The footpath along the eastern side of Hawes Water is accessible for wheelchairs, and a car parking place is provided which can be accessed with a RADAR key.[9]
Fiona Reynolds, writing in Country Life, described Hawes Water as "a mysterious, low-lying marl lake, where ... we are told of riches, bitterns and lady's slipper orchid, that can be seen when the time is right".[10]
It has been recorded that a serpent was believed to live in the lake, emerging occasionally to devour local sheep.[3]
In 2020 Natural England published a Summary guide to the management of Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve, Silverdale, Lancashire 2020–2025[11] and a Grazed Habitats Management Plan: Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve 2020-2025[12] describing their plans for Hawes Water and the rest of the Gait Barrows NNR.
^ abcdeJones, R.T.; Marshall, J.D.; Fisher, E.; Hatton, J.; Patrick, C.; Anderson, K.; Lang, B.; Bedford, A.; Oldfield, F. (November 2011). "Controls on lake level in the early to mid Holocene, Hawes Water, Lancashire, UK". The Holocene. 21 (7): 1061–1072. doi:10.1177/0959683611400455.
^Marshall, Jim D.; Jones, Richard T.; Crowley, Stephen F.; Oldfield, Frank; Nash, Samantha; Bedford, Alan (September 2002). "A high resolution Late-Glacial isotopic record from Hawes Water, Northwest England". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 185 (1–2): 25–40. doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(02)00422-4.