Our model for running a national park is not based on public ownership and people are often surprised to learn the National Park Authority owns less than four per cent of land in the Lake District. The rest is owned by organisations such as the National Trust, United Utilities, Forestry Commission and other private landowners.
For more information see Land ownership in the Lake District page.
The Lake District National Park is open to the public at all times. There are no gates or barriers barring entry to the National Park. Come and visit! Check out our popular visiting section for all you need to know when planning a trip to the English Lakes.
You can book places to stay using our accomodation booking pages. Book online and help the National Park - the commission we receive from your booking will go towards keeping this landscape special for future generations.
If you have a technical problem with the online accommodation booking process please email helpdesk@guestlink.co.uk or call 0844 209 25555 (calls cost 5p per minute plus your phone company's access charge). Open 9am to 5.30pm from Monday to Friday and from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday).
Call Traveline on 0871 200 2233 (calls cost 12p per minute plus your phone company's access charge) or visit their website www.traveline.info. More information on travelling around the Lake District.
Please take a look at the things to do section on our website.
We hold numerous events and guided walks in the Lake District and many are free. Alternatively take a look at our country shows and festivals page.
Take a look at our plan your visit page which may be very helpful for your first visit to the Lake District.
To have a BBQ in the Lake District you must have permission of a landowner to BBQ on their land. You also need to make aware of the following:
https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/cumbriafire/services/safetyathome/outdoorsafety.asp
Wild camping is not permitted anywhere in the Lake District without prior permission from the landowner. As the National Park Authority we do not have the power to allow camping on private land and we do not permit camping on the land that we own. Camping in car parks or on roadside verges is not allowed at any time.
Legally wherever you camp you must have the permission of a landowner to camp on their land. For more information please visit the wild camping webpage on our website.
Please take a look at the drones page on our website.
All powered boats on Windermere need to be registered and you need a permit for any boat on Bassenthwaite Lake (powered or not).
To register on Windermere, please visit our Windermere Registration section to find our prices and other essential information.
To get a permit for use on Bassenthwaite Lake, please phone our Contact Centre team on 01539 724555 (Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm, Friday 9am to 4.45pm).
Please read the Access to Lakes Guide.
Please take a look at our safety videos on our water safety page, these cover carbon monoxide safety, kill cords, life jacket checks and swimming visibility devices.
If you see blue-green algae please call the Environment Agency on 0800 80 70 60 to report your sighting. Do not enter, drink or swallow the water. Also keep children and pets away from the water.
For more information on what it looks like and how it can affect people and animals, please visit the blue-green algae frequently asked questions page.
At the Head Office we have a free planning surgery Monday - Friday, 9:30am - 12:30pm. Bookings are not available. Please ring 01539 724555 to speak to a Contact Centre Advisor who will need to know the following information:
Alternatively, you can drop in to see the Duty Planner, although it's first come first served so there may be a waiting time.
Lake District National Park Authority
Murley Moss
Oxenholme Road
Kendal LA9 7RL
We want to make sure this is a positive, vibrant organisation committed to delivering our services as efficiently and effectively as possible.
If you are innovative and enthusiastic, with a flexible 'can do' attitude, then we want you to come and join our team.
Take a look at the Jobs page, it shows all current vacancies and is updated regularly.
Please contact the PR and Communications Manager, Sarah Calderbank at sarah.calderbank@lakedistrict.gov.uk. For more information please visit the media enquiries page.
You can choose to help projects within the Lake District National Park by donating to the Lake District Foundation charity. You can even choose a signpost, gate or bridge to have an engraved plaque to commemorate someone or something special to you in your special place.
We regularly receive requests for memorials to be placed in the Lake District National Park. We do appreciate the importance of memorials for the families of deceased loved ones and understand how a memorial in a cherished place or landscape can provide a comfort. However if we were to give permission to all the requests we receive, the numbers involved would become extremely intrusive in this natural and beautiful landscape. For this reason we refuse all requests for memorials on land owned by the National Park. For memorials on the other 96 per cent of land in the Lake District, we ask people to contact the landowner directly.
It is worth noting that memorials, such as benches and structures, may also require planning permission. To informally discuss whether you need to apply for planning application you can talk to a duty planner or attend one of our regular planning surgeries - find out times and dates.
Please do not light fires in the Lake District, even if it looks like others have unless you are on an authorised campsite and have permission to do so.
Camp fires can easily get out of control and spread quickly, especially in times of very dry weather. These dry spells can be at any time of year but extra care is needed in the hot summer months.
https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/cumbriafire/services/safetyathome/outdoorsafety.asp
We do not provide bins in any of our car parks, with the exception of Coniston Boating Centre and Glenridding. It was our policy to remove litter bins several years ago, to help encourage visitors to recycle, and take their litter home.
Generally this works very well, however there will always be the odd person who leaves their litter lying around and sadly this still happens if there is a bin on site.
If you want to do your bit for the countryside and its wildlife please pick up any litter you see when you’re out walking and take it home with you or dispose of accordingly.
As diverting National Park staff or volunteers to pick up litter takes them away from other more valuable work.
It is totally unacceptable to bag dog waste and leave it behind. The Lake District National Park is for everyone to enjoy, please respect the environment and take your litter and dog waste home with you.
The Lake District has 19 million visitors a year and many of them arrive by car. Our roads are often narrow and winding and are vital for farmers and landowners to use in their every day work. So please keep them clear and park considerately in designated parking areas.
Also please avoid parking on verges which damages valuable habitats.
Take a look at our car parks.
Hunting of foxes is illegal. Since the Hunting Act 2004, Lake District Fell Packs are restricted to the exercising of hounds, trail-following or drag hunting. We issue licences for a wide variety of activities on our land and those issued to the Fell Packs for legal trail hunting activities are designed to enable them to maintain their traditional activity within the law, whilst minimising inconvenience to other users of the land. The need to act within the law is stressed in the licence which requires organisers to submit records of all activity on our land. Find out more about trail hunting in the Lake District.
