Derwent Water - Borrowdale's Lake
Start/Finish: GR: 268 204
Distance: 5 miles
Time: 2.5 hrs
Map: OS Outdoor Leisure (1:25,000) - Sheet 4
Contact: To find out more about canoe hire for Derwent Water visit: www.lakescanoeandkayak.co.uk or telephone: 01768 486465
Derwent Water guards the entrance to Borrowdale - or does the lake nestle within the fells that protect the dale? Lake and dale are inextricably linked and together make for one of the finest landscapes in the Lake District. There's the classic combination of fell, crag and water, but as a very definite bonus this dale still holds close to its original cover of woodland. It's drawn artists, poets and writers for centuries. This is very much the type of landscape that saw the birth of the Canadian canoe - woodland, lake and river - and somehow it doesn't really matter that the original birthplace was on the other side of the Atlantic. You'll feel at home here in a canoe!
Derwent Water, by itself is a great place to paddle, but when you combine it with the River Derwent you can start to enjoy the potential and flexibility of a canoe. While you can simply enjoy the open waters of the lake and its islands, you could also head off upstream, along the river, through its delta and marshes and without any major difficultly - assuming the river's at a reasonable level - paddle up to the bridge at Grange just below the small gorge known as the "Jaws of Borrowdale".
1. A good start point is at Barrow Bay - here there's parking across the road and good footpath access via the landing stage for the steamers. The lakes numerous islands present an immediate attraction to the flat water paddler, but there are other options for the more adventurous.
2. From Barrow Bay paddle south shadowing the eastern shore of Derwent Water until you reach the low lying land and marshes at the outflow of the upper River Derwent. A couple of low lying islands at the mouth of the river will help you locate it. You should be able to nose your way upstream without too much difficulty and the two person paddling arrangement of a Canadian canoe will provide both independent power and steerage - a distinct advantage over the solo paddler of a kayak when making your way upstream.
3. As you go upstream the river meanders through the marshes and the reeds that line the bank. There's often a lot of wildfowl around here. The flow of the river won't impede you that much and soon you'll be through the small pool of Cannon Dub and heading beneath the footbridge on the causeway that crosses the marshes.
4. Paddling upstream you'll easily clear Leatherside Dub and enter Borrowdale, before the rivers flow starts to assert itself and banks of shingles start to appear, channelling the river into small rapids, or "riffles" - as the Canadian's call them. You should however, be able to reach the island and bridge at Grange without undue difficulty. This is a good place for lunch.
5. Then it's simply a matter of turning around to retrace your paddle strokes while enjoying the flow of the river and then heading across the lake to your put in point.
