View of mountains above Wasdale copyright Tony West

Lake District facts and figures

Lake District National Park area

The Lake District National Park is England's largest and covers:

  • 2362 square kilometres
  • 912 square miles
  • Width (west to east): 58 km or 36 miles
  • Length (north to south): 64 km or 40 miles

Find out about the land ownership in the Lake District.

Ten highest mountains

  1. Scafell Pike (978 metres)
  2. Scafell (964 metres)
  3. Helvellyn (950 metres)
  4. Skiddaw (931 metres)
  5. Great End (910 metres)
  6. Bowfell (902 metres)
  7. Great Gable (899 metres)
  8. Pillar (892 metres)
  9. Nethermost Pike (891 metres)
  10. Catstycam (890 metres)

There are at least 200 fell tops. The writer Alfred Wainwright wrote about 214. Check out the List of Wainwrights (opens in new window)

Sixteen largest lakes

  1. Windermere - (14.8 km²)
  2. Ullswater - (8.9 km²)
  3. Derwentwater - (5.5 km²)
  4. Bassenthwaite Lake - (5.3 km²)
  5. Coniston Water - (4.0 km²)
  6. Haweswater - 3.9 (3.9 km²)
  7. Thirlmere - (3.3 km²)
  8. Ennerdale Water - (3 km²)
  9. Wastwater - (2.9 km²)
  10. Crummock Water - (2.5 km²)
  11. Esthwaite Water - (1 km²)
  12. Buttermere - (0.9 km²)
  13. Grasmere - (0.6 km²)
  14. Loweswater - (0.6 km²)
  15. Rydal Water - (0.3 km²)
  16. Brotherswater - (0.2 km²)

Tarns

Tarn comes from the Old Norse word for 'pool'. It usually refers to a small mountain lake or pool. However as some tarns are larger than lakes, it's not an exact science! Here are some of the larger ones:

  • Blea Tarn
  • Little Langdale Tarn
  • Overwater Tarn
  • Stickle Tarn
  • Tarn Hows
  • Watendlath Tarn
  • Yew Tree Tarn

Facts about lakes and coastline

  • The deepest lake in England is Wastwater at 74 metres.
  • England's longest lake is Windermere which is 10.5 miles long (17km).
  • There is only one 'official' lake - Bassenthwaite Lake. All the others are 'meres' or 'waters'. A popular quiz question!
  • The National Park includes 26 miles (42km) of coastline and estuaries.
  • In the heavy rains of November 2009, Windermere lake rose 157cm. Over the week, that translates into an extra 35,700,000,000 litres. 22,100,000,000 litres of those were added in just 36 hours! This is the highest level ever recorded for the lake.

Facts about trees and woodlands

  • Woodland covers 13% of the Lake District National Park.
  • 95 km² is owned or managed by the Forestry Commission.
  • 120 km² is broadleaf woodland. This accounts for 64% of all woodland.
  • 6.2 km² of woodland is owned and managed by the National Park.
  • We want to increase woodland cover in the National Park to 17% by 2050.

Key dates

  • 1810 William Wordsworth publishes "Guide to the Lakes".
  • 1847 Kendal and Windermere railway reaches Windermere.
  • 1951 Lake District National Park established - read more in History of the National Park
  • 2016 Lake District National Park extended.
  • 2017 Lake District National Park is awarded World Heritage Site status.

Local population and housing


* 38,993 people live within the boundaries of the National Park. (Source: Census 2021 from the Office for National Statistics)
* Population density per square kilometre: 16.5
* Total dwellings: 24,511 (Source: LDNPA Annual Monitoring Report)
* Owner occupied: 68% (Source: Mid-Year 2018 Office for National Statistics Population Estimates)
* Rented: 41.9% (Source: Mid-Year 2018 Office for National Statistics Population Estimates)
* Holiday or second homes: 24% (Source: 2011 census)

Tourism

Tourism is the main source of income for Lake District economy. Tourism brings great benefits to the area. Visitors spend money on accommodation, food, drink and leisure activities and indirectly support other business such as wholesalers and the building trade.

  • There were 18.11 million tourists to the Lake District in 2023
  • There were 27.21 million tourist days (spending more than three hours) in the Lake District in 2023
  • Tourism revenue for the Lake District in 2023 was £2304 million (£2.304 billion)

Source for all figures: Cumbria Tourism has provided these figures.

Find out more in Tourism.

Weather

Temperature in Ambleside:

Maximum temperature

  • July – 20.18 °C
  • January - 7°C

Minimum temperature

  • July -  11.83 °C
  • January - 1.23 °C

Annual rainfall:

  • in Ambleside: 2103 mm
  • in Seathwaite, the wettest inhabited place in England: 3552mm

Natural Heritage

  • 556 km² Sites of Special Scientific Interest

Cultural Heritage

Need more?

The State of the Park Report includes statistics on farming, employment and tourism.

Learn more about the UK's 15 National Parks

National Parks UK

For facts and figures about other National Parks, check out National Parks - Learning about