hikes.guideLake District
Blea Rigg - a dark mountain tarn cradled in green fellsides, rolling summits receding to the horizon under summer cloud

Blea Rigg

Written and walked by · Summited

Choose a route ↓

Home › Fells › Blea Rigg

542 mWainwright — Central Fells+7 bonus Birketts within 3 km Care needed in cloud

Blea Rigg at 542m (1,777ft) is a craggy, complex ridge above Easedale and Langdale, giving excellent views down into Great Langdale from its rocky summit. Our West of Grasmere round takes it in with Tarn Crag, Sergeant Man and Silver How.

Summit conditions on Blea Rigg

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 62 mph, 15.2 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

56 mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 52 mph times our exposure factor of 1.09. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 62 mph, before any exposure factor.

The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS 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

15.2 mm 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 checked cold: feels like 2 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 20 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

Full 7-day summit forecast ↓

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 →

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com

Routes up Blea Rigg

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

West of Grasmere Walked by Lee
15.44 km · ~863 m ascent · ~4½–6¼ h · loop · 6 summits
Hard effort Hard: distance
Park: Red Bank Road, Grasmere (W&F, paid) · Bus: 555, 320 m walk from Grasmere, opposite Heaton Cooper Studio

Six tops on the rough ground west of Grasmere — Tarn Crag, Codale Head, Sergeant Man, Blea Rigg, Swinescar Pike and Silver How — in 15.4 km with 863 m of climbing.

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 →

Is Blea Rigg hard to find?

That is exactly the right question, and yes — more than most fells its size. Blea Rigg is a long, knotty ridge between Grasmere and Great Langdale: a tangle of rocky tops, small tarns and criss-crossing paths, and the summit is not obviously the summit when you are standing on it.

There is no sustained climbing on it, but there is a short rocky down-scramble that is often wet and slippery. Our round from west of Grasmere is 15.4 km with 863 m of ascent. Save it for a day you can see, or carry a bearing you trust.

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 542 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast
Tue 27 Oct
12° / 6°
62 mph
15.2 mm (100%)
Wed 28 Oct
9° / 6°
44 mph
20.9 mm (100%)
Thu 29 Oct
9° / 7°
27 mph
2.1 mm (75%)
Fri 30 Oct
8° / 6°
25 mph
0.9 mm (8%)
Sat 31 Oct
8° / 4°
6 mph
3.0 mm (6%)
Sun 1 Nov
8° / 3°
14 mph
0.0 mm (2%)
Mon 2 Nov
6° / 0°
9 mph
0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for Blea Rigg

Parking

Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.

Red Bank Road, Grasmere (W&F, paid) — at the start of West of Grasmere
Walking base for Tarn Crag (Easedale), Codale Head, Sergeant Man and Blea Rigg — the 'West of Grasmere' route starts 6 m away. Also serves 'Helm Crag & Far Easedale'. Fees: pay and display. Charges apply 08:00-20:00, 7 days a week incl. bank holidays. The council's own page is contradictory about access outside those hours - it says both open all day and open from 8am to 8pm - so do not count on getting in before 08:00 (W&F council, checked August 2026). Fees: 1h £2.60; 2h £4.40; 3h £5.80; 4h £7.40; 6h £8.80; all day £10.60. Motorcycles free. Blue Badge: +1h free. CASHLESS - card (Visa/MasterCard/contactless) or PayByPhone 9919 only. 3/7-day passes and permits accepted (W&F council, checked August 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
New Dungeon Ghyll (LDNPA, paid) — 1.6 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Sergeant Man, High Raise (High White Stones), Thunacar Knott and Pavey Ark — the 'Langdale Pikes Round' route starts 127 m away. Also serves 'Langdale Horseshoe'. Fees: pay and display at the machine; whether it takes cards is not published (the Authority's machine records, FOI/2026.500).
Directions When people arrive, and what it costs →Something changed here?
Public toilets (~133 m straight line) — Free
Stickle Ghyll (NT, paid) — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Pavey Ark, Harrison Stickle, Thorn Crag and Loft Crag — the 'Langdale Horseshoe' route starts 67 m away. Also serves 'Langdale Pikes Round'. Paid National Trust car park - the prices we used to show here came from an aggregator rather than the Trust, so we no longer publish a figure; check the machine on arrival, and members should bring their card (National Trust car-park list, checked August 2026). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged). Height barrier (community-reported). Direct start up Stickle Ghyll for the Langdale Pikes.
Typically full before 10:00 on fine weekends, Apr-Oct — Lee McCoy, local observation, 9 August 2026.
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: Old Dungeon Ghyll (NT, paid) (1.0 km); Blea Tarn (NT, paid) (3.2 km, 93 m up)
Public toilets (~147 m straight line) — Free
3 more places to park near Blea Rigg
Great Langdale, valley road verge (free) — 2.0 km from summit (straight line)
On the valley road, between the Stickle Ghyll and Old Dungeon Ghyll car parks. The 'Langdale Horseshoe' route starts 370 m away.
Directions Something changed here?
Old Dungeon Ghyll (NT, paid) — 2.4 km from summit (straight line)
Head of Great Langdale — Bowfell, Crinkle Crags, Pike o' Blisco, the Langdale Pikes. Free for NT members (checked August 2026).
Typically full before 10:00 on fine weekends, Apr-Oct — Lee McCoy, local observation, 9 August 2026.
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: Stickle Ghyll (NT, paid) (1.0 km, 24 m up); Great Langdale, valley road verge (free) (0.8 km) a few spaces only; Side Pike (verge) (0.8 km) a few spaces only
Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel Sticklebarn
Side Pike, west (layby) — 3.0 km from summit (straight line)
A lay-by on Side Gates Road, the Blea Tarn road, below Side Pike, 1.2 km north-west of the Blea Tarn car park in a straight line. The Great Langdale routes start at the Old Dungeon Ghyll, 1.0 km on foot; the 'Blea Tarn (Little Langdale)' route starts at the Blea Tarn car park, 1.5 km on foot. Ground surface (OSM-tagged). Fee not verified — check signage on arrival.
Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate.

