Wild Swimming
Wild Swimming
in the Lake District
in the Lake District
(it's worth waiting for ... )
It's fun, free and good for you ... what's not to like!
You’d think we’d have had enough of water round these parts, yet with over 200 tarns and lakes in the 2000+ sq km of the Lake District National Park, the stunning, majestic views, the health benefits and feel-good factor open water swimming can offer, you can understand why it’s had a surge in popularity over the years with swathes of people driving up to the Lake District each and every day just to experience all this activity has to offer. So during your next visit to Langdale, if you’re a good swimmer (and you don’t mind a bit of cold), we think you should make a splash and dip a toe in.
Throughout most of the year, the temperatures in the tarns and lakes remains somewhat on the chilly side, however, the edge can be taken off with a good wetsuit and a steely determination and there’s plenty of activity centres on and around Windermere to hire the correct gear from. The great thing about wild swimming is it’s free, fun and there’s bodies of water throughout the Lake District for all abilities of swimmer, from novice to full on mermaid.
The warmest of the Lakeland waters tend to be stand alone tarns without fresh water feeding in or out. Loughrigg tarn, which is just on our doorstep, is a perfect example of this kind of water which starts to warm up from May and peaks in temperature late August. Larger bodies of water or those with sizeable inflows and outflows tend to remain reasonably chilly throughout the year as the water levels continually refresh yet still offer some of the best swimming to be had.