About
Found at the northern edge of the Lake District, Ullswater is the second largest lake at around 7.5 miles long and 0.75 miles wide. At the Northern end of the lake lies Pooley bridge, which is where we chose to Kayak from. A superb place to soak up some amazing views!
| Facilities | |
|---|---|
| Parking nearby | Yes (Paid) |
| Pram accessible | Yes |
| Toilets | Public Toilets in Pooley Bridge |
| Refreshments | Pubs, cafes and shops in Pooley Bridge |
Parking
We parked at Dunmallard Car Park in Pooley Bridge (CA10 2NP), paying £5.40 for 4 hours. You can launch here and head down to the lake, but we walked further down the shore to Gale Bay, following this route here which is pram friendly.
Our Visit
It may have been Springtime, but the weather wasn’t very spring like at all, it was only 4°c! Nevertheless, we had our hats, gloves and coats on, so off we went. We arrived at lunchtime, so we all enjoyed a bite to eat whilst Richard set to work inflating the kayak, which really doesn’t take long at all. Jack was more interested in playing and throwing stones in the water than eating his sandwich, which is rather surprising really since he is constantly telling us he is hungry!
Tummies full, Richard and Jack headed out on the Kayak first, whilst the rest of us finished eating and headed a little further along shore to a raised platform. We were thinking we would have a nice flat spot to lay down the picnic blanket so that Teddy could sit and chill out of his pram. Great idea! But we soon realised that there was a load of glass scattered about, so we had to be super careful! Unfortunately you do have to be mindful of this, but it has inspired us to to take some time out to do a lakeshore litter pick!
As usual, we took it in turns to take the kayak out. This was the second lake we have visited with the Kayak and we felt a little more exposed than we did at Coniston. Possibly due to the fact that we were the only ones out there on the water. Evidently the only ones crazy enough to be venturing out on such a cold day!
Nearby
We didn’t have time on our visit, but nearby is Dunmallard Hill, a popular walking spot which begins directly off the car park. Supposedly there are some remains of an old iron age fort at the top, which sounds really quite interesting. It’s on our list to do!
touringwiththekids.com 