Of the pay-and-display machine tickets sold at New Dungeon Ghyll from 17 August 2024 to 31 March 2026, 33% were bought before 10am (our count of FOI/2026.500 ticket data). Contains public sector information provided by the Lake District National Park Authority and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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 555, 559, 599 and X8 stop at Grasmere, opposite Heaton Cooper Studio, a 320 m walk from the start of West of Grasmere — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: distance). As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Kendal (555): Tuesday to Saturday 23:02; Sunday 20:02 to Windermere, 19:32 to Kendal. Towards Bowness on Windermere (599): Tuesday to Sunday 19:15 to Bowness on Windermere, 17:25 to Bowness on Windermere Braithwaite Fold Car Park. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 24 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 555
Kendal – Staveley – Windermere – Ambleside – Rydal – Grasmere – Thirlmere (Wythburn & Swirls) – Keswick
Catch it from: Windermere · Ambleside
Year-round, roughly hourly. The backbone bus of the A591 — ideal for Helvellyn (Wythburn/Swirls), Fairfield, the Central fells and anything around Grasmere/Rydal. From Penrith, take the X4/X5 to Keswick and change.

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

Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat

Hazards on Blea Rigg

Hazard & Incident Information for Blea Rigg

Checked by Lee McCoy, . Draws on published material from Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team. Editorial background, not a live callout feed.

Hazard: Moderate

A long, knotty ridge between Grasmere and Great Langdale, a tangle of rocky tops, tarns and criss-crossing paths that makes it one of the more confusing fells to navigate. The summit isn't obvious among the outcrops, the paths are poorly marked, there's a short wet rocky down-scramble, and steep crags fall toward Stickle Tarn. Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.

  • Confusing rocky ridge & navigation: Ridge-upon-ridge of rocky knolls, several tarns and a web of faint, poorly-marked paths make this a genuinely confusing place — it's not always obvious which outcrop is the summit. Carry a compass and a 1:25k map, and be deliberate about your line, especially in cloud.
  • Short rocky down-scramble & crags: There's a short rocky down-scramble that is often wet and slippery from the boggy fellside, and steep crags drop toward Stickle Tarn and the Langdale side. Take the rocky steps carefully and keep back from the crag edges.
  • Bog & exposure: The ridge is boggy in places and exposed; in poor weather the combination of wet rock and confusing ground is taxing. Pick a clearer day if you can, and treat it as a navigation fell in winter.
Who should attempt this fell: Blea Rigg is a fascinating but confusing ridge — its real hazard is getting lost among the knolls, tarns and unmarked paths, so carry a detailed map and compass and navigate carefully, especially in cloud. Take the wet rocky scramble steadily, keep back from the Stickle Tarn crags, and save it for good visibility where you can.

