Cumbrian mountains
| Lake District | |
| "The Lakes" or "Lakeland" | |
| National Park of England | |
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| Constituent country | England |
|---|---|
| County |
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| Districts | South Lakeland, Eden, Allerdale, Copeland |
| Highest point | Scafell Pike |
| - elevation | 3,209 ft (978 m) |
| Lowest point | Sea level |
| Area | 2,362 km2 (912 sq mi) |
| Biomes | Coniferous forest, Deciduous forest, Lake, Moorland |
| Plants | Drosera, Pinguicula |
| Animals | Red deer, Red squirrel, Fell pony, Herdwick, Red kite, Arctic char, Schelly |
| National Park of England | 9 May 1951 |
| Management | Lake District National Park Authority |
| Visitation |
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| IUCN category | V - Protected Landscape/Seascape |
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The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests and mountains (or fells) and its associations with the early 19th century writings of William Wordsworth and the other Lake Poets.
It is located entirely within the county of Cumbria, and all the land in England higher than 3,000 feet (910 m) above sea level lies within the National Park, including Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England. It also contains the deepest and longest bodies of water in England, respectively Wast Water and Windermere.
The Lake District National Park includes nearly all of the Lake District, though the town of Kendal and the Lakeland Peninsulas are currently outside the park boundary.
The area, which was designated a national park on 9 May 1951 (less than a month after the first UK national park designation — the Peak District), is the most visited national park in the United Kingdom with 15.8 million annual visitors and more than 23 million annual day visits, the largest of the thirteen national parks in England and Wales, and the second largest in the UK after the Cairngorms. Its aim is to protect the landscape by restricting unwelcome change by industry or commerce. Most of the land in the park is in private ownership, with about 55% registered as agricultural land. Landowners include:
In common with all other national parks in England, there is no restriction on entry to, or movement within the park along public routes, but access to cultivated land is usually restricted to public footpaths, bridleways and byways. Much of the uncultivated land has statutory open access rights, which cover around 50% of the park.
The lakes and mountains combine to form impressive scenery. Farmland and settlement have altered the natural scenery, and the ecology has been modified by human influence for millennia and includes important wildlife habitats. The Lake District failed in a previous attempt to gain World Heritage status as a natural World Heritage Site, because of human activities, such as commercial forestry, which have adversely impacted the park's assessment. However, in 2016 the English Lake District bid for World Heritage Status was submitted to UNESCO in the category of cultural landscape. A decision is expected in 2017.
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Wikipedia