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

Wainwright — Western FellsAlso a Birkett

Base Brown

Base Brown at 646m (2,119ft) is a craggy summit above Seathwaite in Borrowdale, its north face dropping in crags to the Borrowdale valley.

646 m
Height
~4.5–5.5 h
Typical time
+8
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →

Home › Fells › Base Brown

646 mWainwright — Western Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+8 bonus Birketts within 3 km Care needed in cloud

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

Modelled guidance for the 646 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 11° to 8°C, gusts to 24 mph, 1.4 mm of rain forecast.

Fri 11 Sep
🌦️
11° / 8°
💨 24 mph
🌧 1.4 mm (100%)
Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
14° / 9°
💨 51 mph
🌧 45.1 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
🌦️
12° / 7°
💨 21 mph
🌧 0.2 mm (74%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌧️
14° / 7°
💨 33 mph
🌧 18.7 mm (96%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌧️
13° / 8°
💨 32 mph
🌧 13.2 mm (100%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
10° / 8°
💨 34 mph
🌧 6.0 mm (96%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌦️
10° / 8°
💨 38 mph
🌧 11.6 mm (98%)

Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 646 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

Base Brown at a glance

Base Brown

Base Brown, a Lake District fell
Photo: Mick Knapton at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Base Brown at 646m (2,119ft) is a craggy summit above Seathwaite in Borrowdale, its north face dropping in crags to the Borrowdale valley. Wainwright noted the fine views of the Borrowdale valley from the summit and the excellent position above Sourmilk Gill. The ascent from Seathwaite farm is short and direct via the Taylorgill Force path. Most naturally combined with Green Gable and Great Gable for a Seathwaite circuit — the classic Borrowdale approach to the Gable group.

Routes up Base Brown

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

Seathwaite, Green Gable, Base Brown
14.8 km · ~4.5 hr
Both Seathwaite Fell tops with Green Gable and Base Brown — four summits in 14.8 km and 938 m, rated hard for terrain, navigation and exposure and severe for steepness. About 4.5 hours on properly rough ground.

Classifications & hill data

Wainwright
Western
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
Nuttall
646 m
Height
2,119 ft
In feet
NY 2251 1146
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Base Brown a Wainwright?

Base Brown is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Nuttall list and the Fellranger list.

Where do you park for Base Brown?

The nearest car park we hold is Seathwaite Farm, Borrowdale (free verge), about 1.4 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Thornythwaite Fell (layby), 1.5 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 Base Brown?

The shortest way up we hold is Seathwaite, Green Gable, Base Brown — 14.8 km, 938 m of ascent, about 4.5 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.

All axes: steepness: Severe · navigation: Hard · exposure: Hard · length: Hard · terrain: Hard.

