Paddle the hugely popular Windermere, England’s largest lake at 18 km (10.5 miles). Windermere can be busy with boats, ferries, and paddlers, but that doesn’t stop you having a wonderful time taking in glorious views of the surrounding fells.
Distance: 7.8 km (4.8 miles)
Time: 2-3 hours
Sat Nav: LA22 0JH
What3Words: ///forge.crisper.pizza
There’s a good mix of places to park and launch from around Windermere, and the Lake District National Park has some useful advice.
We chose to set off from the National Trust’s Red Nab Car Park, on the west shore, southeast of High Wray (///forge.crisper.pizza).
It’s free to park, and there are about 15 spaces. It will be busier at peak times.
There’s a small wall, and steps to get down to the shore (see pictures below).
Find out more about Windermere, and the routes you can take on PaddlePoints >>
Once on the water we headed south towards the Ferry House.
It is recommended by the Lake District National Park to stick close to the shore.
This is due to the amount of traffic on the water, but also the weather.
The wind direction can change very quickly, making paddling harder as we found later.
The islands of Thompson’s Holme, and the much bigger Belle Isle, are between 2km and 3km away from Red Nab.
Care needs to be taken around the islands, due to other water users, particularly the ferries that travel between Ambleside and Bowness.
Keep a look out out for large boats turning, they need plenty of room.
For safety advice while paddling on lakes, check out our advice on Go Paddling >>
If you need a toilet stop, or fancy a beverage, you can get out at Ferry Nab, in Bowness.
There’s a public slipway next to the Lake Warden’s office (LA23 3JH – ///nobody.dwarf.smoking).
There are public toilets, and Dan’s Shack sells food and drink.
Ferry Nab is a more accessible launch for disabled paddlers.
Once we passed Belle Isle, and with the bustling Bowness-on-Windermere to our right, we headed back to our start point.
As mentioned previously, keep clear of traffic, especially the ferry boats.
Find out more about Windermere, and the routes you can take on PaddlePoints >>
