Barrow
Barrow at 455m (1,493ft) is a small, grassy summit above Braithwaite, giving one of the finest views of the Coledale valley and the Causey Pike ridge for its modest height.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 455 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 12° to 10°C, gusts to 34 mph, 2.4 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 455 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
Barrow at a glance
Barrow
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Routes up Barrow
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Is Barrow a Wainwright?
Barrow is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.
Where do you park for Barrow?
The nearest car park we hold is Barrow (layby), about 0.6 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Stoneycroft Ghyll, Newlands (free), 0.6 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.
How hard is Barrow?
The shortest way up we hold is Scar Crags, Causey Pike — 12 km, 850 m of ascent, about 3.8 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.
All axes: steepness: Severe · navigation: Hard · exposure: Hard · terrain: Hard · length: Moderate.
My hikes over Barrow (Strava)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- My knees didn't like that (opens in new tab) — 19.0 km · 1421 m ascent · 5h 33m moving · 16 May 2026
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Parking & buses for Barrow
Best parking to hike Barrow
Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).
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 Barrow by bus
The 77 stops at Braithwaite, at Croft Terrace, 10 m from the start of Scar Crags, Causey Pike. Last bus: Monday to Friday 22:27 towards Workington (X5) and 17:37 towards Keswick (77) and 16:37 towards Cockermouth (77); Saturday 00:22 (+1) (after midnight) towards Workington (X5) and 17:37 towards Keswick (77) and 16:37 towards Cockermouth (77); Sunday 20:17 towards Workington (X5) and 17:37 towards Keswick (77) and 16:37 towards Cockermouth (77). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
Hazards on Barrow
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.
A note on Coledale Beck
Coledale Beck runs below the old Force Crag mine and carries mine-derived zinc — enough to matter for river life, though the lead and cadmium that would harm a person stay below the drinking limit here. Treat any hill water before drinking (a filter won’t remove dissolved metals); don’t single this beck out as a clean fill-up.
What’s actually in this beck — we mapped every mine-fed one →
Metal-mine water data © Environment Agency (Open Government Licence v3.0).
Navigating Barrow in cloud
StraightforwardA broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. Navigation here is relatively straightforward even in cloud — but carry map and compass and know how to use them; a low score never means “safe”.
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 Barrow 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
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: Barrow (layby), about 0.6 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Barrow (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.
Routes over Barrow
✎️ The Whinlatter Pass road car park is small and tucked behind the trees — and the bus to Braithwaite makes this an easy car-free round, adding only a couple of hundred metres of road to reach the start.
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this 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 Barrow
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Coledale Round route:
On the Scar Crags, Causey Pike route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
The view from Barrow
The 360° skyline from Barrow
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.
What you can see from Barrow, by direction
- North: Long Side (7 km)
- North-east: Skiddaw Lesser Man (7 km), Skiddaw Little Man (7 km), Jenkin Hill (7 km), Skiddaw South Top (8 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (8 km), Skiddaw (8 km), Knowe Crags (10 km), Gategill Fell Top (11 km), Blencathra (11 km), Atkinson Pike (12 km)
- East: Clough Head (11 km), Watson's Dodd (11 km), Great Dodd (12 km), Stybarrow Dodd (12 km), Randerside (12 km), Raise (12 km)
- South-east: White Side (12 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (13 km), Low White Stones (13 km), Helvellyn (13 km), High Raise (13 km), Catstye Cam (14 km), Nethermost Pike (14 km), High Crag (14 km), Codale Head (14 km), Dollywaggon Pike (15 km), Seat Sandal (16 km), Fairfield (17 km), Great Rigg (17 km)
- South: Hindscarth (5 km), Dale Head (6 km), Kirk Fell (12 km), Great End (13 km), Esk Pike (14 km)
- South-west: Sail (3 km), Crag Hill (4 km), Robinson (6 km)
- West: Eel Crag (4 km), Sand Hill (4 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: White Coomb (94 km, Scotland), Ettrick Pen (86 km, Scotland), Culter Fell (109 km, Scotland), Dun Rig (110 km, Scotland), Gathersnow Hill (105 km, Scotland), Hart Fell (92 km, Scotland), Croft Head (84 km, Scotland), Law Kneis (92 km, Scotland).
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 (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.
Sunrise and sunset on Barrow
Barrow sits close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its longest wait of the modelled year (at midsummer) first light is only 17 minutes after almanac sunrise, so the published sunrise time is a fair guide here.
| First light | Almanac sunrise | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 04:54 BST ±5.0 min | 04:37 | +17 min |
| Equinox | 06:23 GMT ±5.0 min | 06:16 | +7 min |
| Midwinter | 08:40 GMT ±5.0 min | 08:34 | +6 min |
The northern horizon stands at about 1.0° from here.
Last light — when the sun leaves Barrow
Barrow loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls on 1 February, when last light is 66 minutes before almanac sunset — 15:46 against 16:52. The sun goes down to the south-west from here (227.5°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 7.26°.
| Last light | Almanac sunset | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 21:43 BST ±5.0 min | 21:53 | -10 min |
| Equinox | 18:04 GMT ±5.0 min | 18:27 | -23 min |
| Midwinter | 14:53 GMT ±5.0 min | 15:49 | -56 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 Barrow. 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 Barrow
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.- Great Dun Fell North Pennines
- Cross Fell North Pennines
All 52 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Causey Pike, Outerside, Scar Crags, Cat Bells (Catbells), Grisedale Pike, Sail, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Maiden Moor, Walla Crag, Barf, Lord's Seat, Hindscarth, Robinson, High Spy, Dodd (Skiddaw), Latrigg, Bleaberry Fell, Dale Head, Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Carl Side, Long Side, High Seat, Skiddaw Little Man, Ullock Pike, Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw, High Rigg (Naddle Fell), High Tove, Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Clough Head, Eagle Crag, Watson's Dodd, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Great Dodd, Ullscarf, Kirk Fell, Stybarrow Dodd, White Side, Raise, Helvellyn, Allen Crags, Great End, High Raise (High White Stones), Catstye Cam, Binsey, Nethermost Pike, Esk Pike, Dollywaggon Pike, Seat Sandal, Fairfield, Great Rigg, Great Mell Fell
How Barrow’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
From Whinlatter: 10 places in Keswick
Frequently asked questions about Barrow
Is Barrow an easy walk?
Yes — it is one of the friendliest fells in the district and a very common first Wainwright. A steady grassy ridge rises straight from Braithwaite to a rounded top with a disproportionately good view of the Coledale fells, and there is nothing difficult on it anywhere.
Our mapped routes take it as part of bigger days — the Coledale round is 16.0 km with 1108 m of ascent and we rate that Hard. Barrow on its own from the village is a fraction of that, and a route we have not yet measured.
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 (opens in new tab)
Other fells near Barrow
- Ard Crags
- Barf
- Broom Fell
- Castle Crag
- Cat Bells (Catbells)
- Causey Pike
- Crag Hill (Eel Crag)
- Dale Head
- Grasmoor
- Graystones (Graystones North Top)
- Grisedale Pike
- High Spy
- Hindscarth
- Hopegill Head
- Knott Rigg
- Ling Fell
- Lord's Seat
- Maiden Moor
- Outerside
- Rannerdale Knotts
- Robinson
- Sail
- Sale Fell
- Scar Crags
- Wandope
- Whinlatter (Brown How)
- Whiteless Pike
- Whiteside (Whiteside West Top)