Parking & buses for Base Brown

Best parking to hike Base Brown

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

Seathwaite Farm, Borrowdale (free verge) — 1.4 km from summit (straight line)
Free verge parking on the Seathwaite lane — the honeypot start for the Scafells, Great Gable and Glaramara. Arrive very early.
🕑 Typically full before 09:00 on fine weekends, Apr-Oct — Lee McCoy, local observation, 2026-08-09.
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: Honister Pass (paid, slate mine) (1.8 km); Seatoller (NT, paid) (2.0 km); Rosthwaite (NT, paid) (3.8 km)
🚺 Public toilets (~188 m straight line) — Free
Thornythwaite Fell (layby) — 1.5 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Allen Crags, High House Tarn Top (High House - Allen Crags), Red Beck Top (Glaramara South Top) (Lincomb Head - Glaramara) and Looking Steads (Glaramara) — the 'Allan Crags & Glaramara' route starts 135 m away. Also serves 'Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route'. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Thornythwaite Fell, north-west (layby) — 1.6 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Allen Crags, High House Tarn Top (High House - Allen Crags), Red Beck Top (Glaramara South Top) (Lincomb Head - Glaramara) and Looking Steads (Glaramara) — the 'Allan Crags & Glaramara' route starts 255 m away. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Honister (NT, paid) — 2.1 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Great Gable, Green Gable, Brandreth and Grey Knotts — the 'Great Gable from Honister Slate Mine' route starts 61 m away. Also serves 'Haystacks'. Paid National Trust car park - the prices we used to show here came from an aggregator rather than the Trust, so we no longer publish a figure; check the machine on arrival, and members should bring their card (National Trust car-park list, checked Aug 2026). The machine takes cards, and National Trust members park free on production of their membership card (Lee McCoy, local observation, recorded 12 Aug 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
Honister Pass (paid, slate mine) — 2.1 km from summit (straight line)
Pay & display at the top of the pass — Dale Head, Fleetwith Pike, Grey Knotts with minimal ascent. This is the slate mine's own car park, the WESTERN one; the National Trust car park 170 m east is a separate one. Fees: Day parking GBP 5 per day for visitors; free for all Honister activity guests (honister.com/your-visit/). Overnight parking GBP 15 a night in the large bottom car park, open to campervans, motorhomes and vans, no tent camping, no facilities, no electric hook-ups; book online or pay by QR code on arrival and display confirmation on the dashboard (honister.com/your-visit/overnight-parking) (operator, checked Aug 2026). You pay by card, inside the building, not at a machine in the car park. The posted opening is 9am but it is often later; the mine is content for you to arrive before it and pay on the way out, and the car park is covered by cameras (Lee McCoy, local observation, recorded 12 Aug 2026). Pay and display (LDNPA, checked Aug 2026).
🕑 Typically full before 10:00 on fine weekends, Apr-Oct — Lee McCoy, local observation, 2026-08-09.
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: Seatoller (NT, paid) (2.3 km)
🚺 Public toilets (~136 m straight line) — Free🚺 Public toilets (~1825 m straight line) — Free☕ Sky Hi Cafe

Positions are approximate — zoom the map to confirm.

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 Base Brown by bus

The 77 stops at Seatoller, at National Trust car park, 820 m from the start of Seathwaite, Green Gable, Base Brown. The last bus is 20:00 towards Keswick (78), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 77 / 77A “Honister Rambler”
Keswick – Portinscale – Hawse End (Catbells) – Grange – Seatoller – Honister Pass – Buttermere – Lorton – Whinlatter – Keswick (circular)
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 from Windermere/Ambleside or X4/X5 from Penrith)
Seasonal (roughly Easter–October). Brilliant for the North Western fells: Catbells, Dale Head from Honister, the Buttermere fells and Whinlatter.

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

Hazards on Base Brown

Hazard & Incident Information for Base Brown

Hazard: Moderate

A steep, rocky little fell thrusting into Borrowdale above Seathwaite, the north-east end of Green Gable's ridge. Its direct ascent climbs straight up a steep, loose nose that is genuinely dangerous in places, past the precariously poised Hanging Stone, and it is flanked by crags above Gillercomb and Styhead Gill with the slippery slabs of Sourmilk Gill below. Keswick Mountain Rescue Team covers this Borrowdale ground.

  • The steep, loose nose ascent: The direct climb up the nose from Seathwaite is steep, rocky and loose — dangerous in places and worse after rain when the ground is greasy. Care and concentration with footing are essential, and it is a poor, hazardous way down; choose a gentler line to descend.
  • The Hanging Stone & crag edges: The Hanging Stone sits startlingly poised over the rim of the crags, and the fell is flanked by steep crags above Gillercomb and Styhead Gill. Keep back from the edges, and don't clamber on or under the Hanging Stone.
  • Sourmilk Gill slabs & wet rock: Sourmilk Gill drops in falls over smooth slabs at the fell's northern end; the rock there is slippery when wet. Keep to the path and well clear of the gill's edges and slabs.
Who should attempt this fell: Base Brown is small but steep and rocky — take the loose nose carefully on the way up and avoid it as a descent (use a gentler line off Green Gable instead). Keep back from the Hanging Stone and the crag edges, take care on the wet slabs by Sourmilk Gill, and treat the steep ground as full winter terrain when iced.

