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Harrop Tarn from Dobgill Bridge Difficulty: Easy The walk starts from the Dobgill Bridge car park situated just a kilometre up the road from Wythburn on the small road that follows the western side of Thirlmere Reservoir. Parking here is free although can sometimes be difficult at busy times, there are also toilet facilities on the car park. There is an information board at the car park worth looking at for the history of the area and a map to Harrop Tarn and the surrounding forest tracks. Thirlmere Reservoir is a huge and well landscaped reservoir, the owners United Utilities have done a great job of keeping extensive woodlands around the reservoir that provides millions of gallons of water via a ridiculously long network of aqueduct pipes to the North West of England and all the way to Manchester. Even before the man made dam was completed in 1894 by the Manchester Corporation company, there was a natural lake in this valley, the dam was simply built to higher the water level and create a constant level to supply the ever expanding industrial city of Manchester. The other side of the reservoir is made up by the Helvellyn range which provides a fantastic backdrop across the valley when taking a rest on parts of this walk. From the car park follow the path that heads uphill towards Harrop Tarn through some fantastic old woodland. After about two hundred metres you should reach a wall and behind it a huge imposing crag. At this point the path heads off to the right to go round the crag, at this point you can go round the crag that way following the easy and obvious path up to Harrop Tarn, however you'd then miss out on the dramatic cascading waters of Dob Gill. The best way from here is to go left behind the wall and head for the noise of the waterfalls. The waterfalls are an impressive sight, it seems daft that a path was never made to skirt the side of these impressive falls. Once at the falls you can go down to them, taking care not to slip on the tree routes and stones. They do make a fantastic picture in the morning when the sun bounces of the white waters. From the falls simply follow the steep ground up the right hand side of Dob Gill through the trees, the going here is not hard as the ground is soft, but it is quite steep in places. You will have rounded the left side of that imposing crag and eventually meet up with the original path. Follow the obvious path now as it follows the line of Dob Gill heading towards Harrop Tarn. At the tarn the first thing you will see is a wooden footbridge crossing Dob Gill. Stand on this footbridge and take in the awe inspiring beauty if Harrop Tarn. The far side of the tarn is slightly wilder than the near side as there is no continuous path, however if you wish to go round and explore then you can follow the path over the wooden footbridge and round to the top side of the tarn, here the Ullscarf Gill halts any further progress but I still think its worth exploring to see the tarn from a different angle and to see it with the Helvellyn Ridge as a backdrop. Back at the footbridge to continue the walk now head off the other way to the right following the path that heads towards the northern end of the lake. This path turns into a forestry track and then slightly uphill before turning right and heading back downhill through the impressive forests. After a steep descent on the track you will come to the edge of the forest at Cragsteads Gill where the views open up over Thirlmere. At this point a path heads off to the right skirting a wall on the edge of the forest, follow this path all the way downhill now passing a few abandoned building ruins on the way down. Once at the bottom you will be back on the small road that again that skirts the edge of the reservoir, turn right on to this road heading south and follow it for just a few hundred metres back to the car park. |
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