Get fell in and have a tarn good time

You don't have to be a long-distance hiker to escape the crowds in the Lake District.

For just pounds 4 we had a guide to the tarns - or small lakes - and the key to plenty of peace and quiet in Britain's busiest national park.

We stayed at White Cross Bay Holiday Parc with its 41 pine lodges set in 60 acres on the shores of Windermere.

Our two-bedroom hideaway in the woods seemed spanking new and would sleep four people at a pinch. For two adults and a two-year- old, it was just right. There is a bar, restaurant, adventure playground, tennis, boating and water-skiing. Close by is Brockhole, the Lake District National Park Visitors' Centre...and as many as 80 tarns.

The best-known is Tarn Hows, near Coniston. But because it's one of the easiest to visit - a short stroll from the car park - itcan be a tourist trap.

Smaller Loughrigg, near Grasmere is less accessible, but worth the ten-minute walk from the road.

After braving a field and a bull, we were beside one of the most beautiful tarns in the Lakes. And there wasn't another tourist in sight.

White Cross Bay Holiday Parc - which also has a clubhouse, takeaway service and launderette - has two-bedroom lodges ranging from pounds 215 to pounds 495 (tel: 015394 43937).

Further information is available from Cumbria Tourist Board, Ashleigh, Holly Road, Windermere, Cumbria LA23 2AQ (015394 44444).

Copyright 1997 MGN LTD
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.