
Parking	Bowder Stone National Trust Car Park (CA12 5XA)
Pram accessible	Up to the Bowderstone, but no further.
Length of walk	1 Mile
Public Toilets	No

Parking

Paid car parking at the Bowderstone National Trust Car Park (CA12 5XA). We paid £4.50 for 2 hours, which was enough for our walk, although if we had been able to spend longer playing down by the river, then we would have needed to pay more. I believe it is £7 for an all day parking ticket. It’s only a 15 minute walk to the Bowderstone from the car park, although we extended our walk a little further so the kids could play in the River Derwent.

Our Visit:

For the past year, Fridays have been nicknamed Mama and boys day as it’s the only day Jack isn’t at nursery, whilst Piper of course is at school. This visit was the last Mama and boys day before the school holidays began and then Jack will be starting school in September. So we decided to head to the Bowderstone, in the Borrowdale Valley near Keswick.

It’s been a popular tourist attraction since the 1800’s and at 30ft high, 50 feet across and weighing 2000 tons, it’s still a little bit of a mystery as to how it got here. Some suggest it is the result of glacial movements whilst others think it may have come crashing down from Bowder Crag.

Upon reaching the Bowderstone, we made sure to shake hands underneath it (it’s supposed to be good luck), before walking up the steps. To be honest, you don’t really get much of a view or anything from the top, but it’s still pretty cool. We then decided to continue along the path which drops down again to the road, before crossing over to have a little paddle down by the river.

It’s pram friendly up to the point of the Bowderstone but if you wish to extend the walk further like we did, then a baby carrier is needed for little ones.