The lake is about a mile long, and has a road running along its north shore.
Loweswater means "leafy lake" and you can picnic among the trees
around its shore
Both the lake and the neighbouring Holme Wood are owned by the National
Trust. Holme Wood has a footpath running through it, and there is a waterfall
too.
The village of Loweswater is a scattered hamlet about half a mile east of
the lake. There are grand views of Crummock Water and Mellbreak which towers
over the village
Buttermere
You get to Buttermere from the east (coming from the main lakes of Windermere
or Ullswater) over the 1200 foot Honister Pass with its fierce 1 in 4 gradients.
You descend into the beautiful Buttermere Valley. Buttermere lake is a mile
and a quarter long, and is hemmed in by high mountains.
It is possible to walk all round the lake, at one point using a tunnel through
a cliff. And at its western end there is a path through Warnscale Bottom which
follows a breath taking route between the 1900 foot Hay Stacks and the 2100
Fleetwith Pike
The village of Buttermere has a tiny church built in 1841, and from it a
path leads south to Sourmilk Gill waterfalls.
For the more adventurous paths lead on up to Red Pike (2479 feet) one of
the Lake's finest viewpoints
Crummock Water
A two and a half mile long lake, originally part of Buttermere, but over
the millennia has silted up. To its north, the wild Rannerdale Valley is only
a short walk, and to the south you will find the Lake Districts highest waterfall,
Scale Force, which tumbles 120 feet in one clear fall between rock walls.
Brackenthwaite Fell rises from its east shore and Mellbreak from the west
shore
Ennerdale
Ennerdale Water is two and a half miles long. Its remoteness has meant that
it is one of the most unspoilt of the Lakeland's waters. Great efforts have
been made to preserve its beauty. In the 1930's straight line planting by
the Forestry Commission aroused much criticism, and the Commission agreed
not to plant any more trees in the heart of the Lake District. And over the
last 20 years Ennerdale Forest has has its lines softened by the planting
of a variety of trees that follow the contours rather than straight lines.
There is a marked 9 mile walk from Bowness Knott along forest roads, and
a shorter two mile walk along Ennerdale Water. As cars cannot drive round
the Water, you have to park at Bowness Knott and take to foot anyway.
