Dock Tarn is a small
tarn located within the
Lake District
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 William Wordswor ...
National Park in
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
, England, at grid reference . It is situated on
moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...
at 400 metres above sea level near the summit of
Great Crag
Great Crag is a fell in the English Lake District, located near the hamlets of Rosthwaite and Stonethwaite in Borrowdale.
Topography
The higher slopes are heather-covered and quite rocky, while the lower steep slopes on the Borrowdale side are ...
, midway between
Watendlath
Watendlath is a hamlet and tarn (a small lake) in the Lake District in the English county of Cumbria, historically part of Cumberland,
Watendlath is owned by the National Trust and sits high between the Borrowdale and Thirlmere valleys at abo ...
, the
Stonethwaite
Stonethwaite is a small village in the Lake District in the English county of Cumbria, historically part of Cumberland, it is situated in the valley of the Stonethwaite Beck, a side valley of Borrowdale, and within the Lake District National Pa ...
valley and
Borrowdale
Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cumberland. It is sometimes referred to as ''Cumberland Borrowdale'' t ...
. It measures approximately 300 by 200 metres, and the shoreline is indented with rocky headlands and bays. There is a tiny island in the tarn with a few small
Rowan
The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus
''Sorbus'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of ''Sorbus'' (''s.l.'') are commonly known as whitebeam, r ...
trees growing on it. Many Lake District writers rate Dock Tarn and the walk to it very highly because of its quiet beauty.
The tarn can be reached from Watendlath by a 2.5 kilometre walk along a path that climbs very close to the summit of Great Crag; many walkers include the ascent of this
fell
A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...
in the outing. The approach from Stonethwaite is of a similar distance but is more arduous, going steeply through the deciduous woodland in the valley before following the stream of Willygrass Gill, which is the outflow of Dock Tarn.
Lakes of the Lake District
Allerdale
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