The Ullswater way was on my list well before I moved to the Lakes. I remember following someone who was hiking it, and it seemed like a great challenge and a beautiful walk. I’m surprised it’s taken me 7 months of living in the Lake’s to finally complete it, but it’s definitely been one of my favourite hikes in the Lake’s so far.
The Route:
It’s a 32km route, with around 550m of elevation in total, and it took us 7.5 hours, including stops for coffee and lunch. The route is well waymarked, but you can download the gpx file here.
We chose to start the loop from Aira Force, mostly because we can park for free (as members) at the National Trust car park. We had planned on staying the night there too, but unfortunately we found out that the rules have recently changed, and they no longer allow you to pay to park overnight. Instead, we found a layby just by the side of the Lake, a bit further down the road. Starting here meant we got most of the ascent done within the first section of the hike.
Pooley Bridge was just over a third of the way into the route, and here we took the opportunity to refuel with a coffee (and use the toilets) at Granny Dowbekin’s tearoom, which I highly recommend. There is also a coffee van a little further on at Park Foot Holiday Park.
The route includes a mix scenery including fields, woodland, rocky terrain and plenty of lakeside views. There are a couple of places where you can add on additional sections including the ‘Lowther Loop’ and the ‘Dalemain Loop’ – You can find out more about these here.
We had a mix of sun and showers throughout the day, with the air staying pretty humid. We finished off the day with a well deserved dip in the Lake.
If trying to do it all in one day seems like too much of a challenge, there are a few options for splitting it up over two or more days. You could stay overnight at Pooley Bridge or Glenridding/Patterdale, or you could utilise the ferries across the lake.
Kit List:
- Walking Boots: Inov-8 Roclite G400 I decided to replace my boots before this trip, as I’d worn my other ones into the ground. They had changed the shape slightly and I ended up sizing up to a UK9 (usually an 8). I honestly can’t recommend these boots enough. They are incredibly comfortable and lightweight – I only ended up with one tiny blister at the end of the 5 days. My feet also stayed dry, despite the weather.
- T-shirt: Dare2be These have become my go to tops recently, due to how lightweight and quick drying they are. They are also perfect for a trip like this, as they pack down so small.
- Shorts: Peachy Queen Company (10% off code ‘LISA10) The Ride the Dales shorts are my absolute favourites and I wore these the whole 5 days. They are hard-wearing, longer in length, pockets on both sides and quick drying.
- Fleece: Patagonia I absolutely love this fleece as it’s really lightweight, but warm and quick drying. I got it half price when living down in Newquay and desperately trying to find another that’s not ridiculously expensive.
- Rucksack: Osprey Tempest 20l This was my first investment when I started hiking more and it’s a great day bag. Big enough to fit everything you need and I find it really comfy. Only downside is it doesn’t come with it’s own raincover, but I just bought a cheap one online.
- Waterproof Shell: Arc’teryx Beta Another bargain I got from the Arc’teryx outlet website. Lightweight, packs down really small but keeps you dry.
Food:
We had a couple of Moma porridge sachets and coffee for breakfast and a supermarket meal deal for lunch. I live for snacks on hikes and this was no exception. Along the route I had a couple of cereal bars, a babybel, an apple, a bag of m&ms and a few mini bags of haribo. If I don’t keep my energy up, I crash pretty badly and can get very grumpy, which is no fun for anyone. There were plenty of cafes on route and a little honesty box shop at one of the farms you pass by.
Happy adventuring x
Lisa Outdoors 
Enjoyable read. It is such a shame that Aira Force has stopped the overnight van parking. I think it was a victim of its own success with the water bills rocketing and think the licence was for five vans but with no barrier, I’ve been there with about twelve, maybe more. I walked back along the Ullswater way from Scalehow Force after doing Place Fell in the summer and did find the path a little worse for wear in places
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I was gutted about Aira Force! But it was getting out of control then it’s understandable.
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