Baystones on Wansfell - a grassy ridge path leading to the summit knoll, Windermere and its islands in the distance, and a boy in a football shirt walking towards the camera

Baystones (Wansfell)

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Summited June 2023

Home › Fells › Baystones (Wansfell)

487 mWainwright — Far Eastern Fells+1 bonus Birkett within 3 km Fewer traps in Clag

Baystones at 487m (1,597ft) is the highest point of the Wansfell ridge above Ambleside and its Wainwright summit, giving outstanding views of Windermere and the Central Fells.

Summit conditions on Baystones (Wansfell)

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 56 mph, 6.8 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.

Against our lines, Tuesday 27 October: wind, cold and cloud from the Met Office UKV 2 km model (daylight hours, as in the verdict above); rain from the summit line’s forecast (the whole day). A tile is large when this top is past its line.

Wind on the top

Past the line

46 mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 43 mph times our exposure factor of 1.06. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 56 mph, before any exposure factor.

The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS (opens in new tab) describes what wind does to a walker across a range rather than at a line: from about 20–25 mph it starts to affect your balance.

Estimated: it is not calibrated against summit readings, and the two forecasts can disagree by more than a band.

Cloud on the top

Past the line

13 out of 100, the clear-top reading

Averaged over the daylight hours, from the forecast’s humidity and low cloud.

The line Our line: a clear-top reading under 20 out of 100, where our scorer says “summit likely clagged in”. There is no outside threshold to cite; it is our estimate. What cloud does to finding the way: navigating in cloud.

Not an observation: cloud lifts and drops within the hour.

Rain, and the becks

Past the line

6.8 mm of rain over the whole day, midnight to midnight

The same figure as the summit line above and the 7-day forecast.

The line Our line: 6 mm in the day, where our scorer counts a day as soaking. We read rainfall, never river levels: becks in spate.

Open-Meteo’s forecast. It says nothing about rain already in the ground.

Also checked cold: feels like 3 °C, no ice or snow forecast. Under a line is not the same as fine: it means only that these figures are under the lines we use.

Not in these tiles Lightning, river levels, snow or ice already lying, and the ground under your feet. A tile cannot see them, so an empty space here never means they are absent.

Snow figures with a second opinion: Powered by Met Office data

Full 7-day summit forecast ↓

Wainwrights are scored for walking conditions each morning from the Met Office’s UK forecast model, read for each summit through Open-Meteo; the forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Routes up Baystones (Wansfell)

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

Wansfell Pike and Baystones Walked by Lee

11.92 km · ~560 m ascent · ~3¼–4½ h · loop · 2 summits

Moderate effort Hard: steepness

Park: Ambleside, Low Fold (paid) · Bus: 555 at the start

The pair above Ambleside — 11.9 km and 560 m, stages averaging about 12% with a 33% pull over 250 m onto Wansfell Pike, and easy for both navigation and exposure. A straightforward half-day at about 3¼–4½ hours.

Distance and climb are measured from the route’s GPX track, and the time from them by Naismith’s rule; the route page says what each grade rests on. How we check →

Is Baystones a hard walk?

No. Baystones is the true summit of Wansfell — a broad grassy top a little way back from the more popular Wansfell Pike — and the walking between the two is easy. Many people climb the Pike and never cross to it, which is why the name is unfamiliar.

Our round over both is 11.9 km with 560 m of ascent, and we grade its navigation easy. The climb out of Ambleside is steep and stepped, so the effort is all in the first part of the day.

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 487 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast

Tue 27 Oct

12° / 6°

56 mph

6.8 mm (100%)

Wed 28 Oct

10° / 7°

34 mph

9.6 mm (100%)

Thu 29 Oct

10° / 8°

28 mph

0.8 mm (33%)

Fri 30 Oct

9° / 7°

29 mph

0.0 mm (23%)

Sat 31 Oct

10° / 2°

12 mph

0.0 mm (18%)

Sun 1 Nov

8° / 2°

13 mph

0.0 mm (10%)

Mon 2 Nov

8° / 2°

17 mph

0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 08:13 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for Baystones (Wansfell)

Parking

Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.

Ambleside, Low Fold (paid) — 0.1 km from the start of Wansfell Pike and Baystones (straight line)

Towards Waterhead, a short walk from the centre. Fees: pay and display (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked August 2026). 1h £2.60; 2h £4.40; 3h £5.80; 4h £7.40; 6h £8.80; all day £10.60. Motorcycles free. Park and Explore ticket £23.80 (parking + bus for up to 5 people, same day only). Blue Badge: +1h free. Cash/card/contactless; PayByPhone 9912. 3/7-day passes and permits accepted (W&F council, checked August 2026). Charges apply 08:00-20:00, every day incl. bank holidays. The council's own page is contradictory about access outside those hours - it says both open all day and open from 8am to 8pm - so do not count on getting in before 08:00 (W&F council, checked August 2026).

Directions Something changed here?

