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475 m · Wainwright — Central Fells · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

A rocky outcrop with a small cairn on a heathery top, with fells along the distant skyline
Wainwright — Central Fells

Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

Armboth Fell at 479m (1,572ft) is a broad, peaty summit on the central plateau between Thirlmere and Watendlath, giving adequate views across to the Helvellyn range.

475 m
Height
~2.5–3 h
Typical time
+10
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →

Home › Fells › Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

Written and walked by Lee McCoy

475 mWainwright — Central Fellssummit is not a Birkett top+10 bonus Birketts within 3 km Severe in cloud

Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast

Modelled guidance for the 475 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Sat 12 Sep): 15° to 8°C, gusts to 39 mph, 19.7 mm of rain forecast.

Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
15° / 8°
💨 39 mph
🌧 19.7 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
☁️
15° / 10°
💨 13 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (12%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌦️
16° / 12°
💨 36 mph
🌧 3.3 mm (100%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌧️
15° / 10°
💨 37 mph
🌧 10.6 mm (98%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
11° / 9°
💨 27 mph
🌧 4.1 mm (54%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌧️
11° / 9°
💨 35 mph
🌧 16.8 mm (97%)
Fri 18 Sep
🌧️
12° / 9°
💨 37 mph
🌧 13.8 mm (92%)

Forecast snapshot from 12 Sep 2026, 15:36 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 475 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top) at a glance

Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

A rocky outcrop with a small cairn on a heathery top, with fells along the distant skyline
© Lee McCoy

Armboth Fell at 479m (1,572ft) is a broad, peaty summit on the central plateau between Thirlmere and Watendlath, giving adequate views across to the Helvellyn range. Wainwright included it as part of the Central Fells, noting its somewhat boggy and uninspiring character — not one of his enthusiasms. The ascent from Thirlmere is short and the summit is most naturally combined with High Tove and Watendlath for a quiet circuit above the reservoir. The Thirlmere views are reasonable on a clear day.

Routes up Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.

Standing Crag, High Tove, Armboth
14.3 km · ~3.8 hr
Six tops on the wet watershed between Thirlmere and Borrowdale — Standing Crag, Shivery Knott, Middle Crag, High Tove and Armboth Fell. 14.3 km and 545 m, rated hard for length, steepness and navigation. About 3.8 hours.

Classifications & hill data

Wainwright
Central
Synge
475 m
Height
1,558 ft
In feet

The short answers

Is Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top) a Wainwright?

Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top) is a Wainwright. It is also on the Synge list.

Where do you park for Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)?

The nearest car park we hold is Fisher Crag (verge), about 1.3 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Fisher Crag (layby, north), 1.3 km out. We only look within 2.5 km, measured straight-line: over longer distances a road may cross a pass and the drive bears no relation to the line.

My hikes over Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top) (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.

Parking & buses for Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

Best parking to hike Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).

Fisher Crag (verge) — 1.3 km from summit (straight line)
0.4 km from Fisher Crag.
Directions Something changed here?
Fisher Crag (layby, north) — 1.3 km from summit (straight line)
0.6 km from Fisher Crag.
Directions Something changed here?
Fisher Crag (layby, south) — 1.4 km from summit (straight line)
0.7 km from Fisher Crag.
Directions Something changed here?
Armboth, Thirlmere (United Utilities, paid) — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
West shore of Thirlmere - Armboth Fell and High Tove. Fees: pay and display (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked Aug 2026). Pay and display (visitlakedistrict.com, which names United Utilities as operator) (United Utilities, checked Aug 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
Watendlath (NT, paid) — 2.0 km from summit (straight line)
End of the narrow Watendlath road — Grange Fell, Great Crag, Armboth fells. Fees: pay and display (LDNP directory, checked Aug 2026). £7 up to 2 hours; £8 up to 4 hours; £9.50 all day. Charges apply at all times. Cash at machine; card/phone payment not available in all car parks (NT, checked Aug 2026). Free for NT members (checked Aug 2026). Charges apply at all times. Cash at machine; JustPark app at some car parks; card/phone payment not available in all car parks (NT, checked Aug 2026).
Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate — zoom the map to confirm. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.

Tip: pan and zoom the interactive map at the top of this page to spot other potential parking near your route.

Vehicles are left entirely at their owner’s risk. We list places people park; we cannot vouch for any of them. Judge it on the day: take valuables with you, leave nothing on show, and if a spot feels wrong when you get there, park somewhere else.

