cumbria (and probably UK as a whole) are poorly maintained. The road surfaces were chewed up which made the ride at times pretty uncomfortable and didn't help with point 1.
4. Didn't particularly like the Masa although nice exhaust note in sports mode and would take the Aston over it any day.
5. My car's superb and despite all the above I loved driving it.
missed this thread but this is my neck of the woods but if anyone wants a turn by turn route here's a good run i organised through the lakes a while ago:
right guys, the plan is as follows:
the meeting point is at the reghed visitors centre at 10:30 am sunday. postcode: ca11 0dq
it's situated a couple of minutes up the a66 from junction 40 of the m6 & has petrol available on site.
from there we'll head west along the A592 (turning left out of reghed) towards ullswater/pooley bridge
at the next junction turn right to follow the A592 towords glenridding patterdale
stay on the A592 running parralel to Ullswater towards the Kirkstone Pass at patterdale
follow the Kirkstone Pass past Brotherswater
follow the Kirkstone Pass to the sumit & the pub The Kirkstone Inn
at the pub take the next right towards ambleside
follow this part of the Kirkstone Pass onto kirkstone road (the struggle)
at the next junction turn right onto the A591 at Ambleside towards rydel/grassmere
follow the A591 past Rydel Water
follow the A591 past Grasmere
at the roundabout continiue straight over staying on the A591
follow the A591 over the Pass of Dunmail Rise (the twisty duel carraigeway)
follow the A591 past Thirlmere
leave the A591 just before the bustop lay-by taking the B5322 (back lane) towards st john in the vale
leave the B5322 as it meets the A66 turning left & heading west towards Keswick
follow the A66 past Keswick & Portinscale
leave the a66 at Braithwaite
at Braithwaite follow the B5292 (B55292 on some maps) past the pub signposted The Whinlatter Pass
follow the Whinlatter Pass through high lorton & up to lorton
at lorton turn left onto the B5289
follow the B5289 past Crummock Water
follow the B5289 past Buttermere
follow the B5289 signposted Honister Pass
follow the B5289 through gatescarth
at the summit of the Honister Pass is the Honister Slate Mine
We'll stop here at the car park as there's a cafe up there where we can get sandwiches & refreshments.
from here we can then follow the B5289 past Derwent Water & down into Keswick. at this point everyone can each decide what & where they want to go. to get back to the M6 the A66 runs direct from Keswick straight to junction 40 (Penrith). alternatively you can spend some time in Keswick itself or take a run back down the A591 & visit Lake Windermere. there's a reasonably priced hotel called the Bellsfield that has good parking & superb views at the back over Lake Windermere (la23 3eq)
from there you can follow the A5074 alongside Lake Windermere towards south lakeland
the A5074 terminates when it joins theA590
follow the A590 until it hits the A6
follow the A6 south until you get to Carnforth where you can join the M6 at junction 35
either way, the main part of the route taking in the three passes & all the lakes is full of great roads & views. depending on how long it will take for you to get home the second part after the lunch stop has some great roads as well but i'll leave that up for everyone else to decide on the day, if we have plenty of time & the weather is good we can carry on & see the south lakes as well if not then it's very easy to get back to the m6 from Keswick
if you want to print out a google maps version of the route then simply search for Reghed Visitors Centre ca11 0dq & you can simply follow the route from there, otherwise simply print out this e-mail & bring it with you, there aren't that many roads up here so no-one has any excuses to get lost!
right guys, the plan is as follows:
the meeting point is at the reghed visitors centre at 10:30 am sunday. postcode: ca11 0dq
it's situated a couple of minutes up the a66 from junction 40 of the m6 & has petrol available on site.
from there we'll head west along the A592 (turning left out of reghed) towards ullswater/pooley bridge
at the next junction turn right to follow the A592 towords glenridding patterdale
stay on the A592 running parralel to Ullswater towards the Kirkstone Pass at patterdale
follow the Kirkstone Pass past Brotherswater
follow the Kirkstone Pass to the sumit & the pub The Kirkstone Inn
at the pub take the next right towards ambleside
follow this part of the Kirkstone Pass onto kirkstone road (the struggle)
at the next junction turn right onto the A591 at Ambleside towards rydel/grassmere
follow the A591 past Rydel Water
follow the A591 past Grasmere
at the roundabout continiue straight over staying on the A591
follow the A591 over the Pass of Dunmail Rise (the twisty duel carraigeway)
follow the A591 past Thirlmere
leave the A591 just before the bustop lay-by taking the B5322 (back lane) towards st john in the vale
leave the B5322 as it meets the A66 turning left & heading west towards Keswick
follow the A66 past Keswick & Portinscale
leave the a66 at Braithwaite
at Braithwaite follow the B5292 (B55292 on some maps) past the pub signposted The Whinlatter Pass
follow the Whinlatter Pass through high lorton & up to lorton
at lorton turn left onto the B5289
follow the B5289 past Crummock Water
follow the B5289 past Buttermere
follow the B5289 signposted Honister Pass
follow the B5289 through gatescarth
at the summit of the Honister Pass is the Honister Slate Mine
We'll stop here at the car park as there's a cafe up there where we can get sandwiches & refreshments.
from here we can then follow the B5289 past Derwent Water & down into Keswick. at this point everyone can each decide what & where they want to go. to get back to the M6 the A66 runs direct from Keswick straight to junction 40 (Penrith). alternatively you can spend some time in Keswick itself or take a run back down the A591 & visit Lake Windermere. there's a reasonably priced hotel called the Bellsfield that has good parking & superb views at the back over Lake Windermere (la23 3eq)
from there you can follow the A5074 alongside Lake Windermere towards south lakeland
the A5074 terminates when it joins theA590
follow the A590 until it hits the A6
follow the A6 south until you get to Carnforth where you can join the M6 at junction 35
either way, the main part of the route taking in the three passes & all the lakes is full of great roads & views. depending on how long it will take for you to get home the second part after the lunch stop has some great roads as well but i'll leave that up for everyone else to decide on the day, if we have plenty of time & the weather is good we can carry on & see the south lakes as well if not then it's very easy to get back to the m6 from Keswick
if you want to print out a google maps version of the route then simply search for Reghed Visitors Centre ca11 0dq & you can simply follow the route from there, otherwise simply print out this e-mail & bring it with you, there aren't that many roads up here so no-one has any excuses to get lost!
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