If I was randomly dropped at Scale Force and asked where I thought I was, I’d say New Zealand (or maybe Iceland). If you told me I was in the Lake District, I’d be gobsmacked. In terms of majesty it has to be one of the most incredible waterfalls in England. It cascades into a narrow mossy chasm and the walls are so high that no light can penetrate. The atmosphere is other worldly.
However, reaching the most spectacular part of the falls, the upper falls, does require a scramble - which is probably why even in the busy summer holidays we got the entire thing to ourselves.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Scale Force.
The walk to Scale Force
The stats
Distance: 4.2 miles (6.8km) total
Elevation gain: 150m
Difficulty: Moderate
The walk to Scale Force is largely flat, but there is a climb towards the end. The only difficult part of the track is negotiating the bog. Even walking during a hot dry summer, it was boggy and it would be much worse in wetter times. Don’t let it put you off because it’s relatively short sections, but do wear shoes you don’t mind getting wet.
Accessing the lower part of the falls is easy, but if you want to experience the upper falls, you need to scramble up several rocky areas, which we’ll go into detail on below.
You can visit the falls via a return route, or make a partial circuit. There are signposts at the beginning of the walk, but not at the crucial points further along, so we have detailed instructions below.
Starting the trail
From the car park (details below), the walk heads out onto the road and past the pub before turning right, through the gate (after 70m).
You’ll be walking on a flat gravel path, past farmland, but with wonderful views out to the fells. After a few minutes you’ll pass through a kissing gate, which is signposted for Scale Force.
The path continues to be flat and leisurely and 850m into the trail you’ll reach an old stone bridge. Cross the bridge and head through the gate, and then right.
From this point on the scenery gets even better.
Following the lake shore
Although the trail is still flat, it’s a little rocky underfoot and there are patches which are quite damp, though it’s still easy enough.
At the 1.3km mark, you’ll pass over a wooden bridge and after this point there are lots of little patches of water scattered along the track.
There are always rocks to use as stepping stones and on our visit all but one was tiny and not really worth mentioning - however I know we were walking during an unusually dry spell.
The lovely thing about this part of the walk is you are now following the shore of Crummock Water. The views are gorgeous, not just of the lake itself, but also the surrounding fells.
It’s really picturesque, especially if you luck out with nice conditions. After 700m you leave the lake shore behind, and up to this point the whole walk has been flat.
Climbing up to Scale Force
After leaving the lake shore, the walk begins to climb, but very gently at first. After 200m you’ll come to a fork, and the easiest route at this point is to bear right.
There is a small amount of boggy ground in this direction, but it’s minimal and none of it flooded our boots.
If you look ahead you’ll see two wooden bridges: one close to the lake and one off to the left.
Head for the left one, the trail is indistinct, but you can see what you’re heading for. You’ll reach it after a couple of hundred metres.
After crossing the bridge the track continues along a bracken lined path and you’ll arrive at a gate 150m later.
You’ll see another wooden bridge just ahead of you, after crossing, you’ll take a left.
The trail is now climbing up alongside the stream, it’s rocky, but not difficult. Roughly 300m after leaving the wooden bridge you’ll come to another one (1.9 miles/3km into the walk).
There is a very short (one minute or so) descent to the bridge, but there’s a bit of loose soil and one eroded patch of track here, so just watch your step. The path around the bridge is also boggy.
After crossing the bridge, you’ll see a cleft in the hillside on the trail ahead of you. Although you can’t see a waterfall, this is where Scale Force is located, and the place you want to head towards.
The trail to the falls follows yet another bracken lined path, but this time it is really overgrown. You’ll probably be glad of trousers on this section!
Approximately 250m of scratchy bracken later you’ll reach a metal gate.
Pass through it and you’ll see some steps down to a wooden bridge just ahead of you. This is the part of the waterfall that most people visit.
The Scale Force scramble
From the bridge, you get a great view of the lower falls, but only a peek at the upper falls.
It’s nice enough, but it’s not a patch on what lies beyond. However, going further does require care.
You wouldn’t want to do this after heavy rainfall (or during rain). There is no track and reaching the upper falls requires negotiating quite a lot of rocks, which can be slippery.
It’s only 100m between the wooden bridge and the base of the upper falls, but it’s definitely not for everyone. You need to walk to the left of the lower falls and you’ll see a rocky slab.
