The Thirlmere infinity pool has become a bit of a social media sensation. It’s easy to see why: perched on top of a waterfall high on the hillside, with epic fell views, and the perfect little swimming hole. It really is a beautiful spot.
However, the pool is small and best enjoyed with as few people as possible, which can be a challenge to achieve as it’s not a very long or difficult walk.
For this reason, we’d recommend coming early or late. We opted for sunset, which was a magical time to be up there.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting the Thirlmere infinity pool.
Safety warning
Before we go any further, it’s important to note that the pool sits on top of a large waterfall. Accessing the pool requires care, and a slip near the edge could be fatal.
You should not visit directly after rain (due to the surrounding rocks becoming slippery) or during times of high water flow, when the pool could become turbulent.
We’ll go into full details on accessing the pool below.
The walk to the Thirlmere infinity pool
The stats
Distance: 2.1 miles (3.5km) return
Elevation gain: 260m
Difficulty: Moderate
Time Taken: 30 minutes each way
The walk to the infinity pool is uphill most of the way, but only short sections are steep. The first part of the walk is on a good track and then it’s a bit more rustic the higher you go.
There is one very short narrow section which has a drop off to one side. Parts of the path can be muddy even during dry spells.
There are a couple of different routes you can take to the pool, we are sharing the one that we took, which is fairly straightforward. There are no signposts for any of the routes, but we have directions below.
How to find the infinity pool in Thirlmere
Starting the trail
From the car park (details below) you need to head immediately right, up Stanah Lane. Head up the lane and keep straight until you see a gate with a sign that says path (at the 200m mark).
Take the trail through the gate and you’re now walking on a narrow bracken lined path.
You’ll pass through a couple of gates and then reach a pretty cascade, 400m from the car park. The track is all uphill, but very gradual.
Walk past the cascade and up onto the grassy path where you’ll see a public footpath sign, 50m beyond the cascade.
Take this path (right) and you’ll begin following a dry stone wall. The wall will curve right at the 500m mark.
Along the dry stone wall
The mostly flat track alongside the wall is narrow and rocky, so you have to watch your step, as it’s prime ankle twisting territory!
It also has sections where water runs down it, even when it hasn’t been raining, so it does get muddy. It wasn’t too bad on our visit, but it wouldn’t have been fun without hiking boots!
At the 750m mark you’ll cross a tiny stream and continue following the path which is densely lined with ferns. Roughly 400m later (0.7 miles/1.1km into the trail) you’ll reach a wooden bridge with another cascade.
From here you can see a small amount of the bigger waterfall above.
The climb gets steeper
Cross the bridge and head left at the obvious trail 50m later. This is where the path becomes more rustic and gets steeper. Approximately 100m into this grassy path (that’s surrounded by bracken in all directions) you’ll see another trail to the left.
This will take you to the pool, but it’s steep and has some pretty loose soil. The easier option is to continue straight, it’s only fractionally longer and much easier.
You’ll climb up the rocky dirt path and it will begin veering left. We were lucky to be walking in August, when the hillside was lined with heather which was just glorious.
A couple of hundred metres later and just before the pool, there is one narrow section of trail which has a drop to the left.
It’s not hard as such, but go carefully because the hillside is quite sheer here. It’s just a few steps, but worth treading carefully.
After that, you will come to a rocky area above the falls. Although you can access the pool from either side, we decided to enter it from the other side, which is the route we’ll describe below.
Accessing the infinity pool
Co-ordinates for the pool: 54.5546344, -3.0489448, on Fisher Gill
On the southern side of the pool (the side you arrive at from the trail) there is a sling tied to the rock by the side of the pool to help you get in.
There are good footholds, but it’s quite exposed and the footholds may be wet and slippery.
We chose to cross the stream behind the pool and enter from the other side. To do this you just need to rock hop a few metres down stream and then cross over, which you can do using the rocks as stepping stones.
We visited during a time of quite low flow, so this was easy and we didn’t get our boots wet. The rocks are grippy when dry, but would be slippery if wet.
From the other side of the pool, you can enter at a less exposed point.
Having said that - I am going to be completely honest here - I looked at where people got in and didn’t fancy it. It’s still very close to the edge of the top of the falls.
If there was no drop, I wouldn’t think twice, but a slip here could be very nasty. I sat staring at it for a good five minutes before deciding I wasn’t going to go in.
However, happily I saw a few steps away from the edge (nearer to the middle of the pool) there are actually two ledges you can use as footholds and then lower yourself in from there. It’s nowhere near the edge, which was exactly what I needed!
When it comes to getting out the pool, it was easy. For me it’s all about the nervousness of forwards momentum with these things.
Swimming at the Thirlmere infinity pool
The pool is gorgeous. The water is lovely and clear and the views are incredible. We visited during golden hour which added an extra touch of magic too, as the pool looks directly to the setting sun.
Heather surrounds the pool (in summer) which was also spectacular, we got so lucky with our timing!
The pool is only tiny, so whilst it’s deep enough to swim a few strokes, it’s definitely a plunge pool and not a place to go for an actual swim.
It’s shallow near the edge and there are rocks to sit on (inside the water) and then it’s chest height towards the cascade.
There was no current when we visited during a time of low flow and the edge of the pool has a nice high-ish rock wall, so it had a great relaxed feel to it.
However, I just want to stress again: this was during low flow. We’ve visited pools like this during high flow and it’s a totally different story.
You can’t swim because there’s a chance of actually being swept over the top, so definitely save this one for calm conditions.
In terms of water temperature, it’s not that cold (by UK standards), but you can’t swim to warm up, so you want to visit on a hot day if you want to stay in the water for any length of time.
It can get windy on top which makes a massive difference too. When we arrived it was hot and windless, and the water felt great, but when the wind picked up it was definitely time to get out!
If you’re looking for more stunning waterfalls in the Lake District, we have you covered in this post.
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.
This pool is increasingly popular and high visitor numbers do mean there is an increased chance of litter.
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.
The best time to visit the Thirlmere infinity pool
The Thirlmere infinity pool is a secret no more! We thought that by heading up for sunset, we’d get it to ourselves, but there were seven people there over the course of our visit.
We did have around 20 minutes to ourselves, but mainly there were people around - although granted it was August and a hot day! If you want to visit during peak times - hot weekends/school holidays - then you probably want to come very early to get it to yourself. Late will also be quieter, but probably not empty.
We do a lot of night hiking so getting down in the twilight/dark isn’t a problem, if you’re not used to it, it’s probably best to come during the day time outside of peak season.
Update for July 2023: the infinity pool is a lot busier than it used to be, we’d now recommend going very early in the morning to avoid the crowds.
Parking for the Thirlmere infinity pool
Due to hugely disappointing antisocial behaviour, you can no longer park beside the trailhead at the Thirlmere Recreation Centre.
You must now park at the United Utilities public car park at Legburthwaite, postcode CA12 4TQ. This is a large car park and is roughly a 10 minute walk from the trailhead. There are toilets available at this car park and nowhere else along the trail.
Please do not block the road or other people’s driveways, there have sadly been complaints about this.
The car park is located 25 minutes from Ambleside and 10 minutes from Keswick.
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