Paddling on Windermere lake

Hi all,

A mate and me are thinking about going up there for a paddle on kayaks and maybe wildcamping somewhere.

Anything to watch out for and anywhere to park near the lake, or any other advice?

I’m an a relatively experienced kayaker, my mate less so.

Cheers!

FM

The blue green algae is bad at windermere currently so I wouldn’t be falling in, or swallowing any at all. Make sure you wash it off very well afterwards as well, or go to Coniston or some of the other lakes instead, unless you like the sound of paddling through excrement!

Go to Coniston instead. 👍

When we brought our kayaks up there on holiday a few years back Coniston was the much nicer paddle.

I think we launched from the car park near Thrang Crag Wood (southern end of the lake and the one with the loos if looking at an OS map).

Coniston gets absolutely heaving at the minute. I’ve not paddled Windermere actually….@golfchick isn’t inspiring me to change that sadly 😭

Ullswater usually feels fairly quiet, even if it’s busy in the parking etc and it’s beautiful scenery.

Would be get lynched if we (carefully) wildcamped around Coniston? I guess the idea would be to leave late morning, paddle up and camp, and paddle back the next morning.

There’s a certain section where it’s a big no no I believe, and after my experiences around there this year….. it’d be a fairly poor experience anyway.

I think wild camping in the Lakes in summer season especially at weekends is more hassle than it’s worth currently.

Also many camper vans now take parking spots especially if good weather forecast and a weekend, plus getting busy with holidays. Could try Hoathwaite camp site west side Coniston (nearer to Torver) as reasonable rates, I am led to believe and although not next to the lake, you can walk down to the shore.

Hmm reconsidering, might just go hiking in Wales instead! Shame Lomond is so far away – that’s one of the finest places for yaking/camping I’ve come cross save for the ticks.

Bala has a campsite next to the lake I think……paddling on water is fun…better in sunshine;)

Bala has a campsite next to the lake I think

It does (well it’s technically about 3 minutes walk alongside a busy road but there is a kayak width pavement).

Was there about 2-3 years ago and was a lovely spot.

You do need to pick up a permit from a ticket machine at the hire place round nearer the town iirc.

We were due to be on said Bala site tomorrow, but weather forecast means we’ve bailed!

Also, Lomond will be like a zoo at this time of year! Again a real shame, as it’s a stunning place. Jet skis were a real pain even in first few days of June.

Hoathwaite near Torver does indeed have easy access to Coniston shore.

Don’t give up so easily Op the lakes is a big place. My recommendation which would meet both your needs would be Ullswater. There’s a NT owned carpark on the road about half a mile before Glenridding which would be perfect for a paddle, lovely gently sloping and usually fairly quiet lake edge directly over the road from the carpark.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/RFBH3jvw2Uys6Y9s9?g_st=ic

Then to wild camp you’ve got the whole of Helvellyn to go at or the other side of the road up near Angle Tarn or hayswater, loads of little hillocks you can hide behind and have the view all to yourself. Angle tarn is only about 30 minute yomp up the hill so you can stay in the pub by the river in Patterdale till its nearly sunset.

Have a good one.

Angle tarn is only about 30 minute yomp up the hill

And as such is like a flipping camp site at this (and tbh most) time of year. Plenty of other spots not too far away though.

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Please don’t believe everything you read about Windermere. The savewindermere campaign are doing a great job of putting the frighteners up everyone about BG algae and sewage when the evidence from the big Windermere survey (4 times a year water sampling from 150+ sites) is that water quality is exceptionally good.</p>
Don’t get me wrong, it is gross that there is sewage that gets into the lake, but unless you’re choosing to swim in very specific spots there is little to no risk.

Can’t argue about the amount of traffic on the lake though. Once we get into the autumn it’ll calm down again!

I don’t think there’s really anywhere you could wildcamp from a canoe/kayak on Windermere as it’s more or less got a road right round it (even if it’s a gravel track closed to most cars on the west side).
I did camp on an island on Coniston as a kid (probably full of campers most of the summer).

