Lodore Falls
OS grid ref. NY 265 184
The Lodore Falls are a series of cascades on Watendlath Beck. The falls can be reached from Derwentwater by a gate beside the road at the Lodore Falls Hotel, they can also be reached on foot from the Ashness road. The waterfall in total drops nearly 200 feet. Impressive after sustained wet weather, in periods of dry weather the falls can be disappointing, as they can often then become just a collection of mossy boulders.
The Lakeland poet, Robert Southey, who lived at nearby Keswick, immortalized the falls in his poem 'The Cataract of Lodore', written in 1820. The falls are private property but an honesty box is provided. The upper falls can be reached via a path which follows the course of the stream.
The falls first became highly popular with tourists in the nineteenth century, when the name was then spelt 'Low Door'.