Black Fell at 323m (1,060ft) is a small, heathery summit above Tarn Hows, its top giving fine views of this most popular of Lakeland beauty spots. Wainwright included it in The Southern Fells.
Summit conditions on Black Fell
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 14° to 8°C, gusts to 38 mph, 6.6 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
43mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour
The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 40 mph times our exposure factor of 1.05. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 38 mph, before any exposure factor.
under 25
25–35
35–45
45–55
55+
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.
Rain, and the becks
Past the line
6.6mm 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 checkedcold: feels like 6 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 57 out of 100, over our in-cloud line of 20. 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
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 →
Hands for a few steps: the last push onto Holme Fell (about km 4.4).
Hands for a few steps: the last push onto Holme Fell (about km 2.9).
Exposure
Easy
Not assessed
Navigation
Easy
Moderate
Steepest stretch
Climb of about 21% at 3.2 km (Moderate)
Climb of about 26% at 2.4 km (Hard)
After the summit
No further tops
No further tops
Walked or planned
Walked by Lee, June 2023
Planned: drawn, not yet walked
Car park at the start
Tarn Hows (NT, paid)
Tarn Hows (NT, paid)
Bus to the start
505, 1.2 km walk from Holling Brow (near)
505, 1.2 km walk from Holling Brow (near)
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 Fell?
Easy — one of the gentlest Wainwrights. At 323 m it is among the lowest in the book, the paths are good, and the ascent from the Tarn Hows side is short and untaxing. There is no scrambling and nothing exposed. The summit carries a trig point on a small rocky rise and is a fine spot to sit. It suits families, a half-day, or a day when the high fells are out of condition.
Tarn Hows (National Trust, paid) is the usual and most convenient start, about 2.5 km from the summit and giving a short, obvious approach. Tilberthwaite (NT, pay-by-RingGo) and Elterwater (NT, paid) are each about 3.4 km away and work well if you are combining the fell with Holme Fell or the Tilberthwaite quarries. Hawkshead's main car park is a little further. Tarn Hows fills early on fine weekends. Full details, including smaller spaces closer to the summit, are in the parking panel on this page.
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
Tarn Hows (NT, paid) — at the start of Holme Fell and Black Fell and Holme Fell and Black Crag from Tarn Hows
National Trust car park at Tarn Hows. Fees: pay and display (LDNP directory, checked August 2026). £7 for 2 hours; £8.50 for 4 hours; £10 all day (NT, checked August 2026). Free for NT members (checked August 2026).
Typically full before 10:00 on fine weekends, Apr-Oct — Lee McCoy, local observation, 9 August 2026.
High Oxen Fell Road, by the A593 (layby) — 1.3 km from summit (straight line)
Beside High Oxen Fell Road, about 40 m from the A593. The nearest route start is the Three Shires Inn, Little Langdale ('Slater Bridge & Cathedral Cave'), 1.9 km on foot; Colwith Force is 1.2 km. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Colwith Bridge (layby) — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
Beside the Little Langdale road, 80 m from Colwith Bridge. The 'Elterwater & Skelwith Force' route passes it; Colwith Force is 0.4 km on foot. Free (OSM-tagged).
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 stops at Holling Brow (near). From there it is 1.2 km and 105 m of ascent to the start of Holme Fell and Black Crag from Tarn Hows — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: steepness) — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 15.3 km in all, with the walk. As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Coniston (505): Tuesday to Sunday 20:05. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
If you need to get off (the leg from Holme Fell): The shoreline path around Tarn Hows provides a flat, highly accessible route that bypasses Black Fell entirely and connects directly to valley exits.
Quoted from the route page: the note for the leg that reaches Black Fell.
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 Black Fell 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.
Picked for its light in:January, February, November, DecemberA winter pick assumes the tops are clear of snow and ice on the day, or that you carry winter kit and know how to use it.
The ascent from Tarn Hows is short and gives outstanding views of the tarn and the Langdale Pikes beyond. A perfect short walk above one of Lakeland's most beloved landscapes.
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.
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 Black Fell
The 360° skyline from Black Fell
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: Dove Crag (10 km), Seat Sandal (10 km), Hart Crag (10 km), Fairfield (10 km), Dollywaggon Pike (12 km), High Crag (12 km), Helvellyn (14 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (14 km), Knowe Crags (26 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (27 km), Skiddaw Little Man (27 km), Skiddaw South Top (28 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (28 km), Skiddaw (29 km), Skiddaw North Top (29 km)
North-east: Red Screes (9 km), Stony Cove Pike (11 km), Ill Bell (11 km), Thornthwaite Crag (12 km), Mardale Ill Bell (14 km)
South-west: Brim Fell (8 km), The Old Man of Coniston (8 km)
West: Wetherlam (5 km), Little Stand (9 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (10 km), Crinkle Crags (10 km), Crinkle Crags (10 km), Crinkle Crags (10 km), Crinkle Crags (10 km), Shelter Crags (10 km)
North-west: Harrison Stickle (8 km), Sergeant Man (9 km), Codale Head (9 km), Bowfell (11 km), Allen Crags (12 km), Ill Crag (13 km), Great End (13 km), Scafell Pike (14 km), Green Gable (16 km), Great Gable (16 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Moel y Gamelin (156 km, Wales), Moel Famau (140 km, Wales), Winter Hill (92 km, England), Cyrn-y-Brain (153 km, Wales), Penycloddiau (135 km, Wales), Foel Fenlli (143 km, Wales).
Black Fell waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when the sun is up for 20 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 04:57 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 (49.4°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 1.82°.
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
04:57 BST ±5.0 min
04:37
+20 min
Equinox
06:17 GMT ±5.0 min
06:15
+2 min
Midwinter
08:29 GMT ±5.0 min
08:32
-3 min
The northern horizon stands at about 2.04° from here.
Last light — when the sun leaves Black Fell
Black Fell loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls at the March equinox, when last light is 35 minutes before almanac sunset — 17:51 against 18:26. The sun goes down to the west from here (264.2°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 4.69°.
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
21:31 BST ±5.0 min
21:52
-21 min
Equinox
17:51 GMT ±5.0 min
18:26
-35 min
Midwinter
15:50 GMT ±5.0 min
15:49
+1 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 Black Fell
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
How the view from Black Fell 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 Black Fell. 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.
Yes, and it is the way most people do it. The two sit close together in the quiet country between Coniston, Hawkshead and Little Langdale, and pairing them makes a much better day than either alone. Our walked round covers both over 13.7 km with 614 m of ascent — about 3¾–5¼ hours — taking in Tarn Hows on the way. See Holme Fell for the other half.
It is gentle, short and mostly on good paths, which makes it a reasonable choice. The caveat is the same as everywhere in this corner: it is working farmland with sheep, and there are walls and stiles to negotiate rather than open moor, so a dog that is happy on a lead and can be lifted or helped over a stile will have the better day. Check the access and barriers panel on our route pages before you commit to a particular line.
What is the view from Black Fell?
Modest height, generous outlook. The fell sits far enough east of the main ranges to see them properly: the Coniston fells and Wetherlam fill the western skyline, the Langdale Pikes show to the north-west, and Windermere and the lower country spread out to the east. Tarn Hows immediately below is the picture most people come away with.
