Wild swimming in the Lake District at Buckstones Jump - a perfect introductory spot

Buckstones Jump in the Lake District is a perfect spot for a bit of wild swimming

A walk to Buckstones jump - A superb spot for a bit of wild swimming in the Lake District

Buckstones Jump is well-known spot for wild swimming in the Lake District and is a short walk (about 45 mins up a gentle hill from the car park at Rydal Hall). It's set in beautiful surroundings and with it's elevated spot it has breathtaking views all the way down to Windermere.

Buckstones Jump has a small shingle beach to ease gently into the deeper water which you can swim in (and even jump into if you jump far enough from the surrounding rock face) There's a waterfall too which some people use as a natural slide but you might get a few bumps off it (search on Youtube for some vids of it!). Buckstones Jump also has a large grassy areas all around it - ideal for a picnic. It's an absolutely perfect spot to be honest - which can be it's draw back as I imagine on warm summer weekends you won’t be the only ones there!

Buckstones Jump is a perfect location for wild swimming in the Lake District

Walk to Buckstones Jump, overview:

Buckstones Jump walk distance: 2 miles in total (1 mile there, 1 mile back!)

Time to walk to Buckstones jump: 45 minutes (1.5 hour round trip, plus stopping time)

Walk difficulty: Easy (Gentle uphill to Buckstones Jump)

Buckstones Jump map route:

Here you can see the map route of our walk to Buckstones Jump from the car park at Rydal Hall (£5 all day pay at reception). We done this route in an anti-clockwise direction, headed to the famous falls at Rydal first, then through Rydal campsite and then just followed the footpath keeping Rydal Beck on our left. About half way to Buckstones jump the path will take you away (east) from Rydal Beck for a short way and you may feel like your then going the wrong direction - so just make sure you keep your bearings (keep checking your GPS - downloading the OS map route below will help) and go left after going over the wall - always making sure Rydal Beck is never too far away on your left. You'll then just come across a little hill which will be hiding Buckstones Jump - just head up and over the hill and there it is. You can either come back the way you came or on the other side of Rydal Beck!

If you don't have a Phone Map App - I really recommend the one by Ordnance Survey. You can download route maps to your phone such as this one and the app will show you exactly where you are on the route even when you have no signal - so no more taking a wrong turn :-)

Photos of the Buckstones Jump Walk:

You've got to visit the famous falls at Rydal Hall - a bridge takes you directly over this viewpoint at the start of the walk so it's very accessible. You can even drop down into the little stone building for a different view!

You'll pass many waterfalls on your way along Rydal Beck - which where in full flow on this walk after heavy rainfall - all a good location for a wild swimming in themselves when the flow is a bit gentler.

And here we are at Buckstones Jump - what an idyllic spot for wild swimming in the Lake District and nobody else about on this mid-week day (In warmer weather on weekends there will often be others about though)

There is plenty of shallow water for younger kids to have a paddle about around the shingle beach

The views up here are incredible - all the way down to Windermere and the surrounding fells

Time to get in! The water gets deep quite quickly and after about 10ft from the shingle beach I can't stand up! The current is pretty strong from the waterfall too - ideal to get fit and practice swimming on the spot if you want ha! I'd seen videos on youtube of people jumping in here - but the rock face goes in the water at about a 45 degree angle - so you would have to jump well away from it to find deep water, but it's possible. Apparently you can go down the natural water slide too - but I've put a few pounds on lately and didn't want to get stuck haha

What a spot for a wild swim in the Lake District

After a good swim and hanging around Buckstones Jump for about an hour - we head back via the path along Rydal Beck

Cold Water Swimming Health Benefits

I've been wild swimming a number of years now - and the colder the water the better! (Let that thought help you when you dip into these wild swimming spots haha) I've experienced the benefits first hand - and also done my research - and this blog post shares the Top 10 Health Benefits of Cold Water Swimming - click here to learn more

USEFUL ITEMS TO MAKE YOUR WILD SWIMMING EXPERIENCE MORE ENJOYABLE:

I've been wild swimming a number of years now - so I've built up a lot of tolerance to the cold. However in the colder months - the hands and feet can feel the cold a bit more, so neoprene gloves/boots come in very useful. The boots also help when accessing rocky wild swimming pools, such as the above. A towel robe is also a very handy thing to keep warm after a swim and makes changing much easier. I can really recommend the products below to help you on any wild swim:

Happy Hiking (and swimming ;-)

Post by Stuart Hodgson
'The Hiking Photographer'

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