Walking The Langdale Pikes with Dogs

Q. Would you recommend walking the Langdale Pikes from the Old Dungeon Ghyll with dogs. Having looked at some excellent photos on your site, it would appear to be very rocky?

Stephen Byatt, Ruskington

A. The Langdale Pikes comprise five distinct summits - Pavey Ark, Thunacar Knott, Harrison Stickle, Loft Crag and Pike of Stickle (Pike o'Stickle).

All five are Wainwrights but only Harrison Stickle and Pike of Stickle (Pike o'Stickle) are classified as English Mountains (aka Hewitts).

While you can walk The Langdale Pikes from the Old Dungeon Ghyll it is much easier to start and finish at The New Dungeon Ghyll and follow Stickle Ghyll up to Stickle Tarn before completing the circuit of five The Langdale Pike summits.

For walks that include all five of The Langdale Pikes see Walk The Langdale Pikes

If you have a dog with you and/or do not like steep, rocky, exposed sections the it is best to avoid Walk route map c225 The Langdale Pikes via Jack's Rake from The New Dungeon Ghyll, Great Langdale - see Jack's Rake - A Grade One Scramble?

Provided you keep your dog on a lead as a courtesy to other walkers and pick a day when the conditions are dry and warm, you and your dog should be OK. The Langdale Pikes is a fantastic walk.

Hope this helps

Mike (Editor)

Dog owners are required to keep dogs under effective control at all times. For the avoidance on doubt, The Countryside Code on the Natural England website is quite explicit about what is defined by the phrase 'Keep dogs under effective control'.

It says:

Keep dogs under effective control

When you take your dog into the outdoors, always ensure it does not disturb wildlife, farm animals, horses or other people by keeping it under effective control. This means that you:

keep your dog on a lead, or
keep it in sight at all times, be aware of what it's doing and be confident it will return to you promptly on command
ensure it does not stray off the path or area where you have a right of access

Special dog rules may apply in particular situations, so always look out for local signs - for example:

Dogs may be banned from certain areas that people use, or there may be restrictions, byelaws or control orders limiting where they can go.
The access rights that normally apply to open country and registered common land (known as 'Open Access' land) require dogs to be kept on a short lead between 1 March and 31 July, to help protect ground nesting birds, and all year round near farm animals.
At the coast, there may also be some local restrictions to require dogs to be kept on a short lead during the bird breeding season, and to prevent disturbance to flocks of resting and feeding birds during other times of year.

It's always good practice (and a legal requirement on 'Open Access' land) to keep your dog on a lead around farm animals and horses, for your own safety and for the welfare of the animals. A farmer may shoot a dog which is attacking or chasing farm animals without being liable to compensate the dog's owner.

However, if cattle or horses chase you and your dog, it is safer to let your dog off the lead - don't risk getting hurt by trying to protect it. Your dog will be much safer if you let it run away from a farm animal in these circumstances and so will you.

Everyone knows how unpleasant dog mess is and it can cause infections, so always clean up after your dog and get rid of the mess responsibly - 'bag it and bin it'. Make sure your dog is wormed regularly to protect it, other animals and people.

Hope this helps . . .

Mike (Editor)

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