A much-loved beauty spot near Coniston, a man-made tarn ringed by wooded knolls with the Coniston fells rising behind
Tarn Hows is one of those places that turns up on postcards and calendars, and for once it really is that good. A tarn is a small mountain lake, and this one is not quite natural: it was made in the nineteenth century when a landowner dammed three smaller pools into the single sheet of water you see today. Larch and pine have grown up around the little humps and hollows of the shore, and behind them the Coniston fells rise on the skyline.
Beatrix Potter owned this land for a while. She bought the surrounding Monk Coniston estate in the 1930s and later passed much of it, Tarn Hows included, to the National Trust, who look after it now. That is a big part of why it stays as unspoilt as it does.
The main reason so many people come is that it is easy to enjoy. A gravel path runs right around the tarn, a bit under two miles, mostly level and firm enough for pushchairs and wheelchairs at the eastern end. There is a National Trust car park above the water, and from there you are only steps from the view. If you want to stretch the walk, Tom Gill Waterfalls tumble down through the woods just below the tarn on the way up from the Coniston road, and the village of Hawkshead with its old whitewashed lanes is a short drive to the east. It gets very busy on fine weekends, so an early start helps.