What to watch for: Navigation errors among the maze of rocky tops, tarns and paths in cloud · Slips on the wet rocky down-scramble · Walkers straying toward the crags above Stickle Tarn · Disorientation on the complex ridge in poor visibility

Local Mountain Rescue: Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team

Safety: 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 in cloud

Care needed

Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of near-level ground around the summit. Take care in poor visibility — 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 Blea Rigg 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.

From Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s guidance on calling them out (read 26 October 2026).

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).

Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.

Birketts within 3 km of Blea Rigg

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.

0.7 km ESECastle How (Raw Pike)498 m · Central
1.6 km ESESwinescar Pike411 m · Central
1.8 km NWCodale Head732 m · Central
1.8 km ESELang How414 m · Central
2.3 km WSWThorn Crag644 m · Central
2.6 km SSWSide Pike362 m · Southern
2.9 km NWLow White Stones731 m · Central

Routes over Blea Rigg

West of Grasmere
15.44 km · ~863 m ascent · loop · ~4½–6¼ h
Hard effort Hard: distance
Summits: Tarn Crag (Easedale)Codale HeadSergeant ManBlea RiggSwinescar PikeSilver How

Download GPX Walked by Lee, March 2025

Picked for its light in: July, October

Warnings: Blea Rigg: Ridge-upon-ridge of rocky knolls, several tarns and a web of faint, poorly-marked paths make this a genuinely confusing place — it's not always obvious which outcrop is the summit. Carry a compass and a 1:25k map, and be deliberate about your line, especially in cloud. Silver How: The Grasmere-facing side is steep and craggy, and the lower reaches are broken — only a few lines get safely off the summit plateau. Don't improvise a descent down the craggy east side; keep to the known paths.

From the hazard notes for Blea Rigg · Silver How, each with its sources.

Route guide →

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 Blea Rigg

Water & shelter on the way up

On the West of Grasmere route:

bus shelter (44 m off the line) Heaton Cooper Studio (227 m from the start, straight line) School (266 m from the start, straight line) Stock Lane at School (301 m from the start, straight line) campsite (486 m from the start, straight line)

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

About Blea Rigg

Blea Rigg - a dark mountain tarn cradled in green fellsides, rolling summits receding to the horizon under summer cloud
© Lee McCoy

The views of the Langdale Pikes from the descent are particularly striking.

My Strava hikes over Blea Rigg

2 logged hikes pass over this summit:

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is Blea Rigg a Wainwright?

Blea Rigg is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.

Selected lists

Wainwright
Central
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
542 m
Height
1,777 ft
In feet
NY 3016 0783
Grid ref

