Skelwith Force might not be the biggest waterfall in the Lake District, but it’s both beautiful and powerful. The water flows through a narrow mossy chasm, which creates a bubbling mass of white water. It’s mesmerising to watch. You can reach the falls via several different tracks, most of which are very quick and easy. That makes it an ideal spot to head to if you’re in the Lakes on a wet day, but still want to get outside.
The more it’s rained, the more impressive the waterfall will be.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Skelwith Force.
The walk to Skelwith Force
Although you could reach Skelwith Force via several different routes, there are two parking areas that are very close by:
The free option
There is free off road parking a mere 150m from the falls. However, there isn’t much room, we estimate only enough for around six cars or so. It’s never been full when we’ve visited, but we’ve never been in summer, or on a nice day!
You can find the parking location by clicking here.
If you find it’s full, there is a paid for car park just a little further up the road, so it’s easy to check whether you can snag a free spot first and then continue on up to the offical car park if you don’t get lucky.
The walk from the free parking area barely qualifies as a walk, but if you simply want to see the falls and aren’t worried about stretching your legs, then it’s the best option.
The paid for option
You can also park at Silverthwaite car park, which although not large, never seems to fill up. It’s one of those annoying car parks where they have a camera and you have to pay for the exact time you drove in, which always seems a bit harsh, especially if you’re trying to wrangle kids, or wait out a bit of heavy rain!
If you don’t put enough time on the meter though, you can pay for extra time when you arrive back, which is always helpful, so I guess it’s swings and roundabouts.
The walk to Skelwith Force from Silverthwaite car park is 700m each way. It’s almost entirely flat and a lovely little stroll.
The trail is mainly gravel, so it does hold up well after rain - although it will have some giant puddles if it’s been particularly heavy and prolonged.
You’ll cross the road and walk through a small patch of woodland, before traversing an open grassy area (but you can still use a gravel path) with lovely views of the river, backed by fells.
You’ll then pass through a gate and soon reach the Trevor Woodburn Bridge (600m from the car park). You’re back in woodland now, and there are some good views of the gushing river.
Less than 100m later you’ll reach a few stairs down to Skelwith Force on your right. The steps are a little uneven, but there’s a fence you can hold onto if needed.
You’ll then cross a bridge and come out onto a rocky area.
You can climb down a couple of rocks to arrive at another little bridge by the base of the falls. You can walk over the rocks to sit beside the water, but go carefully because it can be slippery.
If the flow of the falls is unusually heavy then you can’t go beyond this final bridge, but you can still get a good view from the bridge itself.
Skelwith Force
Skelwith Force is gorgeous. We didn’t have particularly high expectations, but it was a wet day and we were looking for a short easy walk.
I was taken aback by the force of the waterfall and the setting is really pretty - a mossy gorge surrounded by woodland.
We sat for ages watching the force of the waterfall and the mass of white water it created. It’s not huge, but it’s still dramatic.
How close you can get to the falls will depend on the water levels. We visited a second time, after prolonged heavy rainfall, and you could no longer access the rocks right beside the base.
You could still get to the little metal bridge though, which also offers a great view, so it doesn’t really matter if you can’t get to the rocks.
The rocks can be very slick and one slip would be extremely dangerous, the drop is not big, but the power of the water is incredibly strong.
Continuing on to Colwith Force
If you want to continue walking you can visit a second waterfall, which is 1.3 miles away (2.2km). We visited Colwith Force as a return walk from Skelwith Force, as we didn’t have a lot of light left. You can also make a longer loop walk via Cathedral Quarry which is 5.1 miles (8.2km) long.
To get to Colwith Force you want to head back along the trail for 100m to the Trevor Woodburn Bridge and cross over it. You’ll head along a pretty woodland trail and reach a junction after 350m, where Colwith Force is signposted (straight on).
The trail has some gentle undulations and it’s mainly gravel. You’ll soon emerge from the woodland and reach an open grassy area. You’ll turn right and pass a farmhouse, with gorgeous views out to the fells.
You’ll head through a few little gates and continue along a path with yet more lovely fell views.
Roughly 1.2km after leaving the bridge you’ll walk past something we’d never seen before anywhere else in the world! An honesty cafe! We’ve seen honesty boxes and pantries before, but never an actual cafe.
The Elterwater Park Honesty Cafe
The cafe is really cute inside and a sight for sore eyes on a exceptionally cold winter’s day! There are tables and chairs with cushions and lots of lamps and candles.
It’s rustic, but possibly one of the sweetest cafes I’ve ever seen. It was so unexpected and definitely a real novelty.
You can make your own tea or coffee and then take a piece of homemade cake from the containers. You’ll need to bring cash, which sadly we didn’t have, so we couldn’t taste test anything, but no doubt we’ll be back one day.
If you wanted to toast your walk you can even preorder beer, gin, or mulled wine (the last one is probably seasonal!) by calling ahead.
The price of the tea was a little high, but the cakes were cheap and you have to factor in the running costs of keeping it all going, especially in winter when few people will pass by.
Continuing on to Colwith Force
When you leave the cafe, you’re now just over half a mile (950m) from the falls. You’ll have a few stiles to climb before you reach some stairs heading downhill.
Even though the next section is still gravelled, it had flooded quite heavily on our visit.
There was no way of passing through with dry boots, but we were visiting after extreme rain, so I doubt it’s usually that bad!
Just 150m later you’ll come out at a road and cross over into another patch of woodland. You have a very brief uphill section before it flattens and you’ll reach the falls 50m later.
Colwith Force is beautiful and as with Skelwith Force, more impressive than we’d been expecting.
Colwith Force
Colwith Force is yet another beautiful Lake District waterfall, you really are spoilt in this part of the country! It is however, not always the best viewing experience. If you visit in winter you’ll have a clearish view to the falls, as all the leaves have dropped from the surrounding trees.
You still have a few branches in the way, which isn’t great for photos, but you can see the falls in full. At other times of year it would be a little obstructed.
There is a path down to the river where you would get a clear view, but depending on the conditions it can be a bit dodgy. It was washed out and extremely slippery on our visit, so it wouldn’t have been safe to venture down. During a dry spell it would be more stable and going down will offer the best views. It’s only a few metres, but you don’t want to go when it’s a mud slick!
We’re already planning a return in warmer weather to see it at its best.
After visiting Colwith Force, we retraced our steps, but as mentioned, if you have more time, you could make a longer circuit walk.
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