JOIN a walk with a Lake District expert for the first guided walk of the year this weekend. 

In a bid to make the Lake District landscape accessible to visitors and encourage those with varying levels of experience to explore, the National Park Authority recruits a group of expert volunteers to lead guided walks each year.

 “A guided walk gives visitors the opportunity to be led through the Lakes by a real expert with years of experience hiking across these hills," Beth Kennedy, Volunteer Team Leader at Lake District National Park said. "They can leave their map and compass at home and relax knowing they’re in safe hands!

“Locals also enjoy exploring the Lake District in this way as it’s a really sociable way to get outdoors. It doesn’t matter what level of walking experience you have, there are routes for all abilities.”

A new schedule of walks for 2018 will set-off this Sunday with a guided route of ‘Hills, Gills and Falls’ in Coniston, and multiple routes per month will follow until the end of October.

Guided tours even include hikes to the summit of Scafell Pike and Helvellyn, which was this year voted Britain’s favourite walk.

 “Our guided walks are categorised by ‘easy’, ‘moderate’ and ‘hard’ to be suitable for a range of ages and levels of experience; from people looking for a gentle amble to those seeking an adventurous hike," Lake District National Park volunteer walk leader, Tricia Brown, said. 

"You could find yourself exploring ancient caves, staring up at wild waterfalls, exploring historical houses or of course looking onto the beautiful lakes.”

The Lake District, which boasts peaks topping 900 metres, lakes stretching for miles, 13 valleys and more than 200 fell tops, attracts more than 18 million visitors each year.

“We have a fantastic, dedicated and experienced team of volunteers who are extremely passionate about the Lake District," Ms Kennedy added." They guide more than 2,500 walkers each year and they couldn’t be more excited to pull on their walking boots and kick-start a new season.”

Prices to join a guided walk vary from free to £10 and all proceeds are put straight back in to protecting the Lake District National Park.

For more information, visit: www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/the-blog/blog-posts/slipped-up-planning-your-route