Ashness bridge

Ashness Bridge is probably the most photographed bridged in The Lake District and it’s probably the most easily accessible too.  With a car park adjacent to it and another car park closer to Surprise View it can be done by both car and on foot.

We decided to turn it into a day trip and a small circular walk, so we took the boat Keswick Launch anti-clockwise around Derwentwater and got off at Ashness Pier.

Ashness Pier

Disembarking at Ashness Pier you arrive at the road that takes you up to Ashness Bridge. It is all well signposted.

Ashness Pier to Ashness Bridge

Disembarking at Ashness Pier and walking to Ashness Bridge is about a ten minute, up-hill walk and it is all on a tarmac road. The road runs parallel to the river of Barrow Beck so there is opportunity to deviate a bit.

Ashness Bridge

The road up towards Ashness Bridge wasn’t busy but nor was it very quiet, so do be careful of vehicles, if you go.

Ashness Bridge is a traditional stone built, pack-horse bridge that is the gateway to Surprise View and the mountain of Watendlath. It gives views across Borrowdale towards the mountain of Skiddaw and is always busy with people.

Up the hill towards Surprise View

Carrying on walking up the hill leads you through typical Cumbrian, picturesque countryside. The snow topped mountain of Watendlath dominates the views to the south and Skiddaw the views to the north.

Again you share the road with cars.

Surprise View

What awaits you at the top of the road is called ‘Surprise View’ and is quite simply a breathtaking spot to look out at, if you can get a space! Because there’s a car park adjacent to the view, it can get quite busy.

From Surprise View, you can see Borrowdale to the south, the whole of Derwent Water and on a clear day the lake of Bassenthwaite to the north. You can just make out Bassenthwaite to the top right hand side of the photo below.

The woodlands of the surrounding fells are oak trees, they are home to a wide range of bird species, red squirrels and deers.

Victorian Water Falls

Descending back past Ashness Bridge,  on your left hand side is a small wooden swing gate belonging to the Derwentwater Independent Hostel. The route then follows a designated path through the woodlands following Barrow Beck.

Hostel grounds

We walked through the hostel grounds, around the side of the hostel and cut down the hill until we reached a path (parallel to the road) that runs through Ashness Woods and along to Lodore Hotel.

The path meanders through the woods and at times crosses the road where the path continues along the shores of Derwentwater. When we walked through, the path was wet and muddy so we were very glad we had sturdy boots on.

Arriving at Lodore Pier

The path takes you to the Lodore Falls hotel, where directly opposite is the entrance for Lodore Pier. Here we caught the Keswick Launch back to Keswick.

Follow our journey

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