Aira Force and Gowbarrow Park

Aira Force is the waterfall everybody photographs on the Ullswater side of the Lakes: sixty five feet of it dropping through a Victorian planted glade with stone bridges at the top and the bottom. From the main car park it is about a mile there and back, a real walk for a four year old but not an unreasonable one.

The National Trust run it properly. Tea room with indoor and outdoor seating doing drinks, snacks and ice cream, a small toilet block in the car park with an accessible cubicle and extra portaloos added in summer, a picnic area, and water taps for refilling bottles. Dogs are welcome but must stay on leads throughout because of the livestock.

The catch is terrain and parking. Much of the site is steep and rugged and the waterfall itself cannot be reached by wheelchair or pushchair. Parking is £7 for two hours at the main car park and £10 for the day, and members park free but still have to scan their card. Penrith is ten miles away, and the Stagecoach 508 from Penrith takes about half an hour if you would rather not drive it.

What it costs: No admission charge; you pay to park. The main Aira Force car park at CA11 0JS is £7 for two hours, £8.50 for four hours and £10 all day. Glencoyne Bay, Park Brow and High Cascades are £6, £8 and £9.50. Card or cash at the machine, or the JustPark app. National Trust members park free but must register at the machine. Countryside and car park open dawn to dusk; tea room hours change with the season (10am to 4.30pm in late September).

Worth knowing: Steep, rugged paths. The waterfall cannot be reached by pushchair or wheelchair, so small children need carrying.

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