Getting to Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top) by bus

The 555 stops at Thirlmere, at Armboth turn. From there it is 1.7 km and 54 m of ascent to the start of Standing Crag, High Tove, Armboth — a walk in before the walk. Last bus: Monday to Friday 20:55 towards Keswick (555); Saturday 20:55 towards Keswick (555); Sunday 18:46 towards Keswick (555). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 555
Kendal – Staveley – Windermere – Ambleside – Rydal – Grasmere – Thirlmere (Wythburn & Swirls) – Keswick
Catch it from: Windermere · Ambleside
Year-round, roughly hourly. The backbone bus of the A591 — ideal for Helvellyn (Wythburn/Swirls), Fairfield, the Central fells and anything around Grasmere/Rydal. From Penrith, take the X4/X5 to Keswick and change.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Hazards on Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

No hazard card for this fell. The usual open-fell rules apply: check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected.

Navigating Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top) in cloud

Severe

A broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. A serious place to be caught in cloud: carry map and compass (or GPS) and know how to use them, or save it for a clear day.

In winter — snow, whiteout, cornices, buried features — every top demands full winter navigation skills whatever its band, and a broad, gentle summit can be the worst place of all. See walking in bad weather and the navigation guide.

How Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top) compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.

Map & nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.

Nearest parking: Fisher Crag (verge), about 1.3 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top) (within 3 km)

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits — detour to them on this walk and they are pure profit. Distances are straight-line; allow extra for terrain.

0.2 km NNEArmboth Fell (Birkett)479 m · Central
0.8 km WSWShivery Knott491 m · Central
0.8 km WMiddle Crag484 m · Central
1.1 km ENEFisher Crag421 m · Central
1.1 km SWWatendlath Fell (Long Moss)515 m · Central
1.5 km SBell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)559 m · Central
1.5 km SEBrown Rigg462 m · Central
2.4 km SStanding Crag611 m · Central
2.6 km SSWLow Saddle656 m · Central
2.9 km SSWColdbarrow Fell - High Saddle675 m · Central

Routes over Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

Standing Crag, High Tove, ArmbothLive
14.26 km · ~545 m ascent · loop · ~3.5–5 h
Summits: Standing CragShivery KnottMiddle CragHigh ToveArmboth Fell (Birkett)Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.

On the hill: terrain and water on Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Standing Crag, High Tove, Armboth route:

🚺 map (29 m)

On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.

The view from Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

The 360° skyline from Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

A computed 360° skyline — every visible named top labelled by distance and bearing, from the terrain model in perfect clarity, not photographed. Drag to pan; reveal the far four-nations horizon.

drag to pan · arrow keys
Computed 360-degree skyline from Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)34 labelled tops shown (0 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWScafell Pike · 12 kmHelvellyn · 5 kmBowfell · 11 kmGreat Gable · 10 kmPillar · 13 kmNethermost Pike · 5 kmEsk Pike · 10 kmHigh Crag · 5 kmRaise · 5 kmFairfield · 7 kmBlencathra · 12 kmWhite Side · 4 kmGreat Dodd · 7 kmGrasmoor · 13 kmLingmell · 12 kmGrisedale Pike · 12 kmSand Hill · 12 kmDale Head · 7 kmHigh Crag · 12 kmSeat Sandal · 6 kmHindscarth · 8 kmClough Head · 8 kmBrandreth · 9 kmLonscale Fell · 12 kmKnott · 17 kmColdbarrow Fell · 3 kmHeron Pike North Top · 9 kmSteel Fell · 5 kmStanding Crag · 2 kmBrown Crag · 4 kmHigh Seat · 2 kmBell Crags · 2 kmHigh Tove · 1 kmArmboth Fell · 0 kmHelvellyn Lower Man · 4 kmDollywaggon Pike · 6 kmCrag Hill · 11 kmKnowe Crags · 11 kmAllen Crags · 9 kmGrey Knotts · 8 kmGreat Calva · 16 kmScales Fell · 13 kmCalfhow Pike · 6 kmThornythwaite Fell · 6 kmLow Saddle · 3 kmShivery Knott · 1 km
What you can see from Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top), by direction
  • North: Knowe Crags (11 km), Gategill Fell Top (12 km), Blencathra (12 km), Doddick Fell (12 km)
  • North-east: Watson's Dodd (6 km), Little Dodd (6 km), Great Dodd (7 km)
  • East: Helvellyn Lower Man (4 km), White Side (4 km), Helvellyn (5 km), Nethermost Pike (5 km), Raise (5 km)
  • South-east: High Crag (5 km), Dollywaggon Pike (6 km), Seat Sandal (6 km), Fairfield (7 km)
  • South-west: Glaramara (7 km), Looking Steads (8 km), Allen Crags (9 km), Great End (10 km), Great Gable (10 km), Esk Pike (10 km), Bowfell (11 km), Kirk Fell East Top (11 km), Ill Crag (11 km), Kirk Fell (11 km), Lingmell (12 km), Scafell Pike (12 km)
  • West: Dale Head (7 km), Wandope (12 km), High Crag (12 km), Grasmoor (13 km), Pillar (13 km)
  • North-west: Sail (11 km), Crag Hill (11 km), Eel Crag (12 km), Grisedale Pike (12 km), Hobcarton Crag (12 km), Sand Hill (12 km), Hopegill Head (13 km)

Computed from terrain in perfect clarity, not photographed · distances are straight-line.

Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top) waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 April, when the sun is up for 44 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 07:29 against an almanac sunrise of 06:45. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the east from here (89.9°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 5.88°.

0°30°40°50°60°70°05:07
Midsummer. The filled shape is the skyline as seen from the summit; the line is the sun’s path. Where they meet is first light — everything left of that point is the wait.
Times for 2026, in Lakeland clock time (GMT in winter, BST in summer) — and model outputs rather than observations.
First lightAlmanac sunriseDifference
Midsummer05:07 BST ±5.0 min04:37+30 min
Equinox06:58 GMT ±5.0 min06:15+43 min
Midwinter08:51 GMT ±5.0 min08:33+18 min

The northern horizon stands at about 1.58° from here.

Last light — when the sun leaves Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top) loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls at midwinter, when last light is 25 minutes before almanac sunset — 15:24 against 15:49. The sun goes down to the south-west from here (223.3°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 2.37°.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
Last lightAlmanac sunsetDifference
Midsummer21:36 BST ±5.0 min21:53-17 min
Equinox18:14 GMT ±5.0 min18:26-12 min
Midwinter15:24 GMT ±5.0 min15:49-25 min

Computed, not photographed. First light is the first minute the sun’s upper limb clears this summit’s own skyline and last light the last minute it is still clear of it, both solved against the 360° horizon profile behind The View from Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top). Almanac sunrise and sunset are the flat-horizon convention. Every time carries a ± band from the 30 m elevation model — it smooths arêtes and cornices, so nothing here claims better than five minutes. These are daylight figures, not a descent plan: the light goes on fading for a good while after the sun leaves, and going down in it is a decision about your own ground and party, not about this table.

What you can see from Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
41Wainwrights in view+14 marginal
—Sea in viewnone from here
All 41 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

High Tove, High Seat, Raven Crag, White Side, Helvellyn, Nethermost Pike, Raise, Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Watson's Dodd, Dollywaggon Pike, Stybarrow Dodd, High Spy, Seat Sandal, Great Dodd, Glaramara, Dale Head, Fairfield, Hindscarth, Grey Knotts, Brandreth, Fleetwith Pike, Green Gable, Heron Pike (Rydal), Great End, Great Gable, Bowfell, Haystacks (Buttermere), Sail, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Kirk Fell, Lingmell, Wandope, Lonscale Fell, High Crag (Buttermere), Grisedale Pike, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Hopegill Head, Grasmoor, Pillar, Great Calva, Knott

How Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)’s view compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

Sightlines from a bare-earth terrain model (forests and buildings not included), corrected for the Earth’s curvature and average atmospheric refraction. “Distant” sightlines and any over 100 km depend on exceptionally clear air. Modelled from Copernicus GLO-30 open elevation data — a guide to the view, not a guarantee of any single one.

Places to stay near this fell

Dale Head Hall Lakeside Hotel hotel

about 3.5 km from the start, in a straight line

It is the only property in this cluster whose own site answers a family question. The rooms page names sixteen rooms, numbered Room 2 to Room 17, and states the floor for each: rooms 10, 11, 12 and 13 are ground floor, and of those, Room 10 ("This room can accommodate two extra single beds for a family") and Room 11 ("This room can accommodate one extra bed for families and can be made as a twin") take extra beds - so a party with children and someone who cannot face stairs can be housed in one room without phoning first. Room 11 and Room 12 also state "Private patio space"; Room 10 does not. Against that, the site is silent on everything a wet walker asks - see unknowns - so this is a good family bed and an unproven walking one.

The hotel's grounds are inside a designated red squirrel reserve, and rather than lean on its postcode it publishes its front door as a what3words address, CRACKS.DIAMOND.RESPECTED.

  • Family rooms “A warm, traditionally designed family room, with one double and two single beds.”
  • Evening meal “Why not enjoy a trip out to nearby Keswick for the day before coming back and enjoying a delicious bar meal.”
  • Children “This room can accommodate two extra single beds for a family.”

What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions about Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

Is Armboth Fell a hard walk?

Nothing about the climbing is hard. Everything about the ground is. Armboth Fell is a low rise on the sodden plateau above Thirlmere, and the walking is heather, peat and standing water with barely a path to follow.

Our round with Standing Crag and High Tove is 14.3 km with 545 m of ascent — very little climbing for the distance, which is exactly the tell — and we grade the navigation hard. Go after a dry spell, or do not go.

Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction

Other fells near Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)