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559 m · Birkett — Central (not a Wainwright summit) · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Birkett — Central (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Bell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)

Bell Crags at 559m (1,834ft) is a rocky Birkett top on the broad moorland between Thirlmere and the Langdales, rising above the boggy expanse of Long Moss.

559 m
Height
+10
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › Bell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)

559 mBirkett — Central (not a Wainwright summit)+10 bonus Birketts within 3 km

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

Modelled guidance for the 559 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 16° to 14°C, gusts to 32 mph, 5.2 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌦️
16° / 14°
💨 32 mph
🌧 5.2 mm (100%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
15° / 12°
💨 28 mph
🌧 4.9 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
13° / 4°
💨 29 mph
🌧 2.0 mm (78%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
15° / 2°
💨 23 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (78%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
15° / 3°
💨 14 mph
🌧 5.4 mm (54%)
Sun 2 Aug
🌫️
16° / 4°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (24%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
16° / 4°
💨 12 mph
🌧 0.2 mm (23%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 559 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

About the walk

Key information

Bell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)

Bell Crags at 559m (1,834ft) is a rocky Birkett top on the broad moorland between Thirlmere and the Langdales, rising above the boggy expanse of Long Moss. Part of the Blea Tarn Fell massif, it gives views across the central plateau towards the Helvellyn range to the east and the Langdale Pikes to the south. A pathless, solitary summit.

Routes up Bell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)

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

Birketts West of Thirlmere
23.1 km · ~6.4 hr
Classifications & hill data
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
559 m
Height
1,834 ft
In feet
NY 2982 1430
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Wythburn Church, Thirlmere (paid), about 2.7 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Bell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell) (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.

0.8 km ENEBrown Rigg462 m · Central
1.0 km SStanding Crag611 m · Central
1.1 km WNWWatendlath Fell (Long Moss)515 m · Central
1.4 km NWShivery Knott491 m · Central
1.4 km SWLow Saddle656 m · Central
1.6 km SSWColdbarrow Fell - High Saddle675 m · Central
1.7 km NArmboth Fell (Birkett)479 m · Central
1.8 km NWMiddle Crag484 m · Central
2.1 km NNEFisher Crag421 m · Central
2.2 km SEWythburn Fell508 m · Central

Routes over Bell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)

Birketts West of ThirlmerePlanned
23.11 km · ~1047 m ascent · loop · ~6–8.5 h
Summits: Wythburn FellStanding CragColdbarrow Fell - High SaddleLow SaddleBell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)Watendlath Fell (Long Moss)Shivery KnottMiddle CragHigh ToveFisher Crag

⬇️ Download GPX

⚠️ Warnings: Access: The summit of Fisher Crag lies outside mapped CRoW open-access land. That records no statutory right of access — it is not a statement that access is forbidden, and permissive access is not recorded in that layer. This line is computed rather than walked, so treat the access as unchecked and look for the courteous way through — how we work this out.

Full route guide ↗

✎️ Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet.

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

Best parking to hike Bell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)

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

Wythburn Church, Thirlmere (paid) — 2.7 km from summit (straight line)
Direct forest path up Helvellyn's south ridge (Comb Crags).
Directions
🚺 Dob Gill Car Park (931m) — Free
Swirls, Thirlmere (paid) — 3.1 km from summit (straight line)
The standard west-side route up Helvellyn via Browncove Crags.
Directions
🚺 The Swirls Car Park (461m) — Free · Accessible · RADAR key🚺 Armbroth Car Park (1587m) — Free

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.

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Birketts West of Thirlmere route:

🚺 map (29 m)

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

Buses to Bell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell) from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

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.

Other fells near Bell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)

Maps & guidebooks for Bell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)

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