Most common causes: Slips on the steep, loose, rocky nose, especially when wet · Walkers straying near the Hanging Stone or the crag edges · Slips on the wet slabs around Sourmilk Gill · Choosing the dangerous nose as a descent

Local Mountain Rescue: Keswick Mountain Rescue Team · Reviewed 14 Jun 2026

Safety: Hazard guidance compiled from published Mountain Rescue reports and well-documented accident history - editorial background, not a live feed of callouts. Always check current conditions, carry proper navigation equipment, and seek qualified instruction before heading onto the fells. In an emergency, call 999, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Report incorrect information

Navigating Base Brown in cloud

Care needed

A rough, rocky summit ringed by crags, with no single obvious way off in poor visibility. Take care in poor visibility — carry map and compass, and know how to use them.

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 Base Brown 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: Seathwaite Farm, Borrowdale (free verge), about 1.4 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Base Brown (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.

1.8 km SSeathwaite Fell (Great Slack)631 m · Southern
2.1 km ENEThornythwaite Fell574 m · Southern
2.4 km ESELooking Steads (Glaramara)774 m · Southern
2.5 km SERed Beck Top (Glaramara South Top) (Lincomb Head - Glaramara)720 m · Southern
2.5 km ECombe Head735 m · Southern
2.7 km SEHigh House Tarn Top (High House - Allen Crags)683 m · Southern
2.7 km WSWKirk Fell East Top (Kirk Fell North Top)787 m · Western
3.0 km NNWHonister Crag (Black Star)634 m · Western

Routes over Base Brown

Seathwaite, Green Gable, Base BrownLive
14.79 km · ~938 m ascent · loop · ~4.5–6 h
Summits: Seathwaite Fell (Wainwright summit)Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack - Seathwaite Fell)Green GableBase Brown

⬇️ 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 Base Brown

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Seathwaite, Green Gable, Base Brown route:

🚺 map (39 m)

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

The view from Base Brown

The 360° skyline from Base Brown

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 Base Brown31 labelled tops shown (1 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWScafell Pike · 4 kmScafell · 5 kmHelvellyn · 12 kmSkiddaw · 18 kmGreat End · 3 kmBowfell · 5 kmPillar · 5 kmEsk Pike · 4 kmHigh Crag · 12 kmRaise · 13 kmFairfield · 13 kmBlencathra · 19 kmGreat Dodd · 15 kmStybarrow Dodd · 14 kmScoat Fell · 7 kmCrag Hill · 9 kmLingmell · 4 kmGrisedale Pike · 11 kmGlaramara · 2 kmRed Screes · 17 kmLooking Steads · 2 kmWetherlam · 12 kmDale Head · 4 kmJenkin Hill · 17 kmClough Head · 16 kmRed Beck Top · 2 kmBrandreth · 1 kmMungrisdale Common · 20 kmGreat Gable · 2 kmBleaberry Fell · 10 kmGrey Knotts · 1 kmBroad Crag · 4 kmHelvellyn Lower Man · 12 kmSkiddaw Little Man · 17 kmDollywaggon Pike · 12 kmGreen Side · 15 kmDove Crag · 15 kmPillar Rock · 5 kmSail · 9 kmLong Side · 17 kmHindscarth · 5 kmLonscale Fell · 17 kmCalfhow Pike · 14 kmGreen Gable · 1 kmCombe Head · 2 kmHigh House Tarn Top · 3 kmSeathwaite Fell · 2 kmGrange Fell · 6 kmCalkin Rig · 76 km · a rare clear day
What you can see from Base Brown, by direction
  • North: Crag Hill (9 km), Grisedale Pike (11 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (17 km), Skiddaw Little Man (17 km), Skiddaw South Top (18 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (18 km), Skiddaw (18 km)
  • North-east: White Side (12 km), Raise (13 km), Watson's Dodd (14 km), Stybarrow Dodd (14 km), Little Dodd (14 km), Green Side (15 km), Great Dodd (15 km), Knowe Crags (18 km), Gategill Fell Top (18 km), Blencathra (19 km)
  • East: Helvellyn Lower Man (12 km), High Crag (12 km), Nethermost Pike (12 km), Dollywaggon Pike (12 km), Helvellyn (12 km), Fairfield (13 km), Cofa Pike (13 km), Dove Crag (15 km), Red Screes (17 km)
  • South-east: Glaramara (2 km), Looking Steads (2 km)
  • South: Great End (3 km), Allen Crags (3 km), Broad Crag (4 km), Esk Pike (4 km), Scafell Pike (4 km), Scafell (5 km), Bowfell (5 km)
  • South-west: Lingmell (4 km)
  • West: Pillar (5 km), Pillar Rock (5 km), Black Crag (6 km), Scoat Fell (7 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Calkin Rig (76 km, Scotland), Law Kneis (102 km, Scotland), Turner Cleuch Law (109 km, Scotland), Ward Law (105 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 (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on Base Brown

