Bowscale Fell
Bowscale Fell at 702m (2,303ft) is a broad summit above Mungrisdale, its eastern face concealing one of Lakeland's most atmospheric tarns — Bowscale Tarn, set in a dark corrie below the fell's north-east face.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 702 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 14° to 13°C, gusts to 41 mph, 8.8 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 702 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
About the walk
Bowscale Fell
Routes up Bowscale Fell
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Map & nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: Mosedale / Bowscale (verge), about 2.4 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Bowscale 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 Bowscale Fell
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass.
✎️ 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.
The View from Bowscale 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 Bowscale Fell, by direction
- South-east: High Raise (21 km), Rampsgill Head (21 km), Kidsty Pike (21 km), High Street (22 km), Thornthwaite Crag (23 km), Ill Bell (25 km)
- South: Atkinson Pike (2 km), Great Dodd (10 km), Green Side (12 km), Raise (13 km), White Side (14 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (15 km), Helvellyn (16 km), St Sunday Crag (18 km), Gavel Pike (18 km), Cofa Pike (19 km), Fairfield (19 km), Stony Cove Pike (22 km), Red Screes (23 km)
- South-west: Skiddaw Lesser Man (7 km), Grisedale Pike (16 km), Sail (17 km), Hopegill Head (17 km), Crag Hill (17 km), Eel Crag (17 km), Wandope (18 km), Grasmoor (19 km), High Stile (23 km), High Stile (23 km), Pillar (25 km), Steeple (26 km), Scoat Fell (26 km), Red Pike (26 km), Haycock (27 km)
- West: Skiddaw Little Man (7 km), Broad End (7 km), Skiddaw (7 km), Skiddaw North Top (7 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (8 km), Skiddaw South Top (8 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (100 km, Scotland), The Cheviot (107 km, England), Cairnsmore of Fleet (91 km, Scotland), Lamachan Hill (101 km, Scotland), Tinto (111 km, Scotland), Green Lowther (92 km, Scotland), White Coomb (86 km, Scotland), Queensberry (77 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.
What you can see from Bowscale Fell
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.On the clearest days the view reaches across to Scotland.
- Criffel Scotland
- Great Dun Fell North Pennines
- Solway Firth bay/estuary
- Cross Fell North Pennines
All 64 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Bannerdale Crags, Souther Fell, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Carrock Fell, Great Calva, Knott, High Pike (Caldbeck), Lonscale Fell, Bakestall, Skiddaw Little Man, Skiddaw, Clough Head, Great Mell Fell, Great Dodd, Watson's Dodd, Hart Side, Little Mell Fell, Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit), Raise, White Side, Hallin Fell, Causey Pike, Place Fell, Helvellyn, Grisedale Pike, Scar Crags, Bonscale Pike, Arthur's Pike, Beda Fell (Beda Head), Steel Knotts (Pikeawassa - Steel Knotts), Sail, Hopegill Head, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), St Sunday Crag, Knott Rigg, Wandope, Hindscarth, Wether Hill, The Nab, Grasmoor, Brock Crags (Wainwright), Fairfield, Robinson, Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Rest Dodd, Hartsop Dodd, High Raise (High Street), The Knott (High Street), Rampsgill Head, Kidsty Pike, High Street, Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), High Crag (Buttermere), Thornthwaite Crag, Red Screes, High Stile, Red Pike (Buttermere), Froswick, Pillar, Ill Bell, Steeple, Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), Red Pike (Wasdale), Haycock
How Bowscale 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.
Best parking to hike Bowscale 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.
Buses to Bowscale Fell 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 (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
My hikes over Bowscale Fell (Strava)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- On the 7th Day God Created Blencathra (opens in new tab) — 17.6 km · 960 m ascent · 4h 23m moving · 25 May 2026
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Hazard & Incident Information for Bowscale Fell
A rounded Northern Fell above Mungrisdale with smooth western slopes but a craggy eastern side cradling the dark corrie lake of Bowscale Tarn. The ascent to the col above the tarn is steep and loose with a hands-on section, the long eastern ridge ends in the steep Raven Crags, and the high plateau (toward Mungrisdale Common) is a navigation trap. Keswick Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.
- Steep, loose path by Bowscale Tarn & eastern crags: The climb to the col above Bowscale Tarn is steep on a loose stone path, needing hand-on-rock in places, and the eastern side breaks into crags around the tarn's corrie. Take the loose ground carefully and keep back from the crag edges above the tarn.
- Raven Crags descent: The long eastern ridge to Mungrisdale steepens over Raven Crags, where the path is steep and slippery even in fine weather. Take this descent carefully and on the right line.
- Featureless plateau navigation: The broad top, and especially the link toward Mungrisdale Common, is featureless and boggy — easy to lose your line in cloud. Navigate by compass and don't drift toward the eastern crags.
Most common causes: Slips on the steep, loose path by Bowscale Tarn and on Raven Crags · Walkers straying onto the eastern crags around the corrie · Navigation errors on the featureless plateau in cloud · Winter ice on the steep eastern ground
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 Bowscale Fell in cloud
StraightforwardA broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. Navigation here is relatively straightforward even in cloud — but carry map and compass and know how to use them; a low score never means “safe”.
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 Bowscale Fell compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.
Other fells near Bowscale Fell
Maps & guidebooks for Bowscale Fell
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