With crystalline glacial lakes, remote tarns and hidden plunge pools, the Lake District is a magical wild swimming destination. Answer the call of the wild and dive into your next swimming adventure.
Discover our pick of the area's best-hidden spots, along with essential safety tips, and start your open water journey, Lakes style.
Calf Close Bay is walkable from Keswick, or you can park at Great Wood National Trust car park and nip over the road to the bay. Serious swimmers can head out, Swallows and Amazons-style, to Rampsholme and St Herbert’s Island, or you can just take a dip and enjoy the unique view of the fells from water level.
Not for the fainthearted, this is one for well-acclimatised cold-water swimmers only. Halfway up Blencathra, Scales Tarn sits in a natural bowl below the famous Sharp Edge ridge.
The bulk of the mountain above offers little protection from the elements, though, with the wind often whipping up waves and spray off the surface. A few hardy souls are brave enough to crack winter ice before a swim, but the cold water is invigorating even on a summer’s day.
A short walk from Buttermere village brings you to the pebbled lakeshore, and possibly one of the most awe-inspiring wild swimming backdrops of all time. Watch the light change over the mighty Fleetwith Pike at the head of the valley, and take in the moment.
Conditions in the mountains can change fast, and cold-water shock can be dangerous. Along with being prepared (check out our useful mountain kit list), make sure to never swim alone, enter the water gradually and wear high-vis gear and a wetsuit.
A place made and sustained by water (mostly in the form of rain!), the Lake District answers the call of wild swimmers everywhere with its beautiful lakes, rivers and remote upland tarns.
If you would like our help planning your wild swimming break in the Lake District, please contact us.