The Eskdale Cave Waterfall is one of the most unique in the Lake District. It hides in plain sight, very close to the ever popular Tongue Pot, yet remains something of an unknown. The waterfall cascades into a deep luminous green pool where rainbows often form in the spray. The walls of the overhang keep it shielded from the outside world and swimming here feels like you’ve stepped onto a movie set. But better.
Accessing the pool requires a short scramble, which we’ll go into in detail in the trail notes below.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting the Eskdale cave waterfall.
The walk to the Eskdale Cave Waterfall
The stats
Distance: 2.2 miles (3.6km) each way
Elevation gain: 200m
Difficulty: Easy - moderate
Summary: Much of the walk to the waterfall is either flat or very gently uphill. The path, though stony, is in good condition up until the last 350m, which follow a rougher trail.
This last section is uphill and steep in parts. Accessing the cave pool requires a short scramble around the side of the lower pool and up into the waterfall pool. We’ll cover this in detail, with photos below.
Starting the trail: to Tongue Pot
From the parking area (details below) you need to head along the road (Hardknott Pass) and turn off beside the red phone box (co-ordinates: 54.3997956, -3.2154583).
Continue along the flat gravel road, past the farmhouse (bearing left) and you’ll see a wooden bridge at the 330m mark. Don’t cross the bridge, instead continue straight, along the dirt track.
The trail is flat or gently uphill and varies between smooth and a little rocky, but the rocky bits are not difficult, just uneven.
Once you’ve been walking for 750m you’ll pass through a gate and from here the walk becomes even more scenic.
Reaching Tongue Pot
Roughly 400m beyond the gate you’ll come to a tiny stream crossing, there are several of these throughout the next section of the track, but there are always rocks to use as stepping stones (I imagine they might be submerged if there has been prolonged heavy rain though).
At the 1.5km mark, you’ll come to a large stile and the views get even better. Soon after crossing the stile there is a social trail leading down to the river, which will get you there, but tends to be muddier than keeping to the higher path (straight on from the stile), which is gravel. The two trails join up a little further down the track.
Both paths soon follow the river and the water colour is out of this world.
You’ll reach Tongue Pot at the 2.9km mark (from the parking area).
We won’t go into all the details on swimming at Tongue Pot as we have a detailed guide you can read here.
Continuing on to Eskdale Cave Waterfall
Just beyond Tongue Pot you’ll see a pretty stone bridge over the beck, Lingcove Bridge. Keep to the right of the bridge (don’t cross it) head straight past it, following the trail that leads uphill on the right side of the beck.
You can see the top of several cascades partway up the hill. This is what you’re heading for.
Although you could keep close to the river at times, which is a flatter path, it tends to be muddier. Instead we took the partially rocky track uphill, it’s steeper, but there was no mud whatsoever on our visit.
After 150m (from the bridge) you’ll pass the top of Lingcove Falls, which is a gorgeous little spot in its own right, though the pool is not big enough for swimming.
Keep heading uphill, it gets steeper and there’s no set path as such, keep following the trail that looks easiest to you. Though it gets steep, it wasn’t slippery at all when dry.
The easiest way to find the cave falls is to climb a further 250m up from Lingcove Falls and you’ll see the top of the cave falls. You can then backtrack slightly and will see the path down to it (I think for your first visit it’s easiest to see the path from above than below, you won’t miss it when you get to the point you can see the top of the falls).
Once you see the top of the falls, you can backtrack for a minute downhill and you’ll spot the path leading down to the pool in front of the cave.
These last few metres are a bit rougher, and there’s a very short scramble down to the first pool. It’s tiered nicely with good footholds.
You will then be standing just above a stunning pool, with the upper and lower cascades of the cave waterfall ahead of you. You can’t yet see the cave pool though.
Accessing the Eskdale Cave Waterfall
To get up to the cave waterfall requires traversing and then climbing up the side of the lower pool, which is all on rocky terrain.
There are plenty of good hand and footholds, but watch out for any wet rock, which can be slippery. You can look over the top of the rock wall into the pool, but it’s best viewed from inside the water.
In terms of getting into the pool, you don’t want to visit after too much rain when the flow of the falls will be much more powerful.
That’s because getting into the pool requires sitting or walking off the gap between the cave walls, which has water constantly flowing over it into the lower pool. If there is a lot of water here you could easily be thrown backwards.
In times of low flow, you can just sit on the edge and drop in. There is a foothold in the water if you prefer to lower yourself down too.
Wild swimming in the cave waterfall
When getting into the pool you will drop straight down into deep water. The whole pool is deep, so it’s great for swimming, but if you prefer simply relaxing in the water, then the lower pool will be better.
The water is a spectacular shade of green, it shimmers in the sunlight and almost doesn’t look real! To make it even more surreal, rainbows often form in the spray from the falls. It’s an incredible place.
Although the pool is not massive, you can swim a little and looking up at the cave walls and waterfall from inside the pool is magical.
To get out the pool again you can use the foothold inside the water, or just hoist your bum onto the ledge again. It’s easier than I thought it might be when I was looking in from the outside.
Although the cave falls is the unique spot and definitely my favourite, the lower pool is also stunning. The water colour is sublime and the view over the valley, spectacular.
The pool is shallow and there are rocks inside the water, which you have to carefully make your way over, but once you’ve found a nice spot it’s great for relaxing in the water.
Once you’re ready to leave you can either retrace your steps back to the car park, or if you have more time, make your way up to the various pools of Esk Falls.
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.
Parking for the Eskdale Cave Waterfall
There isn’t a whole lot of parking and this is the same place you’ll park for Tongue Pot and Esk Falls so it can fill up quickly in the summer holidays. There are two main parking areas, to the left and right of the trailhead. The first area is a large lay by (which is just south of the trailhead, co-ordinates: 54.3997956, -3.2154583), and the second is a section of road with flat grassy areas where people pull over (it’s just north of the starting point of the walk). The postcode for the area is CA19 1TH.
Both areas are free of charge and there are portaloos by the trailhead, but nowhere else along the walk.
Eskdale is located 1 hour 25 mins from Keswick, 1 hour 20 mins from Ambleside and 1 hour 30 mins from Buttermere.
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