Angle Tarn (Patterdale)

Wild swimming

Angle Tarn is one of the most-loved wild swims in the Eastern fells — remote, quiet, and dotted with little islands and promontories you can swim out to. Entries are over grass and shallow reedy margins rather than a clean beach; the bottom shelves gently before dropping away toward the middle, so it's easy to wade in and find your depth.

A few honest notes before you get in:

• It's a mountain tarn — it's cold all year, even after a warm spell. Get in slowly, never dive or jump into cold water, and know the signs of cold-water shock (the gasp reflex and a racing heart in the first minute). Acclimatise, keep your first swim short, and have warm layers and a hot drink ready for straight after.
• Swim well within yourself — there's no lifeguard, the nearest help is a long walk away, and cold saps strength and judgement fast. A float/tow-bag and a swim buddy are sensible.
• The margins can be reedy and boggy, and there are sheep all around — so follow Leave No Trace: no soap or sun-cream slicks, take all litter, and change discreetly.

It's swimming at your own risk on open fell, not a managed bathing spot — but on a still summer day, with the islets and the Pikes reflected, it's about as good as a Lakeland dip gets.

The walk up

From Patterdale, the path climbs steadily to Boredale Hause — the broad saddle behind the village — then contours south onto the ridge, reaching the tarn after a couple of miles. It's roughly a 5-mile (8 km) round trip with about 350 m of ascent, so allow around 2½–3 hours at a gentle pace, plus time to linger. The going is a clear path that's rough and stony in places; in cloud the broad ridge needs care.

You can also come up from Hartsop to the south. The tarn is a fine objective in its own right, or the gateway to a much bigger day — most walkers carry on over Angletarn Pikes and Rest Dodd to The Knott and High Street, with the Helvellyn range filling the skyline across Patterdale behind you.

Getting there & parking

Without a car: The nearest stations as the crow flies are Windermere (16 km away) and Staveley (17 km away). The bus map has every stop we hold.

There's no road access — you walk in from the valley either way:

• From Patterdale (the usual start): parking in Patterdale and neighbouring Glenridding is limited and fills early, so arrive in good time; there are pay-and-display car parks and some roadside space. The path leaves the village for Boredale Hause.
• From Hartsop: the small car park at the end of the Hartsop lane is another good start, a little closer to the southern approach.

It's a genuinely car-free-friendly objective: the 508 Ullswater bus serves Patterdale and Glenridding, and in season you can arrive by the Ullswater 'Steamer' to Glenridding and walk from there. (Parking charges and bus times change — check before you travel.)

When to go

Angle Tarn is rewarding year-round, but it shows its best on a still morning, when the islets and Angletarn Pikes mirror in the water. Late spring to early autumn is the swimming season; autumn brings gold to the valley below and quieter paths. It stays peaceful even when Ullswater's shores are busy, and a clear winter's day up here — with the High Street tops under snow — is magnificent, though then it's a proper winter hill walk.

The setting & wildlife

The tarn lies in a shallow trough on the broad grassy ridge, its many bays, islets and rocky promontories giving it that distinctive, much-photographed outline. It drains north via Angletarn Beck toward Patterdale and Ullswater. The surroundings are classic high, open fell: cropped grass and rushes, the odd rowan, and the heathery flanks of Angletarn Pikes rising just to the west. Expect upland birds — meadow pipits, wheatears, the occasional raven — and, on the quiet Martindale side beyond, one of England's old red-deer forests.

The name & its story

"Tarn" is from the Old Norse tjörn, a small mountain lake — a word the Norse settlers left right across Lakeland. "Angle" almost certainly describes the tarn's angular, many-cornered shape, all bays and inlets rather than a simple oval. The name is old enough that the very same description was given to the other Angle Tarn over near Bowfell — which is exactly why the two get muddled, and why this one is always "Angle Tarn, Patterdale".

Family, dogs & accessibility

This is a real fell walk, not a stroll: a couple of miles of rough, climbing path each way, with no facilities at the tarn. It's well within reach of sure-footed older children used to hills, but it's not suitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs. Dogs love it, but it's open sheep country the whole way — keep them on a lead around livestock, and remember there's no water but the tarn itself.

The fells above

The tarn sits directly below Angletarn Pikes, with Rest Dodd and Brock Crags close by and the route on to The Knott and High Street rising beyond — the classic continuation into the Far Eastern fells. It looks out over Ullswater to the north and across Patterdale to the Helvellyn range.