The larger, quieter neighbour of Buttermere, ringed by Mellbreak and the high western fells and fed by the Lakes' tallest fall
Crummock Water shares its valley with Buttermere just to the southeast — the two were probably a single lake once, before silt split them — but Crummock is the bigger and the quieter of the pair. The steep wedge of Mellbreak rises straight off the western shore, and the high Buttermere fells close in on the other side, so the lake feels hemmed in and remote even though a road runs along one edge.
Off the fellside to the southwest is Scale Force, the tallest single-drop waterfall in the Lake District, set in a narrow wooded ravine and reached on foot from the lake. Closer to the road, the little hill of Rannerdale Knotts is known for the bluebells that fill its hidden side valley in late spring.
You can walk right round Crummock, though it’s a longer and rougher circuit than Buttermere’s and takes in some road. The hotels in Buttermere village are the nearest food and parking. As with all the western fells, weather here rolls in fast off the coast, so check a forecast before you head up high.