Base Brown waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 February, when the sun is up for 25 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 08:27 against an almanac sunrise of 08:02. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the south-east from here (124.2°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 2.71°.

0°30°40°50°60°04:38
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
Midsummer04:38 BST ±5.0 min04:37+1 min
Equinox06:21 GMT ±5.0 min06:16+5 min
Midwinter08:50 GMT ±5.0 min08:33+17 min

The northern horizon stands at about 0.67° from here.

Last light — when the sun leaves Base Brown

Base Brown loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls on 1 November, when last light is 66 minutes before almanac sunset — 15:32 against 16:38. The sun goes down to the south-west from here (232.0°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 7.77°.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
Last lightAlmanac sunsetDifference
Midsummer21:33 BST ±5.0 min21:53-20 min
Equinox18:15 GMT ±5.0 min18:27-12 min
Midwinter15:06 GMT ±5.0 min15:50-44 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 Base Brown. 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 Base Brown

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
53Wainwrights in view+8 marginal
—Sea in viewnone from here
All 53 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Brandreth, Green Gable, Grey Knotts, Seathwaite Fell (Wainwright summit), Great Gable, Glaramara, Great End, Allen Crags, Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, Lingmell, Dale Head, Esk Pike, Scafell Pike, High Spy, Hindscarth, Castle Crag, Scafell, Bowfell, Pillar, Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), Ullscarf, High Tove, High Seat, Sail, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Bleaberry Fell, Walla Crag, Grisedale Pike, Seat Sandal, Nethermost Pike, Dollywaggon Pike, Helvellyn, White Side, Great Rigg, Raise, Fairfield, Watson's Dodd, Stybarrow Dodd, Latrigg, Great Dodd, Dove Crag, Clough Head, Dodd (Skiddaw), Skiddaw Little Man, Lonscale Fell, Carl Side, Long Side, Ullock Pike, Skiddaw, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Knott

How Base Brown’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

Seatoller House B&B guest house

about 0.6 km from the start, in a straight line

The most complete answer-set in the whole radius and only 0.58 km out: two rooms described as family rooms, dogs allowed with a stated house rule, ample private parking, a cooked set dinner at 7pm and a firm breakfast window - a family with a dog can plan the whole evening from this one page.

Worth knowing: “Well behaved dogs are allowed, they are not allowed in the dining room at any time,Please clean and dry all dogs on entering Seatoller via the back door.”

400 years old and a guest house for over a century - the biggest building in the hamlet of Seatoller, and it shuts for the winter.

  • Dogs “Well behaved dogs are allowed, they are not allowed in the dining room at any time,Please clean and dry all dogs on entering Seatoller via the back door.”
  • Family rooms “Rabbit Large Family room, Private bathroom directly opposite, great views of garden & Fells”
  • Evening meal “The dining room has two large traditional oak tables creating a friendly atmosphere where guests are served a set meal at 7 pm (excluding Wednesdays). DINNER MUST BE PRE-BOOKED 48 HOURS IN ADVANCE”
  • Parking “There are 10 bedrooms all with private bathrooms, a large award winning garden surrounding the house and ample private car parking.”

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.

Other fells near Base Brown