One of the best wild swimming walks in all of the Lake District lies in a little visited corner of the national park. It’s a stunning area, with rolling hills and cascade pool after cascade pool. The higher you go, the more impressive the swimming holes, including one of our new favourite swimming spots in the whole region.
Due to its remote location these waterfalls are not well known and we only saw one couple despite visiting on a hot and sunny August bank holiday weekend. We couldn’t believe it!
It’s not a difficult walk, but accessing the best waterfall pool does involve a scramble. There are no signposts to help you find them, but we have you covered with detail directions in the track notes below.
The waterfalls were in shadow on our visit so our photos don’t do them justice, you can expect them to be much more impressive in person!
The Swindale Beck Waterfalls Walk
The stats
Distance: 5.3 mile (8.5km) circuit
Elevation gain: 240m
Difficulty: Moderate
Trailhead: End of the public road - Swindale Lane
Summary: There are a couple of different routes you can take to the waterfalls depending on if you want to make a circuit or not. Following the most easy route much of the walk is on a quiet country lane (there’s no parking ahead so you’re unlikely to see a car).
After you reach the footpath that takes you through the fells, there is some elevation gain and to reach the higher waterfalls the going gets quite steep and the terrain is uneven.
When dry, it’s not slippery but accessing some of the pools, including the best one, involves a scramble.
You can return the way you came or make a circuit. If you opt for the circuit route there is a minor amount of boggy terrain and lots of rocky uneven sections. It’s not difficult but it’s not as nice underfoot.
Starting the trail: along the country lane and through the RSPB reserve
From the closest parking point on Swindale Lane (full details below) you’ll begin heading along the quiet country lane.
It takes you gently uphill for the first 500m before it gently descends and then flattens. The views are lovely, though they only get better as you get closer to the waterfalls.
You’ll stay on this road for 0.9 miles (1.4km), passing a small bridge at the 0.75 mile (1.2km) mark and Swindale bothy 100m later.
At the 0.9 mile (1.4km) mark you have a choice: you can stick to the road (which is the easiest option) or head briefly through the RSPB reserve before re-joining the road just over 0.6 miles (1km) later.
We opted to head left and go through the reserve to avoid walking too much on the road.
If it’s been very wet I would probably stick to the road as the reserve could get boggy, but for us visiting during a dry spell, the reserve was fine.
It’s a little uneven underfoot and a touch overgrown in places (though nothing scratchy) but the scenery is gorgeous and it’s pretty much flat until you cut up back to the road at the 1.4 mile (2.3km) mark.
There are a couple of gates to pass through and the path is always easy to follow.
Just over 1.4 miles (2.3km) into the walk you will turn right to head briefly uphill back onto the road.
Roughly 200m later you’ll pass through a gate and bear left alongside the house (which is where the road runs out). You head straight, following the sign for Mosedale.
Onto the footpath with great views
After a few hundred metres you will reach some pretty dry stone walls and just beyond this you may encounter some minor boggy sections.
Well it was minor for us during a dry August, but it could be a little muddier if the weather has not been as kind to you.
These potentially muddy patches only last for 200m before the path dries out again.
You will then reach a grassy track and my favourite bit of the walk, with stunning views to the fells which now surround you.
You’ll follow this path gently uphill for 400m, to the 2.3 mile (3.7km) mark, when you need to bear left at the fork. You can now see the first cascade ahead, which is just 250m away.
It’s possible you may encounter a little more bog here, though again, not during a dry spell.
The path heads gently downhill to the little bridge at the 2.4 mile (3.9km) mark and the first pool is just 50m further on.
The first pool and heading uphill
The first pool is small but very scenic with an attractive double drop cascade and clear green water. The backdrop of craggy rocks adds to the scene.
This is a lovely spot if you’re visiting with kids and don’t want to take on the hillier section, or you’re looking for something leisurely.
There’s a second small pool above this one, but it’s harder to get into and requires traversing a bit of rock above the cascades and navigating the flow of the falls.
It’s also only tiny so it’s probably better to just continue on up to where the pools get much bigger, with our favourite being 550m away.
There is something of a worn path leading uphill, but it’s not maintained and can be indistinct in places. Generally the terrain is not too bad, so although it’s steep, it’s not slippery and it meanders a little, so it’s by no means a sharp slog directly up.
There are bits of gravel and loose soil to be mindful of, but it isn’t difficult when dry.
As you climb you will see various cascades, some of them have little pools for plunging, but nothing is swimmable until you get a bit higher.
The path will sometimes stray a little to the right of the closest point to the beck, though you can see that some people make their own path to stay closer to the water.
