Tarn Hows

Tarn Hows is one of the most visited spots in Lakeland - a body of water surrounded by spruce, larch and pine conifers, circled by paths (suitable for wheelchairs) and dotted with grassy picnic spots. Located around 2 miles north west of Hawkshead and a similar distance north east of Coniston, the land in which Tarn Hows lies was donated to the National Trust in 1930 by Beatrix Potter, who bought the land herself a year earlier. Since 1930 the location has been carefully maintained by the trust.

It is often rightly said that it is impossible to improve on the designs of nature. However, Tarn Hows may be the one exception to that rule, for the current tarn is mostly artificial. At the turn of the last century the landowner dammed the stream at the southern end of the existing pond, Low Tarn, flooding the valley and creating the stunning Tarn Hows of today. Although it created a place of real beauty, this damming process actually had a practical purpose, which was to supply water to a saw mill in Yewdale.

Tarn Hows is not a place to come for solitude, with more than a million visitors a year attracted to its sheer elegance, thick woodland and grand views towards Wetherlam, Helvellyn, and the Langdale Pikes. However, it is possible to escape from the hordes, as there are many attractive walks among the maze of paths that surround the tarn, and most visitors tend to stick to the shoreline.

Tarn Hows is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and whilst walking through the woodland you may see some of the Lakes' (and England's) few remaining native red squirrels.