Derwentwater is three miles south of Keswick, immediately accessible from the town on foot and served by the Keswick Launch year-round. It is the most versatile of the Lake District lakes for a visitor: easy to reach without a car, with excellent walking on all sides, a water-based transport system that doubles as one of the finest lake cruises in England, and more concentrated history and literary association per square mile than almost any comparable area in the country.
This guide covers everything you need to plan a visit: how to get there, what to do, what to see and when to go.
By public transport — Keswick is served by the X4/X5 bus from Penrith (connecting from the West Coast Main Line) and the 78 bus from Windermere and Ambleside. The journey from Windermere takes approximately 45 minutes. From Penrith, approximately 40 minutes. The boat landings at Keswick are a ten-minute walk from the bus station.
By car — the A591 north from Windermere reaches Keswick in about 30 minutes in light traffic. The Keswick town car parks fill on summer weekends; the Park and Ride from the A66 is an alternative. Lakeside parking at the boat landings is limited.
On tour — Derwentwater is covered on both 8 Lakes tours and the 10 Lakes Full-day Tour. Your expert storyteller handles all transport logistics.
The Keswick Launch operates a circular clockwise and anticlockwise service around the lake, calling at seven landing stages: Keswick, Ashness Gate, Lodore Falls, High Brandelhow, Low Brandelhow, Hawse End and Nichol End. The full circuit takes approximately 50 minutes.
This is not simply transport — the view of the lake from the water, with the fells rising on all sides and the islands at close quarters, is the finest way to understand the scale and character of Derwentwater. Taking the full circuit before beginning any walking gives an orientation that a map cannot provide.
The launch runs year-round but with a reduced winter timetable. Tickets are purchased on the boat; National Trust membership does not cover the fare.
Ashness Gate landing — the departure point for the walk up through the woods to Ashness Bridge and Surprise View. One of the finest short walks from any landing stage on any Lake District lake.
Lodore Falls landing — the departure point for Lodore Falls, immediately behind the Lodore Falls Hotel. The falls are at their most impressive after rain; in dry weather they can disappoint.
The lake is ringed by good paths at every level of ambition.
Friar's Crag — from Keswick boat landings, the ten-minute walk to the promontory and back. One of the finest short walks in the Lake District. Suitable for all visitors.
The Derwentwater shore path — the low-level path around the full lake shore is approximately nine miles. It is largely flat, passes all four islands at close quarters, and can be broken at any of the Keswick Launch landing stages. The full circuit takes four to five hours.
Walla Crag — from Keswick, the path up through Great Wood to the summit of Walla Crag (376 metres) gives the best elevated view of the full lake, with the Borrowdale fells closing the southern end. Approximately two hours return. Boots required.
Catbells — the ridge on the western shore, reached from the Hawse End landing stage. The summit (451 metres) is accessible to most walkers and gives a view down both sides of the ridge — Derwentwater to the east, Newlands Valley to the west. The Beatrix Potter connection (she walked here and set The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle in the hills above Newlands) gives the ridge a literary dimension. Approximately 2.5 hours return.
Derwentwater has been at the centre of Lake District literary life since the 18th century.
John Ruskin first saw Derwentwater as a small boy and described the view from Friar's Crag as one of the three scenes that made the deepest impression on his childhood. The Ruskin memorial at Friar's Crag commemorates this connection.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge lived at Greta Hall in Keswick from 1800 to 1803, producing some of his finest work during the Keswick years. His walks on the surrounding fells — including the famous night walk on Scafell that produced some of the most vivid descriptive prose in the English language — departed from the northern shore of Derwentwater.
Hugh Walpole set his Herries Chronicles — four novels covering two centuries of Lake District history — largely in the Borrowdale valley that closes the southern end of the lake. The novels are less read now than they were in the 1930s but they remain one of the few serious attempts to write the Lake District as a place with deep historical and social continuity.
The Borrowdale graphite mines, in the valley south of the lake, were the source of the world's pencil industry from their discovery in 1565. The graphite — pure enough to be cut into sticks and used directly for drawing and writing — was found only in Borrowdale and remained a strategic resource for three centuries. The Keswick pencil industry, which still operates, is the direct descendant of those mines.
The Derwent Pencil Museum in Keswick tells the story of the graphite and the industry.
Spring (April–May) — bluebells in the Friar's Crag woodland, ospreys returning to Bassenthwaite, fresh foliage on the lakeside woodland. The best season for the bluebell walk.
Summer (June–August) — longest days, warm water, peak visitor numbers. The launch is busy; the shore path is well-used. The evening light on the western fells from the eastern shore is at its best in July.
Autumn (September–October) — the finest season. October bracken turning copper on the fells, woodland colour on the shore, lower visitor numbers, the particular quality of the autumn light that Turner came to paint. The lake reflections are at their best in October.
Winter (November–March) — the starkest and quietest version of the lake. Whooper swans on the lake from October. The launch runs on a reduced timetable. The path to Friar's Crag in frost and low winter sun is one of the finest experiences the lake offers.
Derwentwater is covered on the 8 Lakes Morning Tour, 8 Lakes Afternoon Tour and The 10 Lakes Full-day Tour with Ullswater Cruise.
Planning a weekend? Keep exploring:
On foot — it's three miles south of Keswick town and directly accessible.
Yes — the Keswick Launch runs year-round.
Approximately 45 minutes on the 78 bus.