Coming this summer, you’ll be able to get your paws on a rather splendid new guidebook to the Lake District, featuring 50 fantastic walks across this small, but ruggedly wonderful corner of the world. Published by Cicerone Press, the book is a proper team effort. My Lake District partner in outdoor crime, Mark Richards, supplied the ideas, the inspiration, the routes, the text, and the maps, essentially all the sensible and important bits. I’ve been responsible for making it look pretty, spending the past two years chasing these walks through sunshine, sideways rain, moody mist, and the occasional golden evening that makes you forget entirely about the previous week’s drizzle.

The aim has been simple: to capture these routes in a range of weather and light that reflects the Lakes as they truly are, dramatic, changeable, and endlessly characterful. If we’ve done our job properly, readers will not only find reliable guidance underfoot, but also a wee spark of inspiration to head out and experience these fells for themselves. What fun!

The routes span the full sweep of the Lake District, taking in all the heavyweight names, Scafell Pike, Scafell, Skiddaw, Bowfell, Blencathra, and Helvellyn, alongside quieter, characterful fells such as Ard Crags, Bakestall, Carrock Fell, and Sergeant Man. This larger-format book is ideal for choosing your next summit, whether that means ticking off a well-known classic or revisiting a favourite by a new and more interesting line. It works just as well for those discovering the Lakes for the first time as for those who think they know it inside out, there is always another angle, another ridge, another way up.

The walks are based around key centres including Ambleside, Keswick, Patterdale, Seatoller, Boot, Ennerdale, and Wasdale Head, making planning refreshingly straightforward. Each of the 50 mountain days can be completed in a single outing or adapted into a lightweight backpacking adventure. Circular routes range from 4 to 14 miles and are clearly graded for difficulty, meaning the guide suits less experienced walkers looking to build confidence, as well as those seeking a more demanding day on the fells. All routes are illustrated with Harvey maps and Mark’s clear pictorial route diagrams, providing both reassurance underfoot and a helpful sense of the terrain ahead.

Closer to publication, I’ll be sharing a longer essay on the photographic side of the project, reflecting on the approach I took, the gear I carried, the challenges faced, and the countless mistakes made and, thankfully, learnt from along the way. Two years of chasing light in the Lake District leaves you with plenty of stories, and a healthy respect for weather forecasts.

Best Walks in the Lake District: 50 Great Mountain Days, published by Cicerone Press, will be released on June 30th, 2026, and is available to pre-order now from all good bookshops. If it inspires even one properly muddy pair of boots, it will have done its job.