About 350m into the climb - staying close to the beck (though you’re high above it) - involves negotiating a few steps of narrow track with quite a drop to the left.
The actual path is a few metres to the right of this and has no exposure (the narrow path will be nothing of note for many people but I opted for the main track to avoid it).
The gorge pool and reaching the best swimming spot
Where you reach that narrow section, around 2.7 miles (4.3km) into the walk, you will see a large gorge pool a little way below the track.
You can reach this one but only by scrambling down and then walking a little way through the water. We were going to do this on our way back down the hill after checking out all the potential pools, but ran out of time after enjoying the main pool so much, so I can’t comment on how easy it is, but the pool looked good.
Just 150m beyond that narrow bit of track (2.8 miles into the walk) you will see a turn off on the left leading downhill.
The path is narrow, muddy and a touch eroded. The pool is only 50m away, but it requires care to climb down the track as it is a bit slippery in places.
Your reward is one of the Lake District’s best swimming holes.
The spectacular waterfall pool
I wasn’t a fan of the last little bit of track to reach the pool but it was undeniably worth it. The waterfall and pool completely took me by surprise.
It’s a majestic waterfall and the emerald pool is large and deep enough for a proper swim. Even without much recent rainfall the waterfall was stunning and the cliff walls shield it from view of the walking track above keeping it feeling wonderfully secluded.
The pictures really don’t capture just how lovely it is in person.
It’s a magical spot and a dream for swimming.
Entering the water is easy enough, you have to step down onto a couple of rocks, but then it gets very deep very quickly so you can swim straight off.
The water didn’t have any obstructions on our visit so it’s a really relaxing place for a dip. It’s absolutely beautiful and by far the jewel in the crown of Swindale Beck.
The narrow gorge pool
You can exit the pool the way you entered, or climb up the rocks to the right of the falls and head up to the grassy verge. This will take you back onto the main track.
We exited by climbing the rocks - as I wasn’t a fan of the muddy narrow path - and as the grass was dry, despite it being very steep, it wasn’t too hard to climb up directly.
However, I wouldn’t use this route if it’s wet.
Once you’re back on the main path (which takes just a few minutes), you’re 20m away from the turn off on the left to the next and final pool (or as far as we went anyway).
You can see the pool already and you just need to walk for 30m downhill to the water’s edge.
The swimming hole is much smaller at this one, but it’s very pretty, with the narrow slot waterfall giving it a gorge like feel.
You step off the rocks into shallow water then have to shuffle a bit on the rocks inside the water to reach the small deeper section which is swimmable.
The way back
In terms of getting back, you can either return the way you came or make a circuit.
We opted for the circuit, but I am not sure I’d recommend it and definitely not if it’s been wet as you will encounter much more boggy ground.
The scenery is nice enough, but in my opinion, not as nice as the other route, so it’s really only for those that prefer taking a different track back.
If you do want to do the circuit, you head back downhill to the first cascade pool and then cross the little bridge.
You’ll follow a bracken-lined path which is quite rocky in places and within a few hundred metres has the potential to become really quite boggy.
It gets better after half a mile (750m) when you have passed the dry stone walls. The path is easy enough to follow, though not in the best condition.
Roughly 0.9 miles (1.4km) after crossing the little bridge, you will enter a forest and a few hundred metres later you want to keep to the higher path amongst the bracken to avoid yet more bog.
There’s a 50m stretch that was really quite bad even on our visit, so goodness only knows how it would be in wetter times!
There is then a nicer stretch close to the water before you reach a bridge you need to cross to get back onto the road, 1.3 miles (2.1km) from that first little bridge you crossed by the cascade pool.
The final 0.8miles (1.3km) is back along the road to the parking area.
Keep them wild
Please remember to take all rubbish with you and keep these places wild and pristine - as with anywhere in the outdoors. It’s important to leave them exactly as you found them so they will remain beautiful for generations to come.
Litter tends to breed litter, so if you do spot any and are able to pick it up and dispose of it outside the national park, it will go a long way to keeping the area clean.
Getting to the start of the Swindale Beck Waterfalls Walk
The parking area for the Swindale Beck walk is located hear Haweswater Reservoir (postcode CA10 2QT), you can see it on Google maps here.
The parking is free of charge and has no time limit. There are no facilities here whatsoever and it is a just a grassy verge on the side of a road, so please be considerate of local traffic that needs to use this road.
The car park is approximately a 1 hour drive from Ambleside, 50 mins from Keswick and 30 mins from Penrith.
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