The Lake District
The Most Popular Hikes & Walks in The Lake District
28th April 2021
As restrictions slowly start to ease in England, we can start to get back to enjoying our favourite walks and fells in the beautiful Lake District. Not only this, but as the ‘stay at home’ rule ended on March 29th and our spa hotel in the Lake District set to reopen from May 17th, we can begin to enjoy a relaxing trip away and feel happier and healthier!
We’re all itching to get back amongst the lakes, so we’ve decided to take a look at which are the most loved walks in the area’s fells, lakes, and tarns, according to Google search data and mentions on Instagram.
The Most Popular Lake District Fell Walks
1. Scafell Pike
Instagram Posts: 73,088 | Annual Search Volume: 1,060,500
Scafell Pike is the highest mountain in Britain, standing at 978 metres above sea level. This mountain compromises part of the three peaks challenge, alongside Snowdon and Ben Nevis, where avid climbers have to reach the summit of all 3 mountains in just 24 hours
2. Haystacks
Instagram Posts: 39,888 | Annual Search Volume: 990,000
Haystacks (or Hay Stacks) is situated at the south-eastern end of the Borrowdale Valley and while it isn’t one of the taller peaks in the area, with an elevation of 597m, it’s still one of the most popular, with almost a million annual Google searches and it was described by Wordsworth as "one of the pleasantest of foot-passes".
3. Green Gable
Instagram Posts: 77,726| Annual Search Volume: 575,300
Green Gable, although often used by walkers to traverse and reach Great Gable, this fell stands at 801 metres but its own summit has incredible views of Scafell Pike, Buttermere and Gable Crag, a well worth scramble.
The Most Popular Lake Walks in the Lake District
1. Windermere
Instagram Posts: 742,776 | Annual Search Volume: 2,425,276
Windermere is perhaps the most iconic lake in the Lake District (as well as the largest in England) and the village of Bowness-on-Windermere on its shores is a popular tourist honeypot. Walks around the lake offer views of the many surrounding mountains and one of the best and easiest ways to catch an elevated glimpse of the lake itself is from nearby Orrest Head.
2. Ullswater
Instagram Posts: 131,744 | Annual Search Volume: 236,500
Ullswater is the second largest lake in the English Lake District, after Windermere, stretching 9 miles long and 0.75 miles wide and is also second on our list.
The Ullswater Way is a 20-mile route around the lake, which can include boat or bus journeys.
A section of the way, Glencoyne Woods, inspired William Wordsworth’s famous poem Daffodils.
3. Grasmere
Instagram Posts: 99,712 | Annual Google Searches: 236,5000
Grasmere is one of the smallest lakes within the National Park, at only 1680 yards long and 700 yards wide.
The walk around the lake can take as little as two hours to complete but offers some beautiful views of the Lake as well as the surrounding village of Grasmere.
Methodology
Google search data sourced using Google Ads’ Keyword Planner and refers to the number of global searches made in the last twelve months (April 2020 to March 2021).
Instagram hashtags refer to the number of posts on Instagram which mention the fell or lake using hashtags.
Starting off with a list of over 350 fells, marilyns, lake, tarns and more, we then combined the search volume and number of hashtag mentions to reach our top 50.
