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, planting trees including monkey puzzles, firs and specimen conifers; two stone footbridges, one above the fall and one below, were added early in the twentieth century in honour of members of the Spring family, and the National Trust bought the 750 acres of Gowbarrow Park around the fall in 1906. A fallen trunk in the glen has become a wish tree studded with coins. 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's there

• The twenty-metre fall - dropping through a rock cleft into a deep pool.
• The two stone bridges - early twentieth-century crossings above and below the fall.
• The planted ravine - specimen trees 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.

What to expect

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.

Nearby

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

Key facts