---
title: "Ashness Bridge and Surprise View | Visit Keswick, Lake District"
url: https://visitkeswick.com/explore/not-to-miss/ashness-bridge
description: "The packhorse bridge off the Watendlath road, the panorama above it, and the four ways to get to both."
---

## The bridge

South from Keswick the B5289 winds along close to the shore of Derwentwater, with magnificent views across the lake to Catbells and Maiden Moor. A minor road branches left towards [Watendlath](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/valleys/watendlath) , and crosses [Ashness Bridge](https://what3words.com/tune.clattered.craftsman) on the way.

It is one of the most photographed bridges in the Lake District, and its image spends a good deal of its time on biscuit tins and tea towels. A fine small packhorse bridge striding over a fast-running beck, it makes a perfect foreground for the view north over Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite, with the mass of Skiddaw rising steeply above Keswick.

Derwentwater and the vale seen from the viewpoint above Ashness with a walker looking on

## Surprise View

A short stroll a little further up the hill brings you to [Surprise View](https://what3words.com/copying.shadowed.bounding) — a magnificent panorama over Keswick and the whole of Derwentwater, from the top of the crags rather than the shore.

It is worth doing both in one go: the bridge is the picture, and the view is the reason to keep walking past it.

## Four ways to get here

### By launch

Take the Keswick launch to Ashness Gate and walk up the narrow lane — about twenty minutes from the jetty to the bridge, and a short climb further to Surprise View.

[Derwentwater launches](https://visitkeswick.com/do/derwentwater-lake-cruises)

### By bus

Take the Honister Rambler (summer only) or the Seatoller bus (all year) and get off at the Derwentwater Youth Hostel stop, a short distance from the end of the lane.

[Bus times and routes](https://visitkeswick.com/visitor-info/getting-to-keswick)

### Ashness Bridge car park

National Trust, CA12 5UN — right at the bridge, for the photograph everyone comes for.

[W3W: eternity.cropping.voice (opens in a new tab)](https://w3w.co/eternity.cropping.voice)

### Surprise View car park

National Trust, CA12 5UU — higher up the same lane, for the view across Derwentwater.

[W3W: myth.purchaser.dressings (opens in a new tab)](https://w3w.co/myth.purchaser.dressings)

A beck running over rocks below Ashness Bridge with Derwentwater beyond

## Carry on up the lane

The road past the bridge climbs on to [Watendlath](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/valleys/watendlath) — a hamlet and a tarn at the end of a dead-end lane, and one of the quieter corners of the district. It is narrow, single-track and busy in summer, so it is worth going early or leaving the car behind altogether.

[Find somewhere to stay](https://visitkeswick.com/stay)

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- Ashness Bridge
- Surprise View
- [Keswick](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/town)
- [Watendlath](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/valleys/watendlath)
- [Derwentwater](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/lakes/derwentwater)

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