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600 m · Outlying Fell — West Cumbria · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Outlying Fell — West CumbriaAlso a Birkett

Black Combe

Black Combe at 600m (1,969ft) is the great isolated summit of the Furness peninsula, standing entirely separate from the main Lakeland fells above the Cumbrian coast.

600 m
Height
+2
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

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600 mOutlying Fell — West Cumbria✓ summit is also a Birkett+2 bonus Birketts within 3 km

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

Modelled guidance for the 600 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 31 mph, 1.8 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌦️
15° / 13°
💨 31 mph
🌧 1.8 mm (90%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌦️
14° / 11°
💨 26 mph
🌧 0.9 mm (98%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
12° / 7°
💨 28 mph
🌧 2.1 mm (70%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌦️
14° / 1°
💨 20 mph
🌧 0.3 mm (73%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
14° / 5°
💨 16 mph
🌧 3.3 mm (47%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
16° / 8°
💨 23 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (24%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
15° / 5°
💨 23 mph
🌧 0.4 mm (17%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 600 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

Black Combe

Black Combe, a Lake District fell
Photo: Silence-is-infinite, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Black Combe at 600m (1,969ft) is the great isolated summit of the Furness peninsula, standing entirely separate from the main Lakeland fells above the Cumbrian coast. Wainwright devoted a chapter to it in his Outlying Fells guide, noting its extraordinary coastal panorama — on a clear day, ten counties, three kingdoms and the Isle of Man are all visible. The ascent from Whicham or Silecroft is a fine open walk with constantly improving views. Wordsworth celebrated its views in verse — it has inspired visitors for centuries.

Classifications & hill data
Outlying Fell
West Cumbria
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
Marilyn
600 m
Height
1,969 ft
In feet
SD 1354 8548
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Whicham church, Silecroft road (verge), about 2.7 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Black Combe (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.

0.3 km SBlack Combe South Top588 m · Western
2.0 km EWhite Hall Knott311 m · Western

Best parking to hike Black Combe

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

Whicham church, Silecroft road (verge) — 2.7 km from summit (straight line)
The standard start for Black Combe. Silecroft station (Cumbrian Coast line) is ~2 km.
Directions
Corney Fell road summit (verge) — 7.0 km from summit (straight line)
High verge start for Buck Barrow, Whit Fell and the Corney fells.
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.

Buses to Black Combe from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

No regular bus serves the start points for this fell — this is one for the car (or a long approach from the nearest served valley). The nearest hubs are Penrith (X4/X5 & 508), Ambleside and Windermere (555, 505, 516).

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

Hazard & Incident Information for Black Combe

Incident data is not available online for this area. For the latest information, visit the Duddon and Furness Mountain Rescue Team website.

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.

Other fells near Black Combe

Maps & guidebooks for Black Combe

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