Best walks to or from Dalton

Dalton Station to Ulverston Station

great views. Attractive limestone countryside of field paths, farm lanes and quiet roads, with open sheep-grazing land and some good views. Several kilometres of road-walking leaving Ulverston, partly with no pavement, paths are not always clear on the ground. Many gates and stiles and some in poor condition. Livestock (sheep, cattle, horses) graze the fields; can be split at Great Urswick. An optional historic route via Swarthmoor Hall avoids some road-walking out of Ulverston.

Easy: 10km, moderate ascents.

Some road sections leaving Ulverston have no pavement. Numerous stiles and gates, several in poor or slippery condition; navigation can be tricky where paths are unclear or signage is missing.

Lunch stop: the General Burgoyne.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Barrow-in-Furness Station to Dalton Station

A pleasant walk between the two towns with a green interlude in the middle on good footpaths. It opens with a long, gradual uphill pavement walk beside a busy main road, then quiet roads and footpaths through the lush Vale of Nightshade and with a few low railway tunnels. Footpaths can be muddy in spots. Furness Abbey is well worth a visit (English Heritage; restricted opening). The route runs through the Vale of Nightshade.

Easy: 6km, moderate ascents.

Crossing the busy Abbey Road near the abbey is tricky, on an uphill bend with poor visibility; the long pavement walk runs alongside a heavily trafficked road; footpaths can be muddy and lack ramps or low kerbs.

End-of-walk reward: the Brown Cow.

Documented by Slow Ways — download GPX route

Roose Station to Dalton Station

Mainly level, largely off-road route past the ruined Cistercian Furness Abbey in the Vale of Nightshade, Abbots Wood and Dalton Castle.

6km. 2h.

Highlights: Furness Abbey (The ruined 12th-century Cistercian abbey set in the wooded valley known as the Vale of Nightshade, once the second most important Cistercian house in England) and Dalton Castle (A National Trust 14th-century pele tower standing in the market square at the top of the town).

Documented by Visit Lake District / Lakes Line Rail User Group (PDF).