Gillbottom Wood

The woodland around Gillbottom creeps up on you gradually as you walk inland from Cockermouth. There's no grand entrance or visitor centre here - just proper forest, the kind where you lose the main path twice and don't mind one bit.

It's a mixed woodland with decent-sized trees and enough undergrowth to feel genuinely wild. Spring brings bluebells that genuinely take your breath away; autumn's the better bet for walking though, when the ground isn't waterlogged and you can actually see where you're putting your feet. The paths are unmarked in places, which adds to the appeal if you've got an OS map and half a sense of direction.

Walkers will get the most from this. Kids under eight might find it a bit samey after forty minutes - there's no waterfall payoff, no viewpoint reveal. But if you've got older children who can handle a proper woodland ramble without constant stimulation, they'll remember it. The locals who know Gillbottom come back repeatedly; it's not Instagram-famous and that's precisely the point.

Allow two to three hours if you're exploring properly rather than just following the main track. Free to walk, obviously. If you're based at Whinfell Hall Farm Campsite nearby, this is exactly the sort of spot that makes a camper's morning worthwhile - close enough for an early walk before the day gets busy elsewhere in Cumbria, quiet enough that you'll actually hear the woodland properly.