Buttermere watercolour map poster in a natural wood frame, hanging in a living room

Wild Swimming in the Lake District: A Guide to Customary Waters

A Guide to Wild Swimming in the Lake District

Taking to the open water is a quiet way to understand the landscape of the fells. Wild swimming in the Lake District offers a different perspective on the valleys, looking up from the surface of a tarn to the crags above, watching the weather move across the high ground. It covers where people customarily swim, which waters are strictly off-limits, and how to enter the water safely.

This is not a legal guide and does not claim a right to swim anywhere. Instead, it reports what is customary and what is signposted on the shores today, offering plain facts for those visiting the lakes and tarns.

Waters That Are Off-Limits

While the map is drawn with deep blue patches of water, not every shoreline is open to swimmers. Swimming is not permitted in the reservoirs of Thirlmere and Haweswater. These vast bodies of water supply drinking water to towns and cities far beyond the fells, and they are clearly signposted to keep people out of the water. You must respect any no-swimming sign anywhere you find it. Maintaining the quality of the drinking water is a strict priority in these working valleys.

How to Swim Safely and Read the Warnings

The water in the Lake District is cold all year, even during the warmest weeks of August. Cold water shock is the main danger for anyone stepping off the shingle. To protect yourself against this reflex, you must get in slowly and let your breathing adjust. Never jump in. You should never swim alone, ensuring someone is always there to keep watch. Most importantly, know your limits and get out while you are still warm.

During warm spells, some lakes carry blue-green algae. This bloom is highly harmful to people and dogs. You must check the current warnings before you go and stay out entirely if a warning is up on the water you intended to visit.

The landscape relies on the good sense of its visitors. When you arrive, park considerately in the small lakeside villages, leaving gates and lanes clear. Change discreetly on the shore, and always leave no trace of your time on the water, taking all belongings with you.

Customary Swims: The Lakes

Buttermere watercolour map poster in a white frame, hanging in a living room
Buttermere — Watercolour Map Poster, framed in white

Windermere

Windermere is the busiest lake for boats in the region, carrying ferries, yachts, and motor cruisers. If you swim here, you must stay close to the shore and keep well away from jetties and launches. Because of the heavy traffic, you must wear a bright tow float so that you can be clearly seen by those steering the boats.

Buttermere and Crummock Water

Further west, Buttermere sits about 101 m above sea level. It is bordered by shelving shingle shores that make walking into the water straightforward. Right next to it lies Crummock Water, sharing the same deep valley beneath the steep sides of the western fells. Both are customary places for people to swim early in the morning before the paths fill with walkers.

Rydal Water and Grasmere

Rydal Water is small and shallow, which means it is among the warmest of the customary swims. It sits low in the valley, connected by the river to Grasmere, another water where people regularly swim. Both offer gentler conditions compared to the deeper lakes, though the water remains cold.

Derwentwater and Ullswater

Derwentwater draws many to its shores, but those looking to swim tend to head for its quieter western shore, away from the busy boat landings of the town. Similarly, Ullswater is a long, expansive stretch of water, and swimmers customarily use the bays on its western side to enter the water safely, keeping their distance from the main ferry routes.

Wast Water

Wast Water is the deepest lake in England. Surrounded by high scree and steep fells, it is very cold and very deep. The water here feels heavy and dark, and swimming in it requires a deep respect for the low temperatures that hold steady far beneath the surface.

Customary Swims: The Tarns

Above the valley floors, the tarns offer smaller, enclosed spaces to swim.

Loughrigg Tarn sits with clear views across the valley, a quiet alternative to the larger lakes below it. Blea Tarn in Langdale is another customary swim, set high in a pass between the fells, surrounded by rough grass and rock.

For a swim that requires effort to reach, Easedale Tarn sits in a hanging valley above Grasmere. Reaching the tarn is a walk of about an hour up first, following the rough path beside the beck. The cold water is a stark contrast to the heat of the climb.

Recording the Landscape: Lake Posters

Wast Water watercolour map poster in a black frame, hanging in a bedroom
Wast Water — Watercolour Map Poster, framed in black

For those who know the cold of the water and the line of the fells, we have a collection of map prints that record these waters exactly. You can view the full range in our Lake Posters collection. Each map print dedicates one water per sheet, giving the shape of the shoreline room to be viewed clearly. The true shoreline of the lake or tarn is mapped as a deep blue watercolour wash. Around the water, the rising fells are drawn as fine grey contour lines. The design is finished with the name in capitals above, and THE LAKE DISTRICT placed beneath.

These framed prints are available in three sizes to fit different spaces: 30 x 40cm at £89.99, 45 x 60cm at £119.99, and 50 x 70cm at £129.99. You can select frames in black, white, or natural wood.

We map the customary swims across the national park:

We also map the higher tarns that swimmers walk up to reach:

Alongside the map prints, you will find the painting Open Water Swimmer in Morning Mist. This square piece is available as a framed print in three sizes: 40cm for £89.99, 70cm for £129.99, and 90cm for £199.99.

If you are looking for more items suited to people who spend their time out on the fells and in the waters, you can read our gift guide: Alternative Gifts for Outdoorsy People: The Lake District Edition.

Respecting the Water

Wild swimming in the Lake District requires a plain understanding of the risks and a quiet respect for the landscape. Whether you are stepping off the shelving shingle shores of Buttermere or walking an hour up beside the beck to Easedale Tarn, the water remains deep and cold. Follow the signs, keep away from the restricted reservoirs of Haweswater and Thirlmere, and enter the customary waters slowly to let the cold wash over you safely.

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