Greenwood Trail 3: Bobbin Mill to High Dam, Yewbarrow and Finsthwaite

A circular loop of 6.2 miles (10 km) starting and finishing at Stott Park Bobbin Mill, postcode LA12 8AX. Allow around 4.5 hours (the official long-route estimate is 4 to 5 hours). Sampled ascent works out at roughly 310 m, spread over rough ground, so this walks harder than the mileage suggests.

• Road climb from the Bobbin Mill car park toward High Dam, passing Low Dam on the way up.
• Along the High Dam wall and around the tarn, crossing two footbridges and the boardwalk section.
• The long-route path leaves the wall for open fell to a gate and first viewpoint, then continues north and west by white-topped posts to a further viewpoint.
• Turn south for Rusland Heights, over stiles and rough open fell, then down through a sheltered valley and mixed woodland past a small tarn and gorse to a minor road near Town End.
• Gates and fields lift you to Finsthwaite Road, then rocky fields and lanes reach Finsthwaite Church, with a road return past Plum Green and High Dam to the start.

Call it 6 out of 10: a long moderate-to-hard day, with nothing technical and no scrambling. The mix is woodland path, open fell, field, minor road and lane, rough in places, sometimes steep, with marshy and muddy stretches. Expect stiles, gates and rocky outcrops. The stretch over Rusland Heights is a little indistinct in places, though marked by white-topped posts and waymarkers, so navigation attention matters. The open fell is fully exposed to wind and weather, with no shelter until you drop back into the valley. Sturdy footwear and a detailed topographic map or mapping app are recommended for this route.

High Dam and its boardwalk are the early highlight, with the tarn ringed by woodland. Higher up, the views open across the Rusland Valley and Grizedale Forest toward the Coniston Fells, and on a clear day the Langdale Pikes come into range. The Rusland Heights and Yew Barrow ground is proper low-fell open country, quiet and spacious, and the Finsthwaite section swaps that for church, lanes and old farmed landscape.

Stott Park Bobbin Mill was built in 1835 and survives as one of the Lakeland bobbin mills. High Dam was created the same year to supply water power to the mill, and the streams and culverts that fed it are still part of the walk. The surrounding woodland holds charcoal-burning remains, veteran coppiced hazel, crab apple and Scots pine, and the fields you cross carry local historic field names from an older farming pattern.

• Bog myrtle along the High Dam boardwalk, with dragonflies around the water in warmer months.
• Primroses, violets and wood anemone near the boardwalk in spring.
• A colony of the rare Duke of Burgundy butterfly is recorded on the trails, but treat any sighting as luck rather than expectation.

Start and park at Stott Park Bobbin Mill, bearing in mind that the mill's two car parks are open only during Bobbin Mill museum opening times, and that the more westerly of the two is the one the general public may use. When the mill car parks are not open, the Lake District National Park car park at High Dam is the fallback access point, and starting there also shortens the road climb. Museum toilets and refreshments are seasonal, and Lakeside Pier is the nearest alternative for food and drink. The walk itself follows waymarked paths, field routes, open fell and minor lanes, linked by stiles and gates. Dogs are welcome but should be kept under close control through the fields and open fell, and it is worth checking yourself and your dog for ticks afterward.

A shorter High Dam and Finsthwaite option of 2.7 miles (4.4 km) covers the tarn and village in a far more compact circuit, which is the sensible pick if the weather closes in or the open fell section does not appeal.