If you think you need to fly to a far off tropical destination to get your turquoise water fix, think again. You can actually find it right here in the Lake District! We couldn’t believe it either, and yet even when we visited and the waterfall was in shadow, the water was still undeniably turquoise and absolutely exquisite. In the sunshine, it would rival the prettiest turquoise water we’ve seen anywhere in the world.
The only downside to this spectacular spot is that it’s not the easiest to reach. The walk itself is pretty straightforward, but accessing the pool requires a scramble, which we’ll detail below.
If you’re used to off track hiking and happy to scramble, read on.
The walk to the Coniston Coppermines secret waterfall
The stats
Distance: 1.1 miles (1.7km) each way
Elevation gain: 240m
Difficulty: Moderate
The walk to reach the waterfall is on an excellent path for much of the way. The last couple of hundred metres are on a steep grassy path, which is less manicured, but still easy enough. It’s accessing the pool itself, as opposed to viewing it from above, that makes this walk more tricky.
However, there are a number of other small plunge pools which you can stop in, if you don’t like the look of the route to the bottom of the falls, so it’s worth checking out either way.
There are no signposts for the walk, but we have you covered on directions below.
How to find the Coniston Coppermines Waterfall
Starting the trail
Although the first part of the walk actually takes you along a road, it’s private land, so you can’t drive it. From the parking area (details below), you need to head up the gravel road, past the no vehicles sign.
Although you’re heading uphill, it’s fairly gentle and the scenery is surprisingly lovely. It’s not long before you begin getting good views out to the surrounding fells and the ferny hillsides are often hiding cute, if skittish sheep.
You’ll pass over a cattle grid and continue heading uphill. You’ll soon hear the sound of cascades below you. There’s a pretty impressive waterfall roughly 600m along the trail (co-ordinates 54.3726400, -3.0871186), which you can access via a very short side track.
It’s a good gravel path, which is steepish, but honestly not too bad at all, and it only takes a couple of minutes to get down. It’s definitely worth it to check out the falls, which were a lot bigger than I was expecting.
Climbing up to the Coppermines
There are several more cascades, but we decided to keep on heading up the main trail (the road) towards the copper mines.
Roughly 1.2km into the walk you’ll reach one of the abandoned mine ruins (it stopped being an active copper mine in the 1950’s).
Just behind it sits the YHA, which I have to say would be a pretty incredible location to spend the night! The views are fantastic.
You walk past the YHA and then turn right, skirting around the edge of the Coppermines Cottages, another place I’d love to stay one day! Just to the right of the cottage you’ll see a small wooden bridge.
Once you’ve crossed it, you leave the road and the rest of the walk follows a more rugged track (this is 1.5km into the trail).
To the waterfalls
From the bridge you’ll follow the grassy track more steeply uphill. The same spectacular blue water that’s found in the main waterfall pool is also found in smaller pools along the way.
These are very easy to access and are a good option for a shallow dip, if you don’t want to tackle the more challenging scramble.
The path up the hillside is generally pretty easy, it does have a few muddy patches though, and this was after a long dry spell, so during wetter times it would be worse.
When dry it wasn’t slippery and we reached the top of the waterfall pool after less than 200m.
We actually continued all the way to the top of the falls, which is pretty, but there are no swimming holes further up. It also gets a lot steeper from the waterfall pool.
However, it’s just a couple of hundred metres more to the top, and offers yet more sensational views.
Accessing the Coniston Coppermines waterfall
Looking down at the falls from above is easy and doesn’t require leaving the good grassy path.
If you want to go down to the pool itself, it does involve a short scramble and needs to be done with care - and when it’s dry so the rocks are less slippery.
The easiest access point is about 20m downhill from where you can see into the pool from above. It’s not too steep and you can walk slightly downhill and then right, just above the water, so there’s no steep drop.
Make sure you look carefully to make sure you’re at the right spot, as many of the routes would not be safe to go down. The easiest point has a gradual beaten down path along the grass, followed by some rocky steps down to the water. You don’t need to get into the water until you reach the pool.
You then have to carefully scramble down a short section of cliff, which does have footholds, but it’s angled so that you have quite a bit of forwards momentum.
It’s easier to go down backwards for this reason. You then have to climb up a big boulder on the other side. Again there are footholds and it only requires about three steps, but you want to take it carefully.
It’s also worth noting it’s much easier to get up this rock than down it. Don’t climb up anything you think you can’t get down again!
After the boulder there are a few rocks to hop across and then you’re standing at the base of one of the prettiest waterfalls in the Lakes.
Swimming at the secret Coppermines waterfall
Co-ordinates: 54.3807356, -3.0968363
What3Words: cracking.apricot.escalates
The pool at the base of the falls is small, but absolutely magical. The water is the most exquisite turquoise and the waterfall and surrounding rock walls give it that secluded secret vibe.
It’s a little patch of paradise and easily one of my favourite swimming spots.
Entering the water is easy as you can just step straight in from the rock shelf, just mind the rocks underfoot when you get in.
The water gets deeper close to the cascade and is pretty cold year round as it doesn’t get that much sun. Despite this, it wasn’t as cold as some pools I’ve swum in, but if you’re not used to UK wild swimming you will probably find it very cold.
It’s crystal clear and completely mesmerising to look at. We visited in the early afternoon but it had already fallen into shadow, so the water wasn’t as bright as it would be in the sunshine.
Despite this it was still out of this world.
An important thing to note with this pool is that it’s tiny. It can’t handle many people before it would feel crowded.
We would advise visiting early or late in the day for this reason, particularly on weekends and during the school holidays.
Once you've had a dip you retrace your steps, taking extra care climbing back down the larger boulder. Once you’re back on the main trail, it’s an easy walk back to your car, as it’s downhill all the way.
Keep them wild
Please remember to take all rubbish with you and keep these places wild and pristine - as with anywhere in the outdoors. It’s important to leave them exactly as you found them so they will remain beautiful for generations to come.
Litter tends to breed litter, so if you do spot any and are able to pick it up and dispose of it outside the park, it will go a long way to keeping the area clean.
Getting to the Coniston Coppermines Waterfall
By car and parking
The best place to park is just before the private road, at LA21 8HW (or you can click here to see it on Google Maps).
You could also park in Coniston village, which wouldn’t add on much in the way of distance and would have more parking available.
There are no facilities along the trail at all, so please prepare accordingly and take all rubbish with you.
By public transport
The best way to get to the Coniston Coppermines Waterfall by public transport is to hop on the 505 bus that runs from both Ambleside and Windermere. This should take between 1 hour 10 and 1.5 hours depending on where you get on the bus.
However, the bus only goes to the centre of Coniston. From there you will need to walk an extra half a mile to get to the trailhead for the coppermines (which you can see here on Google Maps).
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, that we will earn a small commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase. This helps towards the costs of running our website. Thanks for your support.
