Landscape Photography at Wast Water and Wasdale Head in the Lake District

Location Guides

26 Sep

Wasdale has a very different feel to many areas of the Lake District and is distinct in many ways, the difficulty in accessing the area means that there are far few visitors than to other parts of the Lakes making it an unspoiled naturally beautiful area with a great sense of escape. There are two main approaches, around the south of the Lake District through Newby Bridge and Brougton-in-Furness or directly across the amazing and tricky Hardknott Pass. You can walk around the hills and valleys in Wasdale and see very few people (the exception being the main paths and climbs to Scafell). The scale of the mountains here is unbelievable, the dramatic drop of the Screes which fall near vertically into Wast Water are a sight to behold. Wasdale is home to the Wasdale Head Inn, a famous pub and landmark at the end of the road. There are a couple of good campsites including the national trust campsite where I camped for my latest trip.

Wastwater Classic View looking towards Great Gable

Voted Britains Favourite View, the scene looking down Wast Water (the deepest lake in the Lake District) towards the four mountains is a photograph which just begs to be taken, you can park up at the side of the road and take a few steps to the side of the lake to pick a composition which just works without too much difficultly. The area begs to be explored, there are paths leading in all directions, I would love to spend a week in the area to really explore the surrounding hillsides looking for different and exiting viewpoints.