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 Blea Rigg

The 360° skyline from Blea Rigg

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 Blea Rigg36 labelled tops shown (4 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWHelvellyn · 8 kmHigh Crag · 7 kmFairfield · 7 kmBlencathra · 20 kmCrinkle Crags · 6 kmGreat Dodd · 13 kmHart Crag · 8 kmThe Old Man of Coniston · 10 kmSwirl How · 8 kmDove Crag · 8 kmThornthwaite Crag · 13 kmGrey Friar · 9 kmIll Bell · 14 kmLittle Stand · 7 kmSeat Sandal · 6 kmClough Head · 15 kmUllscarf · 4 kmPike of Blisco · 5 kmThorn Crag · 2 kmThe Forest · 23 kmSergeant Man · 2 kmHarrison Stickle · 2 kmCodale Head · 2 kmPavey Ark · 2 kmIngleborough · 55 km · clear daysWhernside · 51 km · clear daysWard's Stone · 57 km · clear daysThe Calf · 38 km · clear daysWhite Stones · 4 kmBirk Fell Man · 6 kmTop o' Selside · 16 kmWansfell Pike · 10 kmHampsfell · 30 km · clear daysGummer's How · 21 kmHolme Fell · 7 kmClaife Heights · 13 kmHelvellyn Lower Man · 8 kmDollywaggon Pike · 7 kmGavel Pike · 9 kmRed Screes · 10 kmWetherlam · 7 kmYoke · 14 kmBannerdale Crags · 22 kmCrinkle Crags South Top · 6 kmGreat Carrs · 8 kmStone Arthur · 5 kmHawk Rigg · 6 kmLang How · 2 kmHelm Crag · 3 kmYarlside · 40 km · clear daysnameless · 17 kmNewton Fell North · 25 kmWhitbarrow · 25 kmBigland Barrow · 25 kmBrant Fell · 16 kmGreat Whernside · 78 km · a rare clear dayWinter Hill · 100 km · a rare clear dayCyrn-y-Brain · 159 km · a handful of days a yearBillinge Hill · 109 km · a rare clear day
The skyline as a list, by direction
  • North: Ullscarf (4 km), Watson's Dodd (12 km), Little Dodd (13 km), Great Dodd (13 km), Clough Head (15 km), Gategill Fell Top (20 km), Blencathra (20 km), Doddick Fell (20 km)
  • North-east: Seat Sandal (6 km), Great Rigg (6 km), Fairfield (7 km), Dollywaggon Pike (7 km), High Crag (7 km), Hart Crag (8 km), Nethermost Pike (8 km), Helvellyn (8 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (8 km), St Sunday Crag (9 km), Gavel Pike (9 km)
  • East: Dove Crag (8 km), Red Screes (10 km), Caudale Moor (11 km), Stony Cove Pike (12 km), Thornthwaite Crag (13 km), Ill Bell (14 km), Yoke (14 km)
  • South: Wetherlam (7 km), Black Sails (7 km), Swirl How (8 km), Brim Fell (10 km), The Old Man of Coniston (10 km)
  • South-west: Pike of Blisco (5 km), Cold Pike (6 km), Crinkle Crags (6 km), Shelter Crags (6 km), Crinkle Crags (6 km), Crinkle Crags (6 km), Crinkle Crags (6 km), Little Stand (7 km), Grey Friar (9 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Great Whernside (78 km, England), Winter Hill (100 km, England), Cyrn-y-Brain (159 km, Wales), Billinge Hill (109 km, England).

Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills v18.4 (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on Blea Rigg

Blea Rigg 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 (49.3°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 1.85°.

0°30°40°50°60°70°04:57
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 lightAlmanac sunriseDifference
Midsummer04:57 BST ±5.0 min04:37+20 min
Equinox06:22 GMT ±5.0 min06:15+7 min
Midwinter08:28 GMT ±5.0 min08:33-5 min

The northern horizon stands at about 2.35° from here.

Last light — when the sun leaves Blea Rigg

Blea Rigg loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when last light is 52 minutes before almanac sunset — 21:00 against 21:52. The sun goes down to the north-west from here (304.5°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 5.39°.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
Last lightAlmanac sunsetDifference
Midsummer21:00 BST ±5.0 min21:52-52 min
Equinox17:56 GMT ±5.0 min18:26-30 min
Midwinter15:36 GMT ±5.0 min15:49-13 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 Blea Rigg

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
49Wainwrights in view+2 marginal
56 kmFurthest sightlineIngleborough
1Sea in viewMorecambe Bay
Far horizons
  • Ingleborough Yorkshire DalesSE · 56 km clear
  • Whernside Yorkshire DalesESE · 51 km clear
  • Morecambe Bay bay/estuaryS · 36 km in view
All 49 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Tarn Crag (Easedale), Pavey Ark, Sergeant Man, Harrison Stickle, Loft Crag, Silver How, Gibson Knott, Helm Crag, Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Ullscarf, Pike of Blisco, Stone Arthur, Loughrigg Fell, Nab Scar, Heron Pike (Rydal), Seat Sandal, Cold Pike, Great Rigg, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Fairfield, Dollywaggon Pike, Wetherlam, High Pike (Scandale), Black Fell, Holme Fell, Hart Crag, Great Carrs, Nethermost Pike, Dove Crag, Swirl How, Helvellyn, Grey Friar, St Sunday Crag, Red Screes, Brim Fell, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Baystones (Wansfell), Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), Watson's Dodd, Thornthwaite Crag, Great Dodd, Sour Howes, Ill Bell, Yoke, Sallows, Clough Head, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Bannerdale Crags

How the view from Blea Rigg 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 Blea Rigg. 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.

Places to stay near this fell

From Grasmere: 10 places

Frequently asked questions about Blea Rigg

Is Blea Rigg hard to find? Answered above.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction

Other fells near Blea Rigg

Places nearby: Easedale Tarn · Great Langdale · Sour Milk Gill (Easedale) · Dungeon Ghyll Force