Buttermere: The Lake Circuit, the Waterfalls and Getting There from Keswick

Buttermere is a village and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, inside the Lake District National Park. It is genuinely tiny. The parish population at the 2021 census was 92, down from 121 in 2011 and 127 in 2001, and the village itself amounts to a church, two hotels, a couple of farms and the road running through.

What draws people from Keswick is the ground it stands on. The village occupies the neck of land between two lakes, Buttermere and Crummock Water, overlooked by the summit of Grasmoor to the north and High Stile to the south. The parish reaches well beyond the houses, taking in both lakes, Grasmoor’s summit, the western side of Honister Pass, Brackenthwaite above Crummock Water and Gatesgarth at the foot of the pass. The main walk here is a lakeside circuit rather than a summit, which makes it one of the few outings in this part of the Lakes that does not require a climb.

The straight-line distance from Keswick is 11.0 km. Wikipedia gives the nearest towns as Keswick and Cockermouth, both approximately 10 miles (16 km) away.

The lake, the circuit and the walk from the car

Buttermere the lake carries 4.9 from 1,107 Google reviews, and those reviews agree on the shape of a visit. It is a short walk from the car to the water, and the path around the lake is close to flat. A visitor in July 2026 wrote, “Great and mostly level walk around the lake.” A visitor in June 2026 described “the only parking lot” and said the lake is reached from it in about ten minutes, then that “If you stay on the trails around the lake, you can enjoy different waterfalls and waterfalls.”

Parking is the thing to plan around, since that reviewer describes a single car park serving a valley with two lakes in it. The Buttermere Circular Walk is listed separately at 4.9 from 7 Google reviews, too few to mean anything, and Red Pike, above the southern shore, at 4.9 from 53.

Moss Force and Scale Force: two waterfalls, two different walks

Moss Force is the accessible one, 4.8 from 1,037 Google reviews. A visitor in July 2026 set out the terms plainly: “Nice walk. Possible for children. Much of it uphill. At points quite steep but not mostly a climb,” followed by “Not pram friendly. Very close to a car park.” Another visitor that same month advised, “Visit after rain to get the best flows, but even after a long hot dry spell it had water.”

Scale Force, 4.7 from 372 Google reviews, is a different proposition and reviewers are divided about whether it is worth the effort. A visitor in July 2026 called it “a leisurely 1.5-hour walk from the nearest parking area”. Another that month admitted, “After a bit of a mess up map reading we made it to Scale Force, and it did not dissapoint.” The dissent is worth reading first. A visitor in May 2026 wrote that on the walk from Buttermere, “most of trail was flooded out, that which wasn’t was VERY boggy, and in addition terrain was not well marked and was very rocky,” and concluded that comparable waterfalls exist elsewhere with far less trouble getting to them. Boots, and a route checked in advance.

The church, its Wainwright window, and the two inns

St James’ Church dates from 1840 and replaced a chapel dedicated in 1507. It is Grade II listed and holds 4.8 from 59 Google reviews. The detail people come in for is a memorial plaque to Alfred Wainwright set in the sill of a window that looks out at Haystacks, the fell where his ashes were scattered.

The Bridge Hotel occupies a site with a long and specific record behind it. Wikipedia traces it to the 11th century, when an armoury and a bakery stood there in connection with a water mill built higher up the stream by Earl Boether; the mill worked continuously for seven centuries, its buildings renewed many times over. Around 1734 they were sold to the church, and the curate, the Reverend Robert Walker, obtained a beer licence and started the Bridge Inn. Jonathan Thomas Sleap bought the property in 1837, rebuilt the inn in stone taken from the old mill, and renamed it the Victoria after Queen Victoria’s visit in 1850. H Cooper inherited it in 1861 and added the bay windows; the author Nicholas Size extended the building in 1920, and after his death a new owner settled on The Bridge.

The other inn was the Fish Inn, home of Mary Robinson, the “Maid of Buttermere”, when her father was landlord. She lived from 1778 to 1837 and was written about by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth and Charles Lamb, and much later by Melvyn Bragg in a novel of that name. The building kept the Fish Inn name until 2019 and is now the Buttermere Court Hotel.

Staying in the valley

Syke Farm Campsite holds 4.6 from 246 Google reviews and is the obvious base for anyone wanting to be in the valley at dawn; a visitor in August 2026 described a small farm campsite good for a quiet week. The complaints are practical rather than scenic: a visitor in June 2026 wrote that there is “only 1 female shower for the whole campsite, which can get quite busy is simply unacceptable,” and added that “if unlucky with the pitch - trip to the car for your belongings could be quite a walk.” Cragg House Farm is also listed, at 4.8 from 34 Google reviews.

Getting there from Keswick

Buttermere sits on the B5289, which runs north beside Crummock Water and down the valley of the River Cocker to Cockermouth. In the other direction, the same road climbs the steep Honister Pass and drops into Borrowdale for Keswick. The alternative is a more direct but more minor road over Newlands Pass into the Newlands Valley and on to Keswick. Either way, the journey from Keswick means a mountain pass.

No scheduled bus or train between Keswick and Buttermere is on record here, so assume a car or your own legs unless you can confirm otherwise locally. Wikipedia records only a free bus between Buttermere and Cockermouth, five return services a day, which is the wrong side of the fells for a Keswick base.

Cyclists have a recognised route: the Derwentwater, Buttermere and Honister loop from Keswick, a difficult 22.2-mile circuit crossing both passes. It is a serious ride rather than a lane pootle.