10 Best Waterfalls in the Lake District

Aira Force is certainly among the most famous waterfalls in the Lake District, with a postcard-like view at the end of a serene and pleasant walk up a river. At the river’s bottom, a National Trust car park awaits where you can start your journey, and clearly marked hiking trails take you through the woodlands and up the river to the falls.

When you are finished marvelling at the Aira Force falls, you’ll be able to cross over and head back down, or continue on to see some smaller falls further up the river, which also offer outstanding and scenic views. Aira Force Waterfall is about 32 minutes from the heart of the Lake District National Park.

Stock Ghyll Force waterfall in Ambleside is reached by a scenic journey along the river that powers many mills, including the famed Bridge House, and offers many lovely views. This waterfall is actually a series of falls, and as you follow the river, you will first come across the wider falls that tumble down into a series of rapids, ending in taller falls that plummet far below.

As you journey, you’ll catch sight of an old turnstile that was installed in Victorian days when the landlord used to charge you to get in and see the falls. Today, it’s just a curiosity. Stock Ghyll Force is located about an hour and 15 minutes south of the park’s centre.

High Force waterfall is just up the river from its more famed cousin Aira Force, and is something of a hidden gem, offering beautiful and serene natural vistas. It lies along the River Tees about halfway between Glenridding and Watermillock. These falls are less a showcase of nature’s fury and more a picturesque and serene spot to kick back and relax in the beauty of the forest. Since they’re less known than their down-river cousin, they draw fewer crowds.

Another option is to take a side trip across the hill, where you'll discover the forest opening up to spectacular panoramic views of Ullswater. They are roughly an hour and 15 minutes east of the park centre.

Low Force Waterfall is a set of falls that rises 5.5 metres high along the River Tees, just downstream from its High Force cousin and the site of a historic bridge. The historic bridge, the Wynch Bridge, was built in 1830, and it’s recommended that only one person crosses at a time due to its age. The Low Force falls are part of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and occupy the historic boundary between County Durham and the North Riding of Yorkshire.

The falls are famed as the location for parts of the film 1917, when signs were installed warning visitors not to be alarmed at the prosthetic bodies strewn about. Today, they offer stunning photo ops.

Ingleton Waterfalls is not a waterfall unto itself, but a circular hiking trail that starts and ends at the village of Ingleton and offers spectacular woodland and waterfall scenery. The trail itself traverses 5 miles and has a vertical rise of 169 metres. It takes you along the River Twiss, past the coin-embedded tree at Swilla Glenn, and across several falls including Pecca Falls, Thornton Force, Holly Bush Spout and Pecca Twin Falls.

The River Twiss and River Doe areas of the Waterfalls Trail have been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the array of flora and fauna as well as the geological formations here. The trail is about an hour south of the park’s centre.

Moss Force waterfall is located in Newlands Pass above Buttermere village and offers easy access to an impressive torrent that cascades 100 metres down a cliff. The falls are only about 200 metres off the road, an easy hike to reach. They become truly impressive after a rain when the gentle cascade can become a torrent. It is worth noting that the road to reach the falls is steep, so take caution. The car park is informal, but the path is well-travelled and easy to follow, if not labeled.

The falls are split into 3 sections, and you can choose to visit the upper or lower falls. This is also a popular ice climbing location during the winter months.

Stanley Ghyll Force, also known as Dalegarth Force, is an impressive waterfall cascading over sheer rock faces and surrounded by idyllic leafy green space. Among the most enjoyable things about this fall, 2 hours west of the park’s centre, is that you get here by riding a miniature historic steam railway and then hopping over stepping stones across a river and behind a historic country church, a fairy tale way to discover this natural wonder.

The falls also include a splash pool at the bottom as well as an original historic Victorian viewpoint all the way at the top. Whether you choose to get wet at the bottom or photograph the panoramic view from high, it’s a magical experience.

Scale Force waterfall in Cockermouth is one of the tallest waterfalls in the Lake District, with a drop of almost 52 metres and several lower drops of 6 metres. It’s something of a hidden gem, easy to miss and hidden inside a narrow gorge. You can walk right past it on the popular hiking trails if you aren’t careful. To get here, start from Buttermere village, head along Crummock Water, then turn left uphill at Scale Beck. This is wetland territory, so watch your footing.

At the end, you’ll be rewarded with a majestic narrow fall that cascades into the pool at the bottom. It’s about an hour east of the park’s centre.

Skelwith Force is one of the smaller falls in the park but offers easy access and truly heart-stopping natural beauty surrounded by pleasant woodlands. It’s accessible by an easy hike from Elterwater Village, which can take either a linear or circular path. At the falls, you will find bridges crisscrossing over the water offering ideal photo opportunities, and the route back along the northern lakeshore winds through the Langdale Pikes, which offer even more fantastic photogenic viewpoints.

The falls are about 5 metres high and are created by the conjunction of Langdale Beck and the River Barth, about an hour south of the park centre. After heavy rainfall, the cascade turns into a stunning torrent.

Lodore Falls is probably the most accessible of all the falls in the park as part of a hotel and spa offering a serene, verdant spot to relax and recharge. Surrounded by rocks creating a tumbling rapid, it looks like something out of a fairy tale or fantasy novel. During rain, it turns into a roaring rapid racing through the countryside. The oak woodlands surrounding the falls are a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The falls themselves are easy to access via a path off the roadside. This is a perfect spot to get pampered and then reconnect with nature, located just about an hour west of the centre of the park.