Rydal Water

Rydal Water is one of the smallest of the lakes in the Lake District. It is located in the Rothay Valley between the towns of Ambleside and Grasmere and is a popular spot for walking, with an easy circular path around the water that takes about 2 hours to complete. Detours can be made to include sights like Rydal Cave and Rydal Hat with its famous “Grot”.

The walk starts from White Moss Car Park. There are two pay and display car parks at White Moss, Lower White Moss is closest tp the lake and Upper White Moss basically on the opposite side of the main A591 road between Ambleside and Keswick. The car park is controlled by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras and payment can be made using credit/debit cards or via the RingGo app. The car park is very popular and quickly fills up so you should aim to get there quite early in the morning.

From the Lower White Moss car park follow the path opposite the main entrance, signposted White Moss Walks, until you reach a curved metal bridge across the River Rothay. Cross the bridge and you have two choices, turn left for the low level lakeshore walk or continue straight on for Rydal Cave. I went straight on through the wood and up the rocky path along the side of Loughrigg Fell. The elevation provides stunning views over Rydal Water as you slowly climb up the hillside.

After about a mile the rocky path reaches a plateau area where the main Rydal Cave can be found, carved out of the north side of Loughrigg Fell - there are also other caves in the area if you want to continue the climb. . Although the cave looks natural it’s actually the result of slate quarrying which provided roofing slate to the surrounding villages.

It’s a busy tourist attraction, especially during the summer months so, if you want photos with no one else in them, you’ll have to get there very early! I arrived at roughly 0830 in late autumn and the area was still quite busy.

The cave floor is often filled with water but there are stepping stones that allow you to walk into the rear of the cave. Entering the cave and shooting back out through the mouth offers a classic shot, and using long exposures of the inside of the cave and merging them into a high dynamic range (HDR) composition can make the majority of people disappear from the final image.

From the cave there is a steep descent down to Rydal Water, but this route bypasses much of the lakeside walk so I decided to return along the path I had already walked back towards White Moss. Near the bottom of the hill you can turn right and take the low level path down towards the lake shore.

The rocky path up the side of Loughrigg Fell towards Rydal Cave

Approaching Rydal Cave, the vast size of the cave can be seen compared to the tourists

Stepping stones leading into the cave

The classic shot looking out from the back of Rydal Cave across to Nab Scar. Long exposure images have completely removed the mass of tourists within the cave.

Continue along the path along the side of the lake - initially the route is away from the lake and is separated by a dry stone wall but this soon opens out directly onto the lakeshore.

The lower path leading towards the lakeshore

Looking across Rydal Water to the boathouse provides spectacular autumn views reflected in the lake. Here I had left the visit too late and much of the colour had disappeared. On a slightly earlier visit and with a calmer lake surface the colours would have been truly amazing.

At the end of the lake the path brings you out to the A591 road opposite the Badger Bar. Normally you would turn right to follow the road back to White Moss, but as another diversion I headed left, crossed the road and then climbed up the hill past the church and through the large iron gate into Rydal Hall gardens. Entry is free. The Grot, or Grotto, was built in 1668 by Sir David Fleming as a viewing platform to view Rydal Falls through a large window. It is a popular tourist attraction and photo opportunity in the area.

The Grot and Rydal Falls

Rydal Falls taken from within The Grot

Rydal Hall

From Rydal Hall you can continue up the hill and follow the path along the side of Nab Scar towards White Moss, but I decided to go back down to the road and follow the A591 along the northern shore of the lake. The road follows the shore line quite closely and its slight elevation offers views over the lake. Another stop along the walk is the “Rydal Lone Tree”. Just about every location you see has a lone tree but the one at Rydal Water can be particularly photogenic in the right weather conditions.

Not the best image as the water levels were very high and it was not possible to get close enough for the classic low angle shot of the tree against the sky and its reflection. It is an excuse to go back and try again though

Walk from White Moss car park to Rydal Cave and along Rydal Water to Rydal Hall

Getting There:

The walk starts from Lower White Moss Carpark on the A591 between Keswick and Ambleside. From Keswick follow the A591, signposted towards Windermere, past Grasmere village and just before reaching Rydal village Upper White Moss car park is on your left, followed immediately by Lower White Moss car park on the right

White Moss car park Grid Ref: NY 351065.
Postcode: LA22 9SE
What3Words :///hindered.freezing.beak