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

Birks - a faint path over golden grass leading towards snow-covered higher fells under a bright blue sky
Wainwright — Eastern FellsAlso a Birkett

Birks

Birks at 622m (2,040ft) is the lower, southern ridge of St Sunday Crag above Grisedale, its summit giving good views up the valley to Fairfield and across to the Helvellyn range.

624 m
Height
~3–4 h
Typical time
+2
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › Birks

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

624 mWainwright — Eastern Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+2 bonus Birketts within 3 km Straightforward in cloud

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

Modelled guidance for the 624 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 15° to 13°C, gusts to 38 mph, 8.4 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌧️
15° / 13°
💨 38 mph
🌧 8.4 mm (100%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
15° / 12°
💨 31 mph
🌧 5.1 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
14° / 6°
💨 29 mph
🌧 0.8 mm (78%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
15° / 4°
💨 24 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (78%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
14° / 6°
💨 12 mph
🌧 5.1 mm (54%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
16° / 4°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (24%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
16° / 6°
💨 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 624 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

Birks

Birks - a faint path over golden grass leading towards snow-covered higher fells under a bright blue sky
© Lee McCoy

Birks at 622m (2,040ft) is the lower, southern ridge of St Sunday Crag above Grisedale, its summit giving good views up the valley to Fairfield and across to the Helvellyn range. Wainwright included it as a separate fell, noting its pleasant, open summit and the fine views it gives of the Patterdale valley below. Most naturally combined with St Sunday Crag as the starting point of the approach from Patterdale via the Birks ridge. A worthwhile fell in its own right, particularly for the views of Grisedale and its dark, glaciated valley.

🗒️ My notes
There's nothing much to say about this Wainwright fell. It's essentially just a stopping point on the way up to St. Sunday Crag. As AW says "the summit has no interesting features" - and who am I to disagree? The good thing is that this is a moderately challenging family friendly climb at around 2.5 miles from Patterdale either via the other Wainwright summit of Arnison Crag which is the way I came up or to the north side which is the way I descended. It is 624 metres so not in the Lattrig or that Arnison Crag stroll.

Routes up Birks

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

St Sunday Crag
10 km · ~3.3 hr
Classifications & hill data
Wainwright
Eastern
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
Nuttall
624 m
Height
2,047 ft
In feet
NY 3801 1435
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Patterdale (paid), about 1.9 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Birks (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.

1.2 km SWGavel Pike784 m · Eastern
2.3 km SSEGale Crag512 m · Eastern

Routes over Birks

St Sunday CragRevised
9.96 km · ~782 m ascent · loop · ~3–4.5 h
Summits: Arnison CragBirksSt Sunday CragGavel Pike

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

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

The View from Birks

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 Birks35 labelled tops shown (6 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWNethermost Pike · 4 kmRaise · 5 kmWhite Side · 5 kmGreat Dodd · 7 kmStybarrow Dodd · 6 kmHigh Street · 7 kmHart Crag · 3 kmHigh Raise · 7 kmRampsgill Head · 6 kmDove Crag · 4 kmThornthwaite Crag · 7 kmRed Screes · 6 kmStony Cove Pike · 6 kmHart Side · 6 kmBirkett Fell · 6 kmRed Crag · 7 kmLoadpot Hill · 8 kmWether Hill · 8 kmCross Fell · 37 km · clear daysHelvellyn · 4 kmSt Raven's Edge · 6 kmHigh Crag · 4 kmDollywaggon Pike · 4 kmSt Sunday Crag · 2 kmGreat Mell Fell · 11 kmGavel Pike · 1 kmPlace Fell · 4 kmLittle Hart Crag · 4 kmHeron Pike · 4 kmSwineside Knott · 5 kmCommon Fell · 6 kmThe Knight · 4 kmBirk Fell · 4 kmGale Crag · 2 kmLittle Mell Fell · 11 kmCaudale Moor · 5 kmBirkhouse Moor · 2 kmMiddle Dodd · 5 kmCatstye Cam · 4 kmThe Knott · 6 kmBeda Fell · 6 kmGowbarrow Fell · 8 kmWhite Hill · 63 km · clear daysThe Cheviot · 119 km · a rare clear daySighty Crag · 70 km · a rare clear dayWisp Hill · 85 km · a rare clear dayDun Rig · 118 km · a rare clear dayPikethaw Hill · 83 km · a rare clear dayBlackwood Hill · 83 km · a rare clear day
What you can see from Birks, by direction
  • North: Heron Pike (4 km), Sheffield Pike (4 km), Birkett Fell (6 km), Hart Side (6 km), Great Mell Fell (11 km), Carrock Fell (20 km)
  • North-east: Place Fell (4 km), Loadpot Hill (8 km), Cross Fell (37 km)
  • East: Rest Dodd (5 km), The Knott (6 km), Rampsgill Head (6 km), High Raise (7 km), Red Crag (7 km), Wether Hill (8 km)
  • South-east: Hartsop Dodd (4 km), Caudale Moor (5 km), Gray Crag (5 km), Stony Cove Pike (6 km), St Raven's Edge (6 km), Thornthwaite Crag (7 km), High Street (7 km)
  • South: Hart Crag (3 km), Dove Crag (4 km), Little Hart Crag (4 km), Middle Dodd (5 km), Red Screes (6 km)
  • South-west: Gavel Pike (1 km), St Sunday Crag (2 km)
  • West: Dollywaggon Pike (4 km), Nethermost Pike (4 km), Helvellyn (4 km), High Crag (4 km)
  • North-west: Birkhouse Moor (2 km), Catstye Cam (4 km), Raise (5 km), White Side (5 km), Green Side (5 km), Stybarrow Dodd (6 km), Great Dodd (7 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: The Cheviot (119 km, England), Sighty Crag (70 km, England), Wisp Hill (85 km, Scotland), Cauldcleuch Head (87 km, Scotland), Roan Fell (79 km, Scotland), Dun Rig (118 km, Scotland), Calkin Rig (74 km, Scotland), Pikethaw Hill (83 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.

What you can see from Birks

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
38Wainwrights in view+4 marginal
38 kmFurthest sightlineGreat Dun Fell
—Sea in viewnone from here
Far horizons
  • Great Dun Fell North PenninesENE · 38 km clear
  • Cross Fell North PenninesENE · 36 km clear
All 38 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

St Sunday Crag, Birkhouse Moor, Hartsop Above How (Gill Crag - Hartsop Above How), Glenridding Dodd, Hart Crag, Angletarn Pikes (Angletarn Pikes North Top), Catstye Cam, Dollywaggon Pike, Nethermost Pike, Brock Crags (Wainwright), Helvellyn, High Hartsop Dodd, Dove Crag, Sheffield Pike, Hartsop Dodd, Little Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top), Raise, White Side, Middle Dodd, Rest Dodd, Gray Crag, The Nab, Beda Fell (Beda Head), Red Screes, Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), Hart Side, Stybarrow Dodd, The Knott (High Street), Rampsgill Head, Thornthwaite Crag, High Street, High Raise (High Street), Wether Hill, Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit), Loadpot Hill, Little Mell Fell, Great Mell Fell, Carrock Fell

How Birks’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.

Best parking to hike Birks

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

Patterdale (paid) — 1.9 km from summit (straight line)
For Place Fell, St Sunday Crag, the Grisedale fells.
Directions
🚺 Public toilets (176m) — Free🚺 Public toilets (1579m)🍺 White Lion Inn🍺 Patterdale Hotel
Cow Bridge, Hartsop (free) — 2.4 km from summit (straight line)
Free car park by Brothers Water — Hartsop above How, Dovedale, Caudale Moor.
Directions

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 St Sunday Crag route:

🚌 Patterdale Hotel (E bound) (12 m)🚌 Patterdale Hotel (W bound) (32 m)🚌 Youth Hostel (N bound) (462 m)🚌 Youth Hostel (S bound) (468 m)⛺ Patterdale Youth Hostel (486 m)

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

Buses to Birks from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

Stagecoach 508 “Ullswater Bus”
Penrith – Pooley Bridge – Aira Force – Glenridding – Patterdale (summer services continue over Kirkstone Pass to Troutbeck and Windermere)
Catch it from: Penrith · Windermere (summer only)
The key route from Penrith for the Eastern and Far Eastern fells: Helvellyn from Glenridding, Place Fell, the Hartsop fells. The summer Kirkstone extension drops you at the pass for Red Screes and Caudale Moor.

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

My hikes over Birks (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

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

Hazard & Incident Information for Birks

Hazard: Moderate

A subsidiary top on St Sunday Crag's broad back above Patterdale, between the deep valleys of Grisedale and Deepdale. The ridge itself is straightforward, but its flanks are steep and broken on both sides — and the firm advice here is to stick to the ridge: descents off the flanks are difficult at best and dangerous at worst. Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.

  • Steep flanks — stay on the ridge: Birks falls away steeply into Grisedale and Deepdale, with broken, rough ground on both sides. Any descent off the flanks is fraught with difficulty and can be dangerous — keep to the ridge and use the proper paths down, especially in cloud.
  • Proximity to St Sunday Crag's crags: The steep arête up to St Sunday Crag, and that fell's dramatic Pinnacle Ridge buttresses and gullies, lie close by. If continuing, keep to the ridge line and don't stray toward the steep northern crags.
  • Navigation in cloud: The broad ridge can be misread in mist, and a wrong line leads onto the dangerous flanks. Take a compass bearing and keep to the crest.
Who should attempt this fell: Birks is easy along its ridge but unforgiving off it — the single most important thing is to stay on the ridge and use the proper paths, because the flanks into Grisedale and Deepdale are difficult and potentially dangerous to descend. Navigate by compass in cloud, keep clear of St Sunday Crag's steep northern ground, and take care in winter.

Most common causes: Dangerous or difficult descents attempted off the steep Grisedale/Deepdale flanks · Walkers drifting toward St Sunday Crag's steep northern ground · Navigation errors off the broad ridge in cloud · Slips on steep, rough or wet ground

Local Mountain Rescue: Patterdale 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 Birks in cloud

Straightforward

A 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 Birks compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.

Other fells near Birks

Maps & guidebooks for Birks

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