Best Wild Swimming Spots in Cumbria (Lake District)
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The best wild swimming spots in Cumbria (Lake District) are Buckstones Jump, Sprinkling Tarn, Ritson's Force, Slater's Bridge Pool, Buttermere Infinity Pool, Black Moss Pot, Kail Pot and Secret Buttermere Infinity Pool.
The Lake District is the home of wild swimming in England, its becks and tarns cold and clear straight off the fells. The most talked-about are the infinity pools on Warnscale Beck high above Buttermere, where the water rests at the lip of a fall and seems to spill into the view over the lake far below.
Deep gorge pools draw jumpers and swimmers at Black Moss Pot in Langstrath and Kailpot Crag on Ullswater, while gentler falls fill Buckstones Jump above Rydal and Ritson's Force behind the Wasdale Head Inn. High in the hills, Sprinkling Tarn sits above two thousand feet among the fells around Great Gable, one of the highest tarns in the district.
Down in Little Langdale, a clear pool waits beside the old slate packhorse crossing of Slater's Bridge. Some are a short stroll; others a proper climb into the mountains, and all stay cold the year round.
Here are eight wild swimming spots to seek out across the Lake District.
Buckstones Jump
Photo: Ian Capper via Geograph.org.uk
Buckstones Jump is a waterfall pool on Rydal Beck, high in the valley above Rydal Hall, between Ambleside and Grasmere. A small waterfall drops into a clear, deep pool with an easy, shelving entry over pebbles, which makes it one of the gentler places to swim in the Lakes.
It sits among a string of falls and pools along the beck, in a green, fell-sided valley reached by a walk up from Rydal. People come to swim, paddle and picnic on the rocks by the pool, or to carry on up the beck to the wilder falls above.
It is a lovely, out-of-the-way spot, easy enough to reach but well away from the busier lakeshores below.
Sprinkling Tarn
Photo: Clive Giddis via Geograph.org.uk
Sprinkling Tarn is a high mountain lake set among the fells between Great Gable, Great End and Sty Head, in the heart of the Lake District, reached on foot from Seathwaite in Borrowdale. It sits above two thousand feet, one of the highest tarns in the district, with a little island and big views of Great Gable rising beyond.
It is a well-known spot for wild swimming and wild camping for those who make the climb. This is one of the wettest places in England, with several metres of rain a year, so the tarn is rarely low.
Ritson's Force
Photo: Michael Graham via Geograph.org.uk
Ritson's Force is a series of small waterfalls and plunge pools in a wooded gill just behind the Wasdale Head Inn, at the head of Wasdale, beneath the high fells of Great Gable and Kirk Fell. The falls, on Mosedale Beck, are a well-liked wild swimming spot, with clear pools among the rocks, reached on a very short walk from the inn, through the beer garden and over a bridge to a gate above the beck.
They are named after Will Ritson, the inn's first landlord, well-known locally as a great teller of tall tales.
Slater's Bridge Pool
Photo: Karl and Ali via Geograph.org.uk
Slater's Bridge is a narrow old slate footbridge crossing the River Brathay in Little Langdale, with a wild swimming pool beside it. The bridge has two spans, a low arch and a flatter slab section resting on a boulder in midstream, built long ago by quarry workers as a packhorse crossing to the slate quarries nearby.
The pool below it is clear and surprisingly deep, a well-liked spot to cool off on the walks around Little Langdale. It is reached only on foot, and is a much-photographed corner of the valley.
Buttermere Infinity Pool
Photo: Anthony Parkes via Geograph.org.uk
The Buttermere Infinity Pool is a natural rock pool high on the fellside above Buttermere, on Warnscale Beck below the craggy fell of Haystacks. A small waterfall drops into a clear basin of cold mountain water, and the pool's far lip seems to fall away into nothing, so that from the water you look straight out over the valley to Buttermere lake far below.
Reaching it is a climb of a mile or so up the Warnscale valley from the road at Gatesgarth. It is the first of a string of pools along the beck, with one of the finest views of any swimming spot in the Lakes.
Black Moss Pot
Photo: Adrian Taylor via Geograph.org.uk
Black Moss Pot is a deep pool set in a narrow rock gorge on Langstrath Beck, in a quiet valley of the central Lake District. Here the beck has cut a slot barely a few metres wide through the rock, filling it with a long, deep pool of clear, cold water walled by low crags.
It is a well-known wild-swimming spot, with a small waterfall feeding one end and rock ledges above that people jump from into the deep water. Reaching it is a walk of a couple of miles up the valley from Stonethwaite, along a rough riverside path, passing another fall with a rope swing on the way.
Kail Pot
Photo: Karl and Ali via Geograph.org.uk
Kailpot Crag is a low rocky outcrop on the shore of Ullswater, a well-known spot for wild swimming near Sandwick. Swimmers jump from the rocks into the clear, deep water of the lake, with little bays and a shingle shore alongside.
It lies on the lakeside path between Sandwick and Howtown, reached on foot. The fells rise around the water on every side.
Secret Buttermere Infinity Pool
Photo: Anthony Foster via Geograph.org.uk
This out-of-the-way infinity pool sits on Warnscale Beck, in the valley of the same name high above the head of Buttermere, below the fells of Haystacks and Fleetwith Pike. It is often called an infinity pool because it rests right at the lip of a small waterfall, so its far edge seems to drop away, framing a view straight down the valley over Buttermere lake and the fells beyond.
The clear, pale-green water is reached on a climb of twenty to thirty minutes up a bridleway from the car park at Gatesgarth, near Warnscale bothy, with a string of other pools above. The water is cold year round.
FAQs
What is the Buttermere infinity pool?
The Buttermere infinity pool is a natural rock pool on Warnscale Beck high above Buttermere, below Haystacks, that sits right at the lip of a small waterfall, so its far edge seems to drop away and merge with the view beyond. It frames a view straight down the valley over Buttermere lake and the fells, and there are two such pools along the beck.
Which Lake District spots are best for jumping?
Black Moss Pot, in a narrow slot gorge on Langstrath Beck, has rock ledges above a long, deep pool, and Kailpot Crag on the shore of Ullswater is a well-known spot where swimmers jump from the rocks into the deep lake water. As always, check depth and conditions before leaping.
Where is the highest place to swim in the Lake District?
Sprinkling Tarn, set among the fells between Great Gable, Great End and Sty Head, sits above two thousand feet, one of the highest tarns in the district. It is reached on a climb from Seathwaite in Borrowdale and is a well-known spot for wild swimming and wild camping.
Conclusion
The Lake District gives wild swimmers the pick of England's fell water. The infinity pools on Warnscale Beck above Buttermere frame their falling-away view over the lake, while Black Moss Pot in Langstrath and Kailpot Crag on Ullswater draw those who like to jump into deep, clear water.
Gentler falls fill Buckstones Jump above Rydal and Ritson's Force behind the Wasdale Head Inn, and Slater's Bridge keeps its clear pool beside an old slate crossing in Little Langdale. High among the fells, Sprinkling Tarn waits above two thousand feet for those who make the climb.
Some are short strolls, others a proper mountain walk, and all stay cold the year round, so go prepared. These are the wild swimming spots to seek out across the Lake District.