One of the campsites at the Pooley Bridge end of Ullswater has lake access and I’m fairly sure you can paddle to Side Farm campsite (opposite Glenridding). People also fairly regularly ‘wild’ camp on the East side of the lake a bit North of side farm where there is less good access from the land side. Looks busy sometimes and I’ve watched some arrive in a small motor boat so don’t expect solitude.
There is roadside parking along the West side of the lake in several places (get there early) or paid car parks in Glenridding, Pooley Bridge, just S. of Aira Force and Aira Force itself(again get there early).

It’s never going to feel mega remote in the Lakes in summer but a good few trips and paddles to campsites are possible and worthwhile.

Can anyone find any documented cases of human poisoning from blue-green algae? It seems rather rare for something that gets so much air-time.

I’m aware that dogs and livestock drinking from the shallow edges of heavily polluted ponds can occasionally come to harm. That seems a very different scenario from an accidental mouthful while swimming around in swimmable depths.

There are some case studies, but as you say, pretty rare in the UK, although I’m sure lots of mild cases never get reported:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/1588/1/001588RamsayCarvalhoReport.pdf

Still, given the number of ‘live’ reports from Windermere, I wouldn’t be bothering with the watersports there right now, particularly as there are a lot of alternative spots within a few miles.

https://www.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/projects/bloomin-algae

So a few soldiers got ill in 1989 and some dialysis patients died due to the hospital using contaminated water in Brazil.

Meanwhile a few hundred deaths each year due to drowning in the UK.

(And surely thousands ill due to other types of pollution, especially with the increase in sewage discharges in recent years.)

Maybe it’s the name “Cyanobacteria” that gets people scared? Sounds a bit like cyanide and we all know that’s nasty stuff.

All the problems are interlinked. More raw sewage means more eutrophication and more algal blooms. We should probably use the presence of multiple blooms on Windermere this year as an indicator of other, underlying, issues. The reduction in Arctic Charr populations and decline in catches on the Leven are another one.

It’s not something to be terrified of, and I’m sure locals will still know the safest spots to swim etc, but I personally would just go to Rydal or Coniston.

Can’t imagine blooms will be a problem right now given the rainfall we’ve had. It’ll just be the sewage overflows!

Could try Hoathwaite camp site

It’s closed down as a campsite

Let us know how you got on Op?

We hired from the Bowness Marina a couple of years back, it was reasonably priced considering, and the kit was decent. It’s pretty busy right around the marina, especially if you go north past the pier and have to contend with the rowing boat hires and the steamers but as soon as you get away from that it’s much quieter. We did a longer hire than I’d usually do and I’m glad we did, let us chill out a bit, do some distance, I think the shortest hires you’d probably struggle to get anywhere more interesting There’s a LOT of marker bouys to contend with, don’t go there, no don’t go there, no don’t go there. Arguably the worst time I’ve ever had out on the water, but, still great.

Can’t speak for algae though, wasn’t any when we were there.

Loch Ken in Galloway is superb for a paddle and camp. Closer than Lomond (just!)

@martinhutch swimming but no paddling at Rydal.

This might be useful for OP.

Can anyone find any documented cases of human poisoning from blue-green algae?

No, but my administrator has had a really natry rash after swimming in it.
I got more minor rashes when it was in Ullswater back in the ’90s

I paddled the length of Windemere last year in Aug as kayak support for a swimmer doing the WoW swim. The put in was Fell Foot and it finished at Brathay bay. Just after half way we all got a WhatApp message warning of BG algae and to advise our swimmers not to drink any of the water.   The water colour did change noticeably the further north we were:

Start:

End of swim:

I was going to do some rolling practice at the end but looking at the water that wasnt appealing despite the temperature.

Paddled Coniston by myself a day or so later and that was much nicer. Landing in secret harbour of ‘Wildcat’ Island and bring back all the Swallows & Amazons memories of childhood.