If it is full: Ambleside, Miller Bridge (paid) (1.1 km, 42 m up); Under Loughrigg Road (verge), Ambleside (1.3 km, 48 m up) a few spaces only; Loughrigg Fell (verge, east) (1.6 km, 72 m up) a few spaces only

Baystones car park (free) — 1.3 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Baystones (Wansfell) (1.3 km), Wansfell (Wansfell North Top) (1.3 km), Troutbeck Tongue (1.8 km). Free (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Baystones (layby) — 1.4 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Baystones (Wansfell) (1.4 km), Wansfell (Wansfell North Top) (1.5 km), Sour Howes (1.7 km). Free (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

3 more places to park near Baystones (Wansfell)

Troutbeck Tongue, west (layby) — 1.5 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Troutbeck Tongue (0.9 km), Wansfell (Wansfell North Top) (1.4 km), Baystones (Wansfell) (1.5 km). Free (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Wansfell (layby) — 1.5 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest published walking: 1.6 km from the 'Loughrigg Terrace & Rydal Water' route start, at the Rydal Road car park in Ambleside; 2.0 km from the 'Wansfell Pike and Baystones' route start, in Ambleside. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Troutbeck Tongue (layby) — 1.6 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Troutbeck Tongue (1.2 km), Wansfell (Wansfell North Top) (1.5 km), Baystones (Wansfell) (1.6 km). Free (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate.

Vehicles are left at their owner’s risk: we list places people park and cannot vouch for any of them. Take valuables with you and leave nothing on show.

Buses

The 505, 516 and 555 stop at Ambleside, at Hayes Garden Centre, a 250 m walk from the start of Wansfell Pike and Baystones — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: steepness). Last bus: Monday to Friday 22:43 towards Grasmere (555) and 20:29 towards Keswick (555); Saturday 22:43 towards Grasmere (555) and 20:29 towards Keswick (555); Sunday 19:09 towards Grasmere (555) and 18:15 towards Keswick (555). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November 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 (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat

Hazards on Baystones (Wansfell)

Notes from the Wansfell Pike and Baystones route

If you need to get off (the leg from Wansfell Pike): Retrace your steps back to Wansfell Pike to use the main stone-pitched descent.

Quoted from the route page: the note for the leg that reaches Baystones (Wansfell).

We have not written a hazard card for this fell yet, and that is not a sign that it is low-hazard. Read the warnings on the route pages that climb it, check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected. The National Park Authority’s What to pack page, AdventureSmart’s hill walking kit list and Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s safety page are linked from our what to carry guide.

Navigating in cloud

Fewer traps in cloud

Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of near-level ground around the summit. This top is in the lowest of the index’s four bands, and a low band never means “safe”: 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 Baystones (Wansfell) compares with all 214: the Clag Index (experimental).

If you need Mountain Rescue

Dial 999 or 112 and ask for the Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Before you call, have ready: where you are (a grid reference if you can – the OS Locate app shows yours on your phone), what has happened, how many of you there are, and your mobile number.

Then stay where you are until the rescue team contacts you.

If you cannot make a voice call because of a hearing or speech impairment, emergency SMS works only if you have registered first: text “register” to 999.

From Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s guidance on calling them out (opens in new tab) (read 26 October 2026).

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).

Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.

Birketts within 3 km of Baystones (Wansfell)

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.

1.3 km SWWansfell Pike484 m · Far Eastern

Routes over Baystones (Wansfell)

Wansfell Pike and Baystones

11.92 km · ~560 m ascent · loop · ~3¼–4½ h

Moderate effort Hard: steepness

Summits: Wansfell PikeBaystones (Wansfell)

Download GPX Walked by Lee, June 2023

Route guide: Wansfell Pike and Baystones →

Every line here is a guide, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate for yourself and carry a map and compass. How to use this guide.

On the hill: terrain and water on Baystones (Wansfell)

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Wansfell Pike and Baystones route:

bus shelter (62 m off the line) bus shelter (75 m off the line) toilets (94 m off the line) Hayes Garden Centre (92 m from the start, straight line) Loughrigg Avenue (207 m from the start, straight line) Riverside Lodge (405 m from the start, straight line) Ambleside Backpackers (139 m from the start, straight line)

About Baystones (Wansfell)

It stands a little higher than the better-known Wansfell Pike (484m, a Birkett), 1.3 km to the south-west along a broad grassy ridge. The views south across Windermere are among the finest from any fell of this modest height, and the path from Ambleside via Stockghyll Force is a classic short excursion.

My Strava hikes over Baystones (Wansfell)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Bagging a couple of Fells with Laura and the kids. (opens in new tab) — 11.1 km · 553 m ascent · 3h 12m moving · 1 June 2023

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is Baystones (Wansfell) a Wainwright?

Baystones (Wansfell) is a Wainwright. It is also on the Synge list, the Fellranger list and the HuMP list.

Selected lists

487 m

Height

1,597 ft

In feet

NY 4031 0514

Grid ref

This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.

The summit is not a Birkett top.

