Aira Force

Aira Beck drops about twenty metres through a rock cleft into a deep pool, and the Howard family of Greystoke laid out the ravine as a pleasure ground in the nineteenth century, planting over half a million trees including monkey puzzles, firs and specimen conifers, and building two stone footbridges, one above the fall and one below, specifically so that it could be viewed from both. The lower bridge gives the standard photograph looking up the full drop. Above the fall the beck runs on to High Force and a second fall further up. Wordsworth set a poem here, and the daffodils of Glencoyne, which prompted his best-known one, are a short distance along the same shore. Red squirrels are present in the conifers and are seen fairly often.

What you actually see

• The twenty-metre fall - dropping through a rock cleft into a deep pool.
• The two stone bridges - Victorian structures built above and below for viewing.
• The Victorian arboretum - half a million trees planted including monkey puzzles.
• The red squirrels - resident in the conifer plantings above the ravine.

When to go

April to October; the fall is strongest after rain and can be modest in a dry summer. Autumn colour in the arboretum is excellent, and daffodils along the Ullswater shore are out in April.

Honest expectations

The paths involve steps and are slippery on wet rock; the lower bridge is the busiest point. Parking is charged and fills on summer weekends. Swimming in the plunge pool is discouraged and has caused accidents.

Nearby

Ullswater is at the foot of the path; Glenridding and Helvellyn lie south.