There are several small footholds, but even then, I had to take my boots off to feel comfortable going up.
As the rock was nice and dry, it was easy to get up this bit as I was barefoot and it was grippy, but I wouldn’t have felt as confident if it was wet.
Getting down was a bit trickier as you have more forwards momentum.
This is the hardest bit though, so once you’ve over that, there is nothing worse to come. You’ll have to walk up a bit more slanted rock before crossing the water and walking up some boulders.
You can then rock hop or walk through the water to the base of the falls. Almost all the rocks are wet up in the gorge so you need to tread carefully.
Scale Force
The reward for your efforts is staring up at one of the most magnificent waterfalls in the Lake District and probably the whole of the UK! I defy anyone not to be wowed by the sight of this beautiful ribbon of water tumbling down the huge gorge walls.
It’s so dramatic and feels like you’ve entered a secret world - you just can’t believe that metres away lies an open landscape of lakes and fells. It couldn’t be more different from the dark and mysterious vibes at Scale Force.
We’re slowly making our way around all the waterfalls in the Lake District, but I don’t think we’ll find any quite as captivating as Scale Force.
The fact there was no one else here at all during our visit in the August school holidays still has me perplexed!
Swimming at Scale Force Waterfall
If you’re feeling brave you can take a dip in the icy waters beneath Scale Force. I say brave because the water is ice cold even in summer.
It’s significantly colder than many of the other wild swimming spots around the Lakes and the plunge pool is small, so you can’t really swim to warm up.
It’s more like an ice bucket challenge! But if you’re ready to channel your inner Wim Hof, then you probably won’t find a more dramatic swimming spot. It’s truly wild.
Looking up at the falls and the surrounding mossy cliff walls was just mesmerising.
Just don’t attempt it if there’s been a lot of rain and the flow is really strong as it could be dangerous. This is one of those rare waterfalls where it actually benefits to visit when there are lower water levels.
Accessing the pool is easy as you can just walk straight in, but just watch for slippery stones underfoot.
Completing the circuit
If the weather has been wet I would recommend heading back the way you came. The next part of the circuit has some much boggier ground. It wasn’t horrendous on our visit, but it was more extensive than the first part of the circuit and had the potential to be pretty nasty in wetter times.
If the conditions are good on the first leg of the circuit, then to complete it, you need to take the path on the other side of the wooden bridge and begin heading along the the narrow stony track.
Don’t be fooled by these initial excellent trail conditions, it deteriorates quickly!
The views however, are sublime, looking out to Crummock Water and the surrounding fells. It really is stunning and well worth doing if you have the right conditions.
After a few hundred metres, the track gets very rocky and you’ll basically be rock hopping for the next 250m. This isn’t too bad, but after you finish the rock hopping you begin the bog traverse. You’ll descend 350m of boggy grassland, albeit with wonderful views to soften the blow!
Some of the bog wasn’t too bad on our visit, but some was pretty wet and you wouldn’t be able to keep your boots dry unless you’re very lucky.
Having said that, we didn’t have any boot sucking moments, it was more wet than actually muddy for the most part.
After 350m of boggy descent, you’ll reach the main path you came in on, and head right. From here you retrace your steps for 1.4 miles (2.2km) along the flat path to the car park.
Getting to Scale Force
By car and parking
The closest car park to the trail head for Scale Force Waterfall is at the Buttermere Court Hotel - postcode CA13 9XA, it’s a pay and display car park. It’s not run by the National Trust, so members won’t park free here. The prices are: up to 2 hours: £3.50, up to 4 hours: £6, up to 12 hours: £8, or weekly: £28 and payable every day 9am to 6pm including Sundays and bank holidays.
There is limited free parking around the village of Buttermere, but it fills up very quickly on weekends and school holidays.
The car park has toilets which come with a 50p fee.
Buttermere is a 30 minute drive from Keswick, 30 minutes from Cockermouth and 1 hour from Ambleside.
By public transport
The best way to get to the trailhead by bus is to hop on the Borrowdale Bus (77A) or 77 from Keswick and get off at the Court Hotel bus stop.
This departs regularly from the bus stop by Booths and takes approximately 45 - 50 minutes.
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 park, it will go a long way to keeping the area clean.
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