Grizedale Forest

Start at the visitor centre between Windermere and Coniston. Eight waymarked walking trails range from the easy-access Ridding Wood route to the more strenuous Silurian Way over Carron Crag. The main centre has parking, toilets, a café, gallery and gift shop, picnic areas, and staff who can help you choose a route. An off-road mobility scooter and a dedicated accessible route are available through the site's mobility service, but access varies once you leave the easier paths.

Bring a map or download the route information before setting out. The sculptures are spread across a large area, and a few can be easy to miss. Cyclists should choose a route that matches their experience: the forest-road network is a different proposition from the single-track North Face trail. There is no camping or overnight parking in the forest or its car parks.

This is a place to explore rather than a quick pullout. The reward is variety and the feeling of finding art unexpectedly among the trees, but visitors wanting one guaranteed viewpoint or a tightly concentrated sculpture display may find the scale frustrating. Choose one short route for a first visit, or commit to a longer walk and treat the visitor centre as your base.

The forest also works well for a mixed-interest day: gentle walking, longer hill routes, forest-road cycling, the North Face mountain-bike trail, horse riding, and Go Ape are all based here. It is one of the Lake District's easier places to combine a short family outing with a serious half-day on foot or two wheels.