Black Sails
Black Sails at 745m (2,444ft) is an intermediate top on the ridge between Swirl How and Wetherlam, a rocky summit that sits at the head of Greenburn Beck above Little Langdale.
Summit conditions on Black Sails
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 4°C, gusts to 60 mph, 5.3 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 Sails
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Distance and climb are measured from the route’s GPX track, and the time from them by Naismith’s rule; the route page says what each grade rests on. How we check →
How hard is Black Sails?
The shortest way up we hold is Black Sails & Great How — 10.94 km, 822 m of ascent, ~3½–4¾ h. On our scale its hardest axes are steepness and navigation — Hard.
All axes: steepness: Hard · navigation: Hard · length: Moderate · 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 745 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Full 7-day forecast
Taken 27 October 2026, 08:13 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)
Parking & buses for Black Sails
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
2 more places to park near Black Sails
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 516 stops at Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel. From there it is 4.8 km and 603 m of ascent to the start of Black Sails & Great How — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: steepness and navigation) — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 20.5 km in all, with the walk. Last bus: Monday to Thursday 21:10 towards Ambleside (516) and 20:10 towards Kendal (516); Friday 22:30 towards Kendal (516); Saturday 22:30 towards Kendal (516); Sunday 21:10 towards Ambleside (516) and 20:10 towards Kendal (516). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 23 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Hazards on Black Sails
Notes from a planned route, not walked: Black Sails & Great How
- A steep, stony scramble of a ridge linking Swirl How to Swirl Hawse and Wetherlam. Awkward and tiring, especially descending, and parties are often caught out here at dusk. Allow plenty of daylight, take the rock carefully, and do not underestimate it as 'just a path'.
If you need to get off (the leg from Great How): Before the Prison Band, the way back is the way you came: from Swirl How to Great Carrs and down Wet Side Edge. We have not checked a line down from Swirl Hawse to Levers Water, so none is offered here. The route's own way down is over Black Sails into the Greenburn valley and its old mine tracks, back towards Wrynose. If you cannot move safely, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Police, then Mountain Rescue.
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 Sails.
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 Sails
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 Sails
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.
About Black Sails
My Strava hikes over Black Sails
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- Awesome trek up Wetherlam, Swirl How, Great Carrs, Grey Friars, Brim Fell, Dow Crag & Old Man of Coniston. (opens in new tab) — 19.2 km · 1417 m ascent · 5h 34m moving · 31 August 2024
Data from Strava.
Classifications & hill data
Is Black Sails a Wainwright?
Black Sails is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Nuttall list and the Hewitt list.
Selected lists
This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.
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 →
Places to stay near this fell
From Wrynose Pass: 2 places in Grasmere