Lists, height and summit position from the Database of British and Irish Hills; the feet are converted from its metres and the grid reference from that position. How we check →

The view from Baystones (Wansfell)

The 360° skyline from Baystones (Wansfell)

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

The skyline as a list, by direction

North: Caudale Moor (5 km), Stony Cove Pike (5 km), Place Fell (12 km)
North-east: Yoke (4 km), Ill Bell (4 km), Thornthwaite Crag (6 km)
South-west: Brim Fell (15 km), The Old Man of Coniston (15 km)
West: Codale Head (12 km), Wetherlam (12 km), Pavey Ark (12 km), Sergeant Man (12 km), Thunacar Knott (13 km), High Raise (13 km), Low White Stones (13 km), Pike of Blisco (13 km), Swirl How (14 km), Little Carrs (14 km), Great Carrs (14 km), Great How (14 km), Cold Pike (14 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (15 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Shelter Crags (15 km), Little Stand (15 km), Crinkle Crags (16 km), Bowfell (16 km), Esk Pike (17 km), Allen Crags (17 km), Great End (18 km), Ill Crag (18 km), Broad Crag (19 km), Scafell Pike (19 km), Scafell (20 km), Great Gable (20 km)
North-west: High Pike (5 km), Great Rigg (7 km), Fairfield (8 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (170 km, Wales), Carnedd Llewelyn (158 km, Wales), Moel Siabod (166 km, Wales), Arenig Fawr (178 km, Wales), Pendle Hill (75 km, England), Moel y Gamelin (160 km, Wales), Cadair Berwyn (176 km, Wales), Boulsworth Hill (87 km, England).

Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills v18.4 (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on Baystones (Wansfell)

Baystones (Wansfell) waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when the sun is up for 35 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 05:12 against an almanac sunrise of 04:37. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the north-east from here (52.5°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 3.44°.

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 light	Almanac sunrise	Difference
Midsummer	05:12 BST ±5.0 min	04:37	+35 min
Equinox	06:18 GMT ±5.0 min	06:15	+3 min
Midwinter	08:32 GMT ±5.0 min	08:32	—

The northern horizon stands at about 2.64° from here.

Last light — when the sun leaves Baystones (Wansfell)

The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (at midsummer) last light is only 11 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on Baystones (Wansfell).

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
	Last light	Almanac sunset	Difference
Midsummer	21:40 BST ±5.0 min	21:51	-11 min
Equinox	18:16 GMT ±5.0 min	18:26	-10 min
Midwinter	15:55 GMT ±5.0 min	15:49	+6 min

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 Baystones (Wansfell)

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.

45Wainwrights in view+5 marginal

170 kmFurthest sightlineSnowdon (Yr Wyddfa) · possible under favourable refraction

1Sea in viewMorecambe Bay

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales.

Far horizons

Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) WalesSSW · 170 km distant
Carnedd Llewelyn WalesSSW · 155 km clear
Ingleborough Yorkshire DalesSE · 46 km clear
Whernside Yorkshire DalesSE · 41 km clear
Morecambe Bay bay/estuaryS · 38 km in view

All 45 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Troutbeck Tongue, Sour Howes, Sallows, Red Screes, Yoke, Low Pike, Ill Bell, Froswick, High Pike (Scandale), Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), Nab Scar, Loughrigg Fell, Thornthwaite Crag, Heron Pike (Rydal), Great Rigg, Black Fell, Fairfield, Silver How, Holme Fell, Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), Blea Rigg, Tarn Crag (Easedale), Calf Crag, Wetherlam, Pavey Ark, Sergeant Man, Harrison Stickle, Thunacar Knott, Loft Crag, High Raise (High White Stones), Pike of Stickle, Pike of Blisco, Swirl How, Great Carrs, Cold Pike, Brim Fell, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Bowfell, Esk Pike, Allen Crags, Great End, Scafell Pike, Scafell, Great Gable

How the view from Baystones (Wansfell) compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

How the skyline, light and sightlines are computed

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 Baystones (Wansfell). 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.

Sightlines from the Copernicus GLO-30 elevation model, which is a surface model: each 30 m cell holds the top of whatever stands there, trees and buildings included, rather than bare ground. 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 Ambleside or Grasmere: 10 places

Frequently asked questions about Baystones (Wansfell)

Is Baystones a hard walk? Answered above.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

Baystones (Wansfell)

Summit conditions on Baystones (Wansfell)

Wind on the top

Cloud on the top

Rain, and the becks

Routes up Baystones (Wansfell)

Is Baystones a hard walk?

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Parking & buses for Baystones (Wansfell)

Parking

Buses

Hazards on Baystones (Wansfell)

Notes from the Wansfell Pike and Baystones route

Navigating in cloud

If you need Mountain Rescue

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Birketts within 3 km of Baystones (Wansfell)

Routes over Baystones (Wansfell)

On the hill: terrain and water on Baystones (Wansfell)

Water & shelter on the way up

About Baystones (Wansfell)

My Strava hikes over Baystones (Wansfell)

Classifications & hill data

Is Baystones (Wansfell) a Wainwright?

Selected lists

The view from Baystones (Wansfell)

The 360° skyline from Baystones (Wansfell)

Sunrise and sunset on Baystones (Wansfell)

Last light — when the sun leaves Baystones (Wansfell)

What you can see from Baystones (Wansfell)

Places to stay near this fell

Frequently asked questions about Baystones (Wansfell)

Other fells near Baystones (Wansfell)