England's Naturally Sculpted Lake District
The Lake District is about 34 miles square. Its features are a result of periods of glaciation, the
most recent of which ended some 15,000 years ago. These include the
ice-carved wide U-shaped valleys, many of which are now filled with the
lakes that give the park its name. The upper regions contain a number
of glacial cirques, which are typically filled with tarns. The higher
fells are rocky, with lower fells being open moorland, notable for its
wide bracken and heather coverage. Below the tree line native oak
woodlands sit alongside nineteenth century pine plantations. The Lake District is
one of the most highly populated national parks and was designated as a
National Park in 1951.
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