Bleaberry Fell
Bleaberry Fell at 590m (1,936ft) is a broad, heathery summit above Cat Bells and Derwent Water, giving one of the finest aerial views of the lake in the whole district.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 590 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 12° to 9°C, gusts to 21 mph, 0.6 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 590 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
Bleaberry Fell at a glance
Bleaberry Fell
Routes up Bleaberry Fell
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
My hikes over Bleaberry Fell (Strava)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- Some Central Fells on my Todd (opens in new tab) — 17.2 km · 806 m ascent · 4h 04m moving · 24 Aug 2025
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Parking & buses for Bleaberry Fell
Best parking to hike Bleaberry Fell
Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).
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.
Vehicles are left entirely at their owner’s risk. We list places people park; we cannot vouch for any of them. Judge it on the day: take valuables with you, leave nothing on show, and if a spot feels wrong when you get there, park somewhere else.
Getting to Bleaberry Fell by bus
The 509 stops at Keswick Park Hotel (opp), 250 m from the start of Walla Crag and Bleaberry Fell from Keswick — a route we rate Moderate. Last bus: Monday to Friday 21:16 towards Keswick (555); Saturday 21:16 towards Keswick (555); Sunday 19:07 towards Keswick (555). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 8 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.
Hazards on Bleaberry Fell
Hazard & Incident Information for Bleaberry Fell
A rough, heathery top above Keswick and Derwentwater, easily reached from Walla Crag but boggier and less distinct than it looks. The ridge on toward High Seat is reckoned the wettest ridge walk in the Lakes, the path is faint over rough ground, and there are steep pulls and a steep descent toward the lake. Navigation in cloud is the main hazard. Keswick Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.
- Boggy, indistinct ground & navigation: The path is faint across rough, very boggy ground, especially the notoriously wet ridge toward High Seat. In mist it's easy to lose the line — keep to the west of the fence as a handrail and navigate by compass.
- Steep pulls & steep descent to Derwentwater: There's a short steep final pull to the summit, and the descent toward the lake (over Dodd) is steep. Take care with footing on the steep, sometimes greasy ground, particularly coming down.
- Exposure & winter on rough ground: Open and shelterless, the rough boggy ground becomes slippery in rain and treacherous in snow or ice. Save the wettest sections for drier spells and carry full kit in winter.
Most common causes: Navigation errors on the faint, boggy ridge in cloud · Slips on the steep summit pull and steep descent to the lake · Floundering in the very wet ground toward High Seat · Slippery conditions in rain, snow or ice
Local Mountain Rescue: Keswick Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab) · Reviewed 14 Jun 2026
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.
Navigating Bleaberry Fell in cloud
Care neededA broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. 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 Bleaberry Fell compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.
Map & nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: Bleaberry Fell (verge), about 1.6 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Bleaberry Fell (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.
Routes over Bleaberry Fell
✎️ Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet.
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.
On the hill: terrain and water on Bleaberry Fell
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Walla Crag and Bleaberry Fell from Keswick route:
💧 Treat water from the fell before you drink it. A mapped point is usually a tap or public supply, but never drink untreated from a beck, stream or tarn — even clear-looking hill water can carry giardia or cryptosporidium from livestock or a carcass upstream and leave you seriously ill. Run it through a filter or purifier (a LifeStraw, Sawyer Squeeze or HydraPak) or bring it to a rolling boil first.
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
The view from Bleaberry Fell
The 360° skyline from Bleaberry 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.
What you can see from Bleaberry Fell, by direction
- North: Skiddaw Lesser Man (8 km), Skiddaw Little Man (8 km), Gategill Fell Top (8 km), Skiddaw South Top (9 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (10 km), Skiddaw (10 km), Skiddaw North Top (10 km)
- North-east: Blencathra (9 km)
- East: Great Dodd (6 km), Stybarrow Dodd (6 km), Raise (6 km)
- South-east: White Side (6 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (7 km), Catstye Cam (7 km), Nethermost Pike (8 km), High Crag (8 km), Dollywaggon Pike (9 km)
- South: Esk Pike (13 km), Bowfell (14 km), Shelter Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (15 km)
- South-west: Great Gable (12 km), Great End (13 km), Kirk Fell (13 km), Ill Crag (14 km), Pillar (14 km), Lingmell (14 km), Broad Crag (14 km), Scafell Pike (14 km), Red Pike (15 km), Scafell (15 km)
- West: Grisedale Pike (9 km), Crag Hill (9 km), Eel Crag (10 km), High Stile (12 km), High Stile (13 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Merrick (108 km, Scotland), Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (104 km, Scotland), Cairnsmore of Fleet (92 km, Scotland), Corserine (104 km, Scotland), Lamachan Hill (103 km, Scotland), Cairn Table (119 km, Scotland), Cairnsmore [Black Craig of Dee] (90 km, Scotland), Millfore (98 km, Scotland).
