The Westmorland and Furness Way is a walk through five very different landscapes: the high moorland of the North Pennines, the red-sandstone farmland of the Eden Valley, the smooth grassy domes of the Howgill Fells, the southern Lake District and the tidal coast of Furness. Each has its own rock, history and character — this page explains what you'll be walking through and why it looks the way it does.
Why the Trail Exists
Westmorland and Furness Council was created in April 2023, when Cumbria's old county council was split in two. The new authority covers a huge sweep of country — from the lead-mining uplands around Alston down to the shipyards of Barrow-in-Furness — that had never been joined by a single walking route. The Westmorland and Furness Way was designed to do exactly that, stitching together existing public footpaths, bridleways and quiet lanes into one continuous 120-mile line.
The idea came from local walker and guidebook writer David Pitt, and the council developed it into a signed route with new waymarking and interpretation boards. It officially opened on 15 September 2026. A deliberate aim was to lead walkers through quieter towns and valleys — Alston, Appleby, Kirkby Stephen, Sedbergh, Ulverston — rather than only the Lake District honeypots, spreading visitors (and their spending) across the whole area. For the key facts about the route itself, see What Is the Westmorland and Furness Way?
The North Pennines: Moorland, Lead and the Helm Wind
Stage 1 starts in Alston, often called England's highest market town, and climbs onto the roof of the Pennines. The North Pennines is a protected National Landscape and was the first area in Britain to be recognised as a UNESCO Global Geopark, because its rocks tell such a clear story: layers of limestone, sandstone and shale laid down in tropical seas around 330 million years ago, cut through by the Whin Sill, a sheet of hard volcanic dolerite that forms many of the area's crags and waterfalls.
Those same rocks carried veins of lead and zinc, and for centuries Alston Moor was one of Europe's most important lead-mining districts. As you walk you'll pass spoil heaps, old levels, shafts and the remains of smelt mills — the moor looks wild, but it is an industrial landscape that nature has slowly reclaimed. The high fells above the Eden, including Cross Fell (893 m, the highest point in the Pennines), are also home to the Helm Wind, the only named wind in the British Isles, which can roar down the western escarpment with little warning. It's one reason this stage demands respect in bad weather.
The Eden Valley: Red Sandstone and a River That Flows North
Dropping off the Pennine escarpment, Stage 2 enters the Eden Valley — a broad, fertile trough of rich farmland, hedgerows and villages built from warm red sandstone. That stone formed in desert conditions around 250–290 million years ago, and you'll see it in field walls, churches and bridges all the way to Kirkby Stephen. Unusually for England, the River Eden flows north, draining towards Carlisle and the Solway Firth.
Just after Milburn the route passes beneath Dufton Pike, near the foot of High Cup Nick, a dramatic U-shaped glacial valley rimmed by Whin Sill crags. Appleby-in-Westmorland, the old county town of Westmorland, sits roughly halfway along the stage and is famous for its castle and the Appleby Horse Fair each June. The valley is also crossed by the Settle–Carlisle railway, one of England's great scenic lines, which serves Appleby and Kirkby Stephen and makes this section easy to reach.
The Howgill Fells: Wainwright's "Sleeping Elephants"
South of Kirkby Stephen, Stage 3 passes the great stone arches of Smardale Gill Viaduct and heads for the Howgill Fells. These rounded, steep-sided, almost wall-less hills are made of much older rocks — Silurian and Ordovician mudstones and sandstones — which weather into smooth grassy slopes rather than crags. Alfred Wainwright famously compared them to a herd of sleeping elephants. Since 2016 the northern Howgills have been part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, even though they lie in Cumbria.
The high-route option crosses The Calf (676 m), the range's summit, and passes near Cautley Spout, one of England's highest cascades. Sedbergh, at the end of the stage, was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and is now known as England's Book Town for its cluster of bookshops.
Into the Lake District: The Lune, the Kent and Windermere
Stage 4 follows the River Lune past the tall Victorian viaduct at Lowgill, on a railway line long since closed, then crosses rolling farmland to the valley of the River Kent. Here the landscape turns industrial-historic again: Burneside has been a paper-making village for well over a century, and Staveley's old mill yard is now a hub of cafés, bakeries and bike shops. The day finishes in Bowness on the shore of Windermere, England's largest natural lake.
The Lake District became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017, recognised as a "cultural landscape" shaped by farming, industry and the Romantic writers and artists who championed it. Stage 5 crosses Windermere by ferry and climbs into the quieter Furness Fells, passing close to Beatrix Potter's Hill Top at Near Sawrey and through Grizedale Forest, known for its outdoor sculptures.
The Furness Peninsula: Canal, Coast and Abbey
The final stages belong to Furness, a peninsula that was historically part of Lancashire — the "Lancashire over the Sands" reached by crossing Morecambe Bay at low tide. Ulverston is the birthplace of Stan Laurel and is overlooked by the Hoad Monument, a lighthouse-shaped memorial to the Arctic explorer and Admiralty official Sir John Barrow. Stage 6 follows the Ulverston Canal and the edge of Morecambe Bay, with wide views across the sands and saltmarsh, before turning inland to Barrow-in-Furness, a town built on iron and shipbuilding.
The finish is Furness Abbey, founded in 1123 and, by the later Middle Ages, one of the richest Cistercian monasteries in England. It was dissolved in 1537, and its red sandstone arches in the secluded "Vale of Deadly Nightshade" make one of the most atmospheric journey's ends of any British trail.
The Area: FAQs
The trail passes through or alongside the North Pennines National Landscape (a UNESCO Global Geopark), the Yorkshire Dales National Park in the Howgill Fells, and the Lake District National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), before finishing on the Furness Peninsula beside Morecambe Bay.
It is named after Westmorland and Furness, the unitary council area created in April 2023 that covers the eastern and southern half of Cumbria. The name revives two historic districts — the old county of Westmorland and the Furness peninsula, once part of Lancashire — and the trail links landscapes from both.
The finish point, Furness Abbey, was founded in 1123 and became one of the wealthiest Cistercian monasteries in England before its dissolution in 1537. Its red sandstone ruins, now cared for by English Heritage, are the oldest major building directly on the route.
Plan Your Walk
Start with the complete route guide and interactive map, then use our itineraries and best-time-to-walk guide, accommodation and transport guide and kit and safety advice to put a trip together.