ANGLE TARN – a good wild camping spot for beginners in the Lake District
Angle Tarn in the Lake District is one of the more popular wild camping spots in the Lakes and it’s easy to see why as it’s got everything you’d want including a tarn, stunning views of the surrounding fells, good position for sunset and sunrise views and its fairly straightforward to walk to from Patterdale. In warmer months and on weekends you are likely to encounter others there, but when we went as documented below it was a chilly mid-week night in Spring when it would be much quieter and likely to have the place to ourselves.
PLEASE ACT IN A RESPONSIBLE & CONSIDERATE WAY
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| Angle Tarn in the Lake District – what a spot for a wild camp! |
WHere is Angle Tarn?
Map of Angle Tarn in the Lake District:
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The easiest way to get to Angle Tarn is from Patterdale where it’s a 2.1 mile hike to Angle Tarn. After the initial steepish ascent to Boredale Hause at 399m – its pretty easy going. It will take you around 1.5 hours to get to Angle Tarn. After your wild camp is over, you can either walk back the way you came, or even make a circular walk out of it and head to Hayswater and back via Hartsop.
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| A wild camp at Angle Tarn in the Lake District is one of the best place sto try wild camping out for the first time. It’s no secret so read on to see some photos of my wild camp… |
Photos of our Angle Tarn wild camp:
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Here we are on the ascent up to Boredale Hause, looking back towards Patterdale and Lake Ullswater. As you can see we gain height quite quickly on this section and it’s the steepest section of the walk, a few stops and you should be right. There’s even a bench part way up for you
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After Boredale Hause the path flattens out a bit and you can start to admire the views over towards Brothers Water and beyond.
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We approach Angle Tarn in the Lake District – what a place to pitch up!
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| We decide to go for the little Peninsula close to the Tarn and there is nobody else about. |
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| Our 4 tents all pitched up – for a couple of the lads it was their first wild camp (and happy to say, despite the cold, I don’t think it will be their last haha) |
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Once your pitched up and sorted its time to enjoy a few beers and a bit of craic with your mates – one of the best things about wild camping.
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As the night draws in the comfort of your tent and warm sleeping bag becomes very appealing.
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What a place to wake up to eh! This is why wild camping is so good
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Time for a cuppa using water from the tarn. Boiling water does kill the majority of germs, but I’ve been using a superb new water filter bottle, the Katadyn BeFree, which means I can also take water from pretty much anywhere including tarns/streams etc and drink it safely whilst cold straight from the bottle. There’s no pumping required like other water filters and for just my needs it’s my favourite ‘easy-to-use’ water filter and a great little product investment!
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Time to get the day going with a dip in the tarn! I do like a bit of wild swimming but with an air temperature of about 2c on this morning it was certainly refreshing.
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| After a class night away with the lads and a bit of brekkie it’s time to head back down to Patterdale |
And there you have it – a little introduction to one of the Lake Districts best Wild Camping spots. The purists will say Angle Tarn is becoming too popular and if you want perfect solitude go somewhere else – but for those new to wild camping – it’s a great little spot to get into it. If you go mid-week outside of the summer months – you might just get it to yourself.
Angle Tarn is the first wild camp I took my son on aged 8. It rained he cried and I felt terrible! He is now 25 and a happy wild camper so lm feeling better. Great blog Steve
Well you must have done something right Steve as your son wasn't put off and now seems right into the outdoors 🙂 wondering at what age to take mine for a wild camp 😛 Glad you enjoy the blog – thanks for stopping by
Just came back from a wild camp at Angle Tarn , our 1st , what a great spot , was a few other tents but well spaced apart , the hike up is a bit of a slog but we’ll worth it , thanks Stuart for the info 👍
Glad you enjoyed it and hope this is the first of many wild camps for you
I have just read all this information and I found it utterly wonderful. My grandson who is 16 has just started a bit of wild camping with his friends but quite locally. I am going to print all this out for him as it is all such wise information. I wish I could go on these adventures with him but I will just listen to his stories instead and hope and pray he stays safe. Thank you so much
Thanks for you lovely comment Linda. I hope it helps inspire your grandson into a world of adventures and to wild camp in an enjoyable, safe & responsible way