Computed from terrain in perfect clarity, not photographed · distances are straight-line.
Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.
Sunrise and sunset on Bleaberry Fell
Bleaberry Fell waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 December, when the sun is up for 22 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 08:33 against an almanac sunrise of 08:11. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the south-east from here (132.9°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 2.13°.
| First light | Almanac sunrise | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 04:34 BST ±5.0 min | 04:37 | -3 min |
| Equinox | 06:30 GMT ±5.0 min | 06:15 | +15 min |
| Midwinter | 08:54 GMT ±5.0 min | 08:33 | +21 min |
A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean 0.4°).
Last light — when the sun leaves Bleaberry Fell
The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (at midwinter) last light is only 7 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on Bleaberry Fell.
| Last light | Almanac sunset | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 21:58 BST ±5.0 min | 21:53 | +5 min |
| Equinox | 18:20 GMT ±5.0 min | 18:26 | -6 min |
| Midwinter | 15:42 GMT ±5.0 min | 15:49 | -7 min |
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 Bleaberry 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. 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 Bleaberry Fell
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.On the clearest days the view reaches across to Scotland.
- Merrick Scotland
- Criffel Scotland
- Solway Firth bay/estuary
All 86 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
High Seat, Raven Crag, Walla Crag, High Rigg (Naddle Fell), Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Cat Bells (Catbells), Watson's Dodd, Maiden Moor, Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Castle Crag, Latrigg, Great Dodd, Clough Head, Stybarrow Dodd, White Side, Raise, High Spy, Barrow, Causey Pike, Catstye Cam, Ullscarf, Eagle Crag, Dale Head, Hindscarth, Lonscale Fell, Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, Outerside, Scar Crags, Nethermost Pike, Ard Crags, Sergeant's Crag, Skiddaw Little Man, Sail, Robinson, Dodd (Skiddaw), Dollywaggon Pike, Knott Rigg, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Carl Side, Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Grisedale Pike, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Long Side, Skiddaw, Wandope, Grey Knotts, Glaramara, Seat Sandal, High Raise (High White Stones), Ullock Pike, Base Brown, Barf, Hopegill Head, Brandreth, Whiteless Pike, Sergeant Man, Lord's Seat, Seathwaite Fell (Wainwright summit), Whinlatter (Brown How - Whinlatter), Grasmoor, Green Gable, Great Rigg, Whiteside (Whiteside West Top), Great Gable, High Crag (Buttermere), Pike of Stickle, Rossett Pike, Great End, High Stile, Kirk Fell, Esk Pike, Knott, Sale Fell, Pillar, Lingmell, Bowfell, Scafell Pike, Red Pike (Wasdale), Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Scafell, High Pike (Caldbeck), Cold Pike, Great Borne, Great Carrs, Grey Friar, Dow Crag
How Bleaberry Fell’s view compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.
Sightlines from a bare-earth terrain model (forests and buildings not included), 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 Keswick: 10 places
Frequently asked questions about Bleaberry Fell
Is Bleaberry Fell a Wainwright?
Yes — 590 m (1,936 ft), in the Central Fells, the first proper summit on the long moorland ridge that runs south from Keswick towards High Seat and High Tove. Most people climb it from Keswick over Walla Crag, which is the best of it.
Is Bleaberry Fell boggy?
Honest answer: the climb to Bleaberry Fell itself is mostly fine on a pitched and improved path, but the ridge beyond it — towards High Seat and High Tove — is genuinely boggy, and after rain expect wet patches even on the main line. We walked this ground in July 2026: fine underfoot to the summit in a dry spell; gaiters territory beyond it in anything wetter.
How hard is Bleaberry Fell, and how long does it take?
Moderate — from Keswick via Walla Crag it's a steady half-day, about 3–4 hours there and back, with no scrambling. Our walked circuit continues along the full ridge to Armboth Fell — 17 km and a proper day — but Walla Crag and Bleaberry alone make the ideal shorter round.
Where do you park for Bleaberry Fell?
Start from Keswick itself (any town car park) or the Great Wood National Trust car park under Walla Crag on the Borrowdale road. From either, the way goes over Walla Crag — the approach views back over Derwentwater are half the walk.
Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-07-20 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)
Other fells near Bleaberry Fell
- Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)
- Blea Rigg
- Calf Crag
- Eagle Crag
- Gibson Knott
- Grange Fell (Brund Fell)
- Great Crag (Stonethwaite)
- Harrison Stickle
- Helm Crag
- High Raise (High White Stones)
- High Rigg (Naddle Fell)
- High Seat
- High Tove
- Loft Crag
- Loughrigg Fell
- Pavey Ark
- Pike of Stickle
- Raven Crag
- Sergeant Man
- Sergeant's Crag
- Silver How
- Steel Fell (Dead Pike)
- Tarn Crag (Easedale)
- Thunacar Knott
- Ullscarf
- Walla Crag