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715 m · Wainwright — Western Fells · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Brandreth - the stony summit plateau with a single fence post, and beyond it a pyramid-shaped fell between two valleys with a lake on either side, under a high blue sky
Wainwright — Western FellsAlso a Birkett

Brandreth

Brandreth at 715m (2,346ft) is a broad, grassy summit on the Gable ridge above Honister, giving excellent views of Great Gable and the Scafells from the north.

715 m
Height
~4.5–5.5 h
Typical time
+4
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →

Home › Fells › Brandreth

Written and walked by Lee McCoy

715 mWainwright — Western Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+4 bonus Birketts within 3 km Care needed in cloud

Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast

Modelled guidance for the 715 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 11° to 8°C, gusts to 24 mph, 1.4 mm of rain forecast.

Fri 11 Sep
🌦️
11° / 8°
💨 24 mph
🌧 1.4 mm (100%)
Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
13° / 8°
💨 51 mph
🌧 45.1 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
🌦️
11° / 7°
💨 21 mph
🌧 0.2 mm (74%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌧️
13° / 7°
💨 33 mph
🌧 18.7 mm (96%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌧️
12° / 7°
💨 32 mph
🌧 13.2 mm (100%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
10° / 8°
💨 34 mph
🌧 6.0 mm (96%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌦️
10° / 7°
💨 38 mph
🌧 11.6 mm (98%)

Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 715 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Brandreth at a glance

Brandreth

Brandreth - the stony summit plateau with a single fence post, and beyond it a pyramid-shaped fell between two valleys with a lake on either side, under a high blue sky
© Lee McCoy

Brandreth at 715m (2,346ft) is a broad, grassy summit on the Gable ridge above Honister, giving excellent views of Great Gable and the Scafells from the north. Wainwright noted its pleasant, unhurried character and the fine views it gives south to the high fells. The ascent from Honister is straightforward, combined naturally with Grey Knotts for a short but rewarding Honister circuit. The views of the Gable massif from this northern ridge are very fine.

Field notes

This is another fell that Alfred Wainwright exclaims to the effect of “this summit … has nothing of particular interest”. And I'm inclined to agree. I can't even find a photo I took of the summit - it means I didn't take one. The route over from Haystacks was interesting and then became mundane as I approached this summit. I knew my route took me to the backside of the fell and then back around. With the weather conditions I had at the time it was safe to take the corner off that route and then, looking at my track, I found it difficult to find the true summit. The view to Base Brown is pleasant enough, but not the finest in the area.

Routes up Brandreth

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

Black Star Brandreth and others
9.2 km · ~2.8 hr
Straight up from the Honister pass — Honister Crag, Fleetwith Pike, Brandreth and Grey Knotts in 9.2 km with 597 m of climbing. Short but severe for steepness and hard for exposure, with one stage averaging 15%. Under three hours.
Great Gable from Honister Slate Mine
9.6 km · ~3.1 hr · Hard
The kindest way to England’s most-loved mountain. Honister starts you at 350 m, so the Grey Knotts–Brandreth–Green Gable ridge does most of the climbing for you before the final stony pull onto Great Gable. Four Wainwrights, a summit war memorial and the finest view in Lakeland down into Wasdale — but the top is a broad boulder plateau, and in cloud it is one of the great navigation traps.

Classifications & hill data

Wainwright
Western
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
Nuttall
715 m
Height
2,346 ft
In feet
NY 2145 1191
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Brandreth a Wainwright?

Brandreth is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Nuttall list and the Fellranger list.

Where do you park for Brandreth?

The nearest car park we hold is Honister Pass (paid, slate mine), about 1.9 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Honister (NT, paid), 2.0 km out. We only look within 2.5 km, measured straight-line: over longer distances a road may cross a pass and the drive bears no relation to the line.

My hikes over Brandreth (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.

Parking & buses for Brandreth

Best parking to hike Brandreth

Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).

