The Lancaster Canal Towpath Trail Challenge!

Explore the full Lancaster Canal Towpath Trail with our official DIY Challenge Route from Kendal to Lancaster or vice versa – its your choice!

A brilliant, multi-day stay-over challenge designed to experience the full stretch of the Lancaster Canal Towpath Trail at your own pace. You can take 2 or 3 days and really make the most of this stunning stretch of the Lancaster canal, the most northern canal in England.

Covering a similar distance to a marathon, this route takes you through peaceful countryside, explores canal heritage and quiet towpaths, provides waterside views and links to local villages and plenty of welcoming places to stop along the way.

With fantastic transport links between Kendal and Lancaster thanks to Stagecoach, Northern Rail and/or Trans Pennine Express, you can walk one way and hop on a bus or train back to where you began. Or you could take a few extra days and walk back along the route to enjoy it from the opposite perspective!

The route is a flexible multi-day challenge, perfect for walkers and runners who want to break the journey up at the points they choose by booking a stay at one of the lovely local hotels or inns along the trail – the best way to make a proper trip out of the challenge.

Whether you’re doing it for fitness, fresh air, fundraising, a personal milestone or simply the joy of exploring somewhere new, this is your challenge to complete in your way.

The OS map link provides the route details and the featured accomodation options include;

• Castle Green Hotel (Kendal)
• Crooklands Hotel (Crooklands)
• Longlands Hotel (Tewitfield)
• Tewitfield Marina (Tewitfield)
• South Lakeland Leisure Village (Carnforth)
• Wonderland Retreats (Carnforth)
• New England Caravan Site (Carnforth)
• Morcambe Lodge (Bolton-Le-Sands)
• The Gateway (Hestbank)
• Toll House Inn (Lancaster)

Check out our social media posts to see the views the Towpath Trail has in store for you to enjoy and tag us in your adventures so we can see how you get on!

*Please note that whilst the Towpath Trail is flat in the sections where it follows the canal, in the northern section where the canal has been filled in (Stainton to Kendal) there are some steps and steep slopes at the following locations – Hincaster Tunnel, Farleton, near Levens Deer Park and within Kendal town centre. We are developing solutions to address all of these points to increase accessibility.