Lakes & Tarns

Lakes & Tarns in the Lakes District & Cumbria

There are sixteen lakes in the Lake District, the largest being Windermere. Only one, Bassenthwaite Lake, is officially a lake by name, the others are meres or waters. Illustrated guides to each of the Lake District lakes can be found below.

Private powered craft are only allowed on Windermere, Coniston Water, Ullswater and Derwentwater. These are also the only Lake District lakes with regular steamer, ferry or launch services. There is a 10 mph restriction on all of these lakes.

There are also many other pieces of water called tarns. Although some tarns are bigger than one of the Lake District lakes, most of the tarns are very small, and some are not even named.

Lakes in the Lake District

Ordered by size, starting with the largest by surface area and descending. Click on the images for each lake page or scroll down to the Map to find lakes near you.
an aerial image of Windermere lake, the largest one of the lakes in the Lake District
Windermere
an aerial image of ullswater lake, the second largest of the lakes in the Lake District
Ullswater
an image of a jetty and skiddaw at derwentwater, the third largest of the lakes in the Lake District
Derwentwater
an image of bassenthwaite lake, the fourth largest of the lakes in the Lake District
Bassenthwaite Lake
an image of coniston water, the fifth largest of the lakes in the Lake District
Coniston Water
an image of haweswater, the sixth largest of the lakes in the Lake District
Haweswater
an image of thirlmere, the seventh largest of the lakes in the Lake District
Thirlmere
an image of ennerdale water, the eigth largest of the lakes in the Lake District
Ennerdale Water
an image of wastwater, the ninth largest of the lakes in the Lake District
Wastwater
an image of crummock water, the tenth largest of the lakes in the Lake District
Crummock Water
an image of esthwaite water, the eleventh largest of the lakes in the Lake District
Esthwaite Water
an image of buttermere, the twelth largest of the lakes in the Lake District
Buttermere
an image of boats at grasmere, the thirteenth largest of the lakes in the Lake District
Grasmere
an image of loweswater, the third smallest of the lakes in the Lake District
Loweswater
an image of rydal water, the second smallest of the lakes in the Lake District
Rydal Water
an image of elterwater, the smallest of the lakes in the Lake District
Elterwater

Tarns of the Lake District and Cumbria

Some of the Tarns, ordered by size, starting with the largest by surface area, where known, and descending.
an image of devoke water
Devoke Water
an image of overwater tarn
Overwater Tarn
an image of brothers water
Brothers Water
an image of tarn hows
Tarn Hows
an image of loughrigg tarn
Loughrigg Tarn
an image of little langdale tarn
Little Langdale Tarn
an image of blea tarn
Blea Tarn (Langdales)
an image of yew tree tarn"
Yew Tree Tarn
an image of watendlath tarn
Watendlath Tarn
an image of tindale tarn
Tindale Tarn
an image of talkin tarn
Talkin Tarn
an image of sunbiggin tarn
Sunbiggin Tarn
an image of mockerkin tarn
Mockerkin Tarn
an image of wet sleddale reservoir
Wet Sleddale Reservoir
an image of cogra moss
Cogra Moss
an image of cow green reservoir
Cow Green Reservoir
an image of longlands lake
Longlands Lake

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