12 nights at Troutbeck Head

Just returned from a 12 night stay at Troutbeck Head, and what a great time we had. We walked every day and only got wet once which must be something of a record for us in the lake district!

First, a word about the site. Unless you’re desperate for a serviced pitch, save your money and go for a standard one. The serviced pitches (1 to 47) are in a separate higher area of the site and you will miss out on the superb views from lower down. We were almost at the bottom of the site (pitch 84) with a great view of Blencathra and wonderful sunsets every evening. You are closer to the stream down here so it might be more prone to the dreaded midges but luckily they were not too much of a problem during our stay. There is a little noise from the next door activity centre but nothing too annoying and in fact it was quite interesting to watch what the youngsters were doing over there. If you’re lucky you might even get a demonstration of sheep shearing on the neighbouring farm – we watched this twice in the evening. There is a lot of wildlife and bird life in and around the site – we were lucky enough to spot a red squirrel one morning jumping off the wall onto the tree just at the start of the entrance drive and we watched its acrobatics for a good 10 minutes.

The reason for going to this area, of course, is for the walking. We did some fantastic high level walks (Blencathra, Catstycam, Lonscale Fell, Bowscale Fell & Bannerdale Crags together, Cat Bells in Keswick, Loadpot Hill near Pooley Bridge, and also some nice lower level ones, Aira Force, Walla Crag and part of the old coach road which starts just up the road from the site and leads over to St Johns in the Vale.) We also walked from Dacre to Dalemain House which has an interesting garden to wander round. So quite an active time!

We didn’t use the pub just up the road but drove to Threlkeld to The Horse & Farrier a couple of times and the meals there are excellent, a little pricey but you definitely get what you pay for! A fish & chip van visits on three days a week and they were very good. (They also turn up on Sunday mornings to do bacon rolls!)

Finally, a word about the wardens – they are very welcoming and work incredibly hard to keep the site looking good, so a big thank you to them.

This was our first visit to the northern lakes for a few years but we certainly hope to return and will definitely use this site again.