A small quiet lake between Grasmere and Ambleside, right below the house where Wordsworth spent the last decades of his life
Rydal Water is one of the smaller lakes in the Lake District, a shallow stretch of water sitting in the valley between Grasmere and Ambleside. It gets far less fuss than the big lakes, which is part of the appeal. You can walk the whole way round in an hour or two, and from the path along the quieter southern shore, below Loughrigg, you get the classic view back across the reeds and little islands.
The pull here is mostly literary. William Wordsworth lived just up the hill at Rydal Mount from 1813 until he died in 1850, and he knew this water about as well as anyone ever has. Below the house is Dora’s Field, which he and his family planted with daffodils in memory of his daughter, and it still comes up gold every spring. A little way along the shore, Rydal Cave is a big man-made cavern left by old slate quarrying, with a shallow pool at its mouth that people love to photograph.
Most walkers link Rydal Water with Grasmere next door, doing a loop that takes in both lakes and the woodland path of Loughrigg Terrace with its long view down the valley. There is parking at Pelter Bridge and White Moss between the two lakes, and Ambleside and Grasmere are both a short drive or a decent walk away. The low-level paths are gentle and good in most weather, though the shoreline can get boggy after rain.
