National Trust - Stagshaw Gardens — Attraction in Lakes

This is the kind of place you could easily drive past, and I confess that over the years I've been visiting the Lake District I've done exactly that. On our latest visit we decided to have a look at Stagshaw.

What a gorgeous place! It's situated just off the main road, and if you're visiting by car you can park in the woods just past the garden entrance. National Trust members get in for free, but there's an honesty box by the entrance and an entry fee is posted. In fact, we were so enchanted by the garden that despite being members we still paid.

It's a small place, built on a hillside, and your walk takes you around and through the garden. There are three bridges to cross, a pretty little waterfall, beautiful trees, rhododendrons, bamboos and mosses, and fabulous views across Windermere. Everywhere you look there's something to take your breath away, and we enjoyed it so much we walked around twice, and promised to return on our next visit to the Lakes.

A real hidden...

A true hidden gem. A lovely walk through an informal (i.e. now wild) garden. The climb can be a little bit steep in places but the natural beauty more than compensates with stream running through the middle. It was very quiet when we visited and you felt you had the place to yourself. Nice and dog friendly. Entry and parking are free. There are somethings to be taken into consideration. The car park has only room for 8 cars and that is a squeeze, assuming no numpty parking. No toilets (unless you fancy the old style al-fresco). Nearest are back down lakeside. It has been described as a short walk outside Ambleside. Yes if you use the town outskirt as the start point. Otherwise 1.5 miles from town centre. However, that walk takes you along the lake shore so who can grumble. Plus the pooch had a few swims in the lake. Also nearby is the remains, i.e. a few foundations of a Roman Fort, but you can pop in on the way past. Just watch out for the...

We had a lovely walk around the gardens. It is an easy walk down the main road from Ambleside or if you are more adventurous then you can walk behind the mountain rescue base and go via Jenkins Crag.

The garden itself is lovely in the Spring, but you can see how amazing it will be in Summer in full bloom. The different shrubs and trees are amazing. You do need to be able on your feet for the garden as it is built into the hillside and is full of narrow trails and steep inclines, but does have a few benches dotting around for those who want to take 5.

In addition in Stagshaw woods is a Tall Tree 🌲 Trail, this was really interesting and the 2 kids with us were running up and down the hill looking at the plaques on each tree. Which told us the scientific name, common name and...