Honister Pass (paid, slate mine) — 1.9 km from summit (straight line)
Pay & display at the top of the pass — Dale Head, Fleetwith Pike, Grey Knotts with minimal ascent. This is the slate mine's own car park, the WESTERN one; the National Trust car park 170 m east is a separate one. Fees: Day parking GBP 5 per day for visitors; free for all Honister activity guests (honister.com/your-visit/). Overnight parking GBP 15 a night in the large bottom car park, open to campervans, motorhomes and vans, no tent camping, no facilities, no electric hook-ups; book online or pay by QR code on arrival and display confirmation on the dashboard (honister.com/your-visit/overnight-parking) (operator, checked Aug 2026). You pay by card, inside the building, not at a machine in the car park. The posted opening is 9am but it is often later; the mine is content for you to arrive before it and pay on the way out, and the car park is covered by cameras (Lee McCoy, local observation, recorded 12 Aug 2026). Pay and display (LDNPA, checked Aug 2026).
🕑 Typically full before 10:00 on fine weekends, Apr-Oct — Lee McCoy, local observation, 2026-08-09.
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: Seatoller (NT, paid) (2.3 km)
🚺 Public toilets (~136 m straight line) — Free🚺 Public toilets (~1825 m straight line) — Free☕ Sky Hi Cafe
Honister (NT, paid) — 2.0 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Great Gable, Green Gable, Brandreth and Grey Knotts — the 'Great Gable from Honister Slate Mine' route starts 61 m away. Also serves 'Haystacks'. 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 Aug 2026). The machine takes cards, and National Trust members park free on production of their membership card (Lee McCoy, local observation, recorded 12 Aug 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
Seathwaite Farm, Borrowdale (free verge) — 2.2 km from summit (straight line)
Free verge parking on the Seathwaite lane — the honeypot start for the Scafells, Great Gable and Glaramara. Arrive very early.
🕑 Typically full before 09:00 on fine weekends, Apr-Oct — Lee McCoy, local observation, 2026-08-09.
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: Honister Pass (paid, slate mine) (1.8 km); Seatoller (NT, paid) (2.0 km); Rosthwaite (NT, paid) (3.8 km)
🚺 Public toilets (~188 m straight line) — Free
Thornythwaite Fell (layby) — 2.3 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Allen Crags, High House Tarn Top (High House - Allen Crags), Red Beck Top (Glaramara South Top) (Lincomb Head - Glaramara) and Looking Steads (Glaramara) — the 'Allan Crags & Glaramara' route starts 135 m away. Also serves 'Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route'. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Grey Knotts car park — 2.3 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Grey Knotts (1.7 km), Dale Head (1.9 km), Honister Crag (Black Star) (1.9 km). Fee not verified — check signage on arrival.
Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate — zoom the map to confirm.

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 Brandreth by bus

The 77 stops at Honister Youth Hostel (near), 140 m from the start of Great Gable from Honister Slate Mine — a route we rate Hard. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day, and it is not daily before then — a bus on 31 of the 56 days from 7 September. We don’t know when it returns. Confirmed with the operator, 29 August 2026. The last bus is 18:33 towards Keswick (77), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 77 / 77A “Honister Rambler”
Keswick – Portinscale – Hawse End (Catbells) – Grange – Seatoller – Honister Pass – Buttermere – Lorton – Whinlatter – Keswick (circular)
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 from Windermere/Ambleside or X4/X5 from Penrith)
Seasonal (roughly Easter–October). Brilliant for the North Western fells: Catbells, Dale Head from Honister, the Buttermere fells and Whinlatter.

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

Hazards on Brandreth

Hazard & Incident Information for Brandreth

Hazard: Moderate

A boggy, fairly featureless top on the high ground between Honister and Great Gable, its summit a scatter of stones and rusted fence posts. There are no real crags on the fell itself, so the hazard is navigation: in cloud the broad, sodden plateau is easy to misjudge, and the steep crags of neighbouring Gillercomb lie just to the east. The old fence line is the handrail to follow. Keswick Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.

  • Featureless boggy plateau (navigation): The broad top has few landmarks beyond the ruined fence posts, and the ground is wet and confusing in mist. Use the fence line as a handrail (and know which side to be on), take a compass bearing, and don't trust a vague trod across the bog.
  • Gillercomb crags to the east: Steep crags drop into the deep bowl of Gillercomb just east of the col toward Grey Knotts. Don't drift down into the Gillercomb hollow in cloud — keep to the broad col and the gentle rise.
  • Deep bog & exposure: The ground between Brandreth and Green Gable / Grey Knotts is among the boggiest around, and this is high, shelterless ground. Pick careful lines, allow extra time, and dress for fast-changing high-fell weather.
Who should attempt this fell: Brandreth is gentle underfoot but a navigation fell — follow the old fence line as a handrail, keep to the correct side, and take a compass bearing in cloud so you don't drift toward the Gillercomb crags. Expect deep bog, allow time, and treat it as exposed winter ground when there is snow. There's little here to catch you if you wander, except the steep edge into Gillercomb.

Most common causes: Navigation errors on the featureless boggy plateau in cloud · Drifting toward or into the Gillercomb crags/hollow · Floundering in deep bog along the fence line · Exposure in poor weather on high open ground

Local Mountain Rescue: Keswick Mountain Rescue Team · 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.

Report incorrect information

Navigating Brandreth in cloud

Care needed

A 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 Brandreth 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

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.

Nearest parking: Honister Pass (paid, slate mine), about 1.9 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Brandreth (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.

2.0 km SWKirk Fell East Top (Kirk Fell North Top)787 m · Western
2.2 km NHonister Crag (Black Star)634 m · Western
2.5 km SSESeathwaite Fell (Great Slack)631 m · Southern
2.8 km WLooking Stead (Pillar)628 m · Western

Routes over Brandreth

Black Star Brandreth and othersPlanