Mermaid's Pool

• Best months: roughly June to August, when air and water are least cold, but the pool often shrinks, smells or turns stagnant in hot, dry weather, so there is a trade-off.
• After rain: heavy rain raises and freshens the pool but makes the moorland walk boggier and navigation harder; in prolonged dry spells the pool can shrink to mud.
• Winter: very cold, exposed and short daylight, for experienced winter-hill walkers only.
• Crowding: usually quiet, especially on weekdays; the car park and lower path are busiest on summer weekends, but few people walk all the way to the pool.
• Fire risk: in warm, dry spells the surrounding moorland carries a serious wildfire risk; barbecues, camp stoves, fires, fireworks and sky lanterns are not permitted. High Peak Borough Council approved a Public Space Protection Order on 13 June 2025 covering public open land in the High Peak area, and breaches may be discharged by a Fixed Penalty Notice of 100 pounds, reduced to 75 pounds if paid within 10 days, or prosecuted in the Magistrates' Court. The Peak District National Park Authority states there is no provision for having a barbecue in the open countryside of the Peak District.

The pool sits on National Trust moorland that is registered open access under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, which gives a statutory right to walk across the moor. There is no general statutory right to swim in inland water in England, so the legal position on bathing is not a formal right.

• Land: National Trust open access moorland, CROW Act 2000.
• CROW restrictions on open access land include bans on fires, barbecues and camping and require dogs to be kept on leads during the ground-nesting season.
• Kinder Reservoir on the approach is United Utilities land, and United Utilities operates a year-round ban on swimming in the reservoir. The reservoir and Mermaid's Pool are different bodies of water; do not swim in the reservoir.

Follow any National Trust signage you find on the day.

Mermaid's Pool is not a designated bathing water and its water quality is not monitored, so cleanliness is unknown and you should verify by eye on the day.

• Not a designated bathing water; no Environment Agency bathing-water classification exists for this pool.
• The pool sits near the head of the catchment with no sewage works or storm overflows upstream; the nearest monitored sewage discharge is Hayfield Wastewater Treatment Works, downstream in the valley.
• The water is naturally peat-stained and can look and smell stagnant in warm, dry weather; visitors report peaty mud and a stagnant appearance.
• Standing upland pools can develop blue-green algae in warm, still conditions; no algal-bloom records specific to this pool were found, but avoid swallowing the water and keep dogs out if you see scum. Check locally.

Not a family swimming or paddling trip. Reaching Mermaid's Pool means a long, exposed moorland walk of well over an hour each way to a shallow, muddy, often stagnant pool with no facilities, no shade and no phone signal. Only older, hardy children who can comfortably manage the full moorland hike should be considered, and then as walkers rather than for a relaxed swim.

• No lifeguard cover; this is remote open water.
• No shallow, sandy paddling area; edges are boggy peat and the bottom is soft mud.
• No playground, café, toilets or baby changing at the pool; nearest facilities are back in Hayfield.
• Shade: none, open moorland.

Dogs are allowed on the moor but must be kept on a lead; there are strong wildlife and livestock reasons for this.

• National Trust guidance asks for leads at all times to protect grazing farm animals and ground-nesting birds.
• By law, on CROW open access land dogs must be on a short lead from 1 March to 31 July to protect ground-nesting birds.
• Livestock: grazing sheep on the approach, keep dogs leashed well before reaching animals.
• Water hazards for dogs: soft boggy margins and cold water; in warm, still conditions be alert to blue-green algae and keep dogs from drinking or swimming if scum is visible. Check locally.
• No rinse-off facilities and no bins on the moor, take dog waste home.

Not accessible. There is no step-free or wheelchair route to Mermaid's Pool: it is reached only by a long, rough, boggy, partly off-path moorland walk with stiles and gates, and there are no made paths, ramps or slipways at the water.

• Blue Badge parking is free at Bowden Bridge car park and there is a RADAR-key toilet there, but that is the limit of accessible provision; the pool itself is well beyond it.
• No Changing Places facilities, beach wheelchairs or accessible entry exist at the spot.

There are no facilities at Mermaid's Pool, no toilets, no changing, no water and no bins. Everything is back in Hayfield, several miles away.

• Nearest toilets: Bowden Bridge car park (24 hours; RADAR-key accessible toilet) and the Sett Valley Trail car park in Hayfield.
• Food and shops in Hayfield: cafés, a village store and pubs; the nearest services are in the village.
• Phone signal: reported poor to none at the car park and on the moor, do not rely on a phone for navigation or emergencies.
• Defibrillators in Hayfield: reported locations include the phone box outside the chemist and a point beyond The Sportsman pub on Kinder Road; verify current status locally.
• Nearest emergency care: unknown, verify locally; the nearest major hospitals are in Stockport and Greater Manchester.
• No lifebuoys or throwlines on site.

No regular swim group is known to use Mermaid's Pool as a venue. The Peak District has a lively cold-water community, with local groups and chapters in the wider area, but none is tied specifically to this pool. Unknown, verify locally for any current Hayfield-area group.