Scale Force from Buttermere

We attempted this walk after already completing a wander around Buttermere lake, so we were feeling the burn a little. However, in reality it's not too taxing a walk.

We started at Buttermere village taking the path towards the lake, but we followed the signposted route to Scale Force instead. The path starts as easy and flat and within a few minutes we reached Scale Bridge. From there we turned right following the obvious path.

There are no more signposts on the walk, but it's hard to get lost. There are a few paths you can follow and we opted for an easy-ish flat one (of course!) which gives you fantastic views over Crummock Water and looking backwards we got more great views of the Buttermere fells.

This was a nice easy wander in the main and we spotted a couple of birds along the way, including Willow Warblers, Pied Flycatchers and Stonechats.

Around 30 minutes later we came across a wooden bridge which took us over Scale Beck and we could see a stone wall not far away. We followed the wall, and the path started heading upwards alongside the beck. From here it was a 15 minute walk to reach the falls, over slightly rocky terrain.

When we got there, we came across the lower falls first and thought that was Scale Force. As lovely as it was, it was only 6m high and a bit of a let down. Then it became clear, as behind them, there is an impressive 51m fall, which is the highest in the Lake District.

We headed back the way we came, but as mentioned there are a few alternative routes. This was a really peaceful walk, and we saw very few people, despite the glorious weather. A fab way to spend a couple of hours.