Black Combe
Black Combe at 600m (1,969ft) is the great isolated summit at the south-western corner of the Lake District, standing entirely separate from the main Lakeland fells above the Cumbrian coast.
Summit conditions on Black Combe
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 11° to 6°C, gusts to 51 mph, 0.7 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.
The forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →
Routes up Black Combe
Choose the way up before the car park: these two routes start from two places, and the last two rows give the parking and bus at each route’s own start. Full maps further down.
| Compared | Black Combe from Whicham | Black Combe from Silecroft station |
|---|---|---|
| Starts from | Whicham, A595 layby | Silecroft station |
| Distance and climb | 7.28 km, 575 m of climb | 8.52 km, 595 m of climb |
| Time, fast to steady | ~2¼–3¼ h | ~2½–3¾ h |
| Scrambling | Not mentioned in the route’s notes | Not mentioned in the route’s notes |
| Exposure | Not assessed | Not assessed |
| Navigation | Moderate | Moderate |
| Steepest stretch | Climb of about 27% at 1.1 km (Hard) | Descent of about 27% at 6.8 km (Hard) |
| After the summit | No further tops | No further tops |
| Walked or planned | Planned: drawn, not yet walked | Planned: drawn, not yet walked |
| Car park at the start | Whicham (layby) (free) | Whicham (layby) 2 |
| Bus to the start | Nearest stop 29.1 km on foot | Nearest stop 31.7 km on foot |
Times run from fast to steady pace (Naismith’s rule). Scrambling quotes each route’s own notes; “not mentioned” means they do not say, not that the ground has none. Each route’s page has its map, stages and GPX.
Distance, climb and the steepest stretch are measured from each route’s GPX track; the other grades are set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap, and each route page says which. How we check →
How hard is Black Combe?
The shortest way up we hold is Black Combe from Whicham — 7.28 km, 575 m of ascent, ~2¼–3¼ h. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Hard.
All axes: steepness: Hard · navigation: Moderate · length: Easy · terrain: Not assessed · exposure: Not assessed.
These are the route page’s grades, set by the rules on how we grade: length and steepness measured from its GPX track, the others set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap. The route page says which. How we check →
Conditions and 7-day summit forecast
Modelled for the 600 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Full 7-day forecast
Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)
Parking & buses for Black Combe
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
4 more places to park near Black Combe
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 nearest bus stop we hold is the 505 at Coniston, outside John Ruskin School, 29.1 km of walking from the start — no bus route we hold serves it.
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Hazards on Black Combe
Notes from a planned route, not walked: Black Combe from Silecroft station
- The line crosses the A5093 main road about 0.4 km from the start, and again on the way back.
- About 0.45 km near the top, between about 4.05 and 4.5 km, follows a path that OpenStreetMap does not record as a public right of way; the rest is public footpaths, a public bridleway and village streets. The top itself is open access land in Natural England’s access layer. That is a map-data note, not a ruling on access: check the access land and rights of way maps before relying on this stretch.
If you need to get off (the leg from Silecroft station): The way off is back down the bridleway the way you came, never more than about 4.2 km to the station.
Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: its warnings and the note for the leg that reaches Black Combe.
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.
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
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).
Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.
Birketts within 3 km of Black Combe
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Black Combe
Silecroft station, on the Cumbrian Coast line, is beside the start. The line goes up and comes back down the same bridleway.
Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked
The start is a layby on the A595 at Whicham. Black Combe from Silecroft station climbs the same public bridleway from the train; this walk starts nearer the hill, about 0.6 km shorter each way, and comes back the same way too.
Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked
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 Black Combe
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Black Combe from Silecroft station route:
On the Black Combe from Whicham route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
About Black Combe
Classifications & hill data
Is Black Combe a Wainwright?
Black Combe is one of Wainwright's Outlying Fells, not one of the 214 in the Pictorial Guides. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Fellranger list and the Marilyn list.
Selected lists
This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.
The summit is also a Birkett.
Other tops of Black Combe
- Black Combe South Top
- 588 m (1,929 ft)Our routes over it: none
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 →