The Lake District National Park is one of a family of 14 National Parks. The others are: Brecon Beacons, the Cairngorms, Dartmoor, Exmoor, Loch Lomond and Trossachs, Northumberland, North York Moors, Peak District, Pembrokeshire Coast, Snowdonia, the Yorkshire Dales, the Broads and the New Forest.

The Lake District is England's largest national park and covers 2292 square kilometres (885 square miles). There are over fourteen lakes and tarns, although officially Bassenthwaite Lake is the only titled ‘lake’ - the rest are ‘meres’ or ‘waters’.

Facts & Figures:
Highest Mountains:

1. Scafell Pike at 978 metres (3210 feet) and Scafell 964 metres (3162 feet)
2. Helvellyn at 950 metres (3114 feet)
3. Skiddaw at 931 metres(3053 feet)
4. Great End at 910 metres (2986 feet)
5. Bowfell at 902 metres (2940 feet)

Lakes

• Deepest lake is Wastwater at 74 metres (243 feet)
• Longest Lake is Windermere which is 10.5 miles long
• There is only one official lake - Bassenthwaite Lake . All the others are 'meres' or 'waters'
• In the heavy rain of January 2005 Windermere rose by about a metre overnight – that’s equal to about 17,000,000,000 (seventeen thousand million) litres of water!

In the Lake District, 500 million years of geological processes have produced a physical landscape of mountains and lakes of great scenic beauty. Slate developed from sediments in oceans and seas, volcanoes erupted, limestone was formed by the deposition of dead crustaceans and sandstone was created in desert conditions. Various minerals were also formed in joints and faults in the bedrock.

The layers of rock formed were shifted and sculpted - first through different stages of folding and uplifting and then by the actions of glaciers and meltwater.

As a result the topography of the Lake District includes smooth U-shaped valleys and steep and sharp ridges, England’s highest mountain and deepest and longest lakes. The Lake District is often compared to a wheel, with the hub approximately at Dunmail Raise, north of Grasmere. The valleys and lakes radiate outwards as the 'spokes'.

To sum it up, the Lake District provides one of the most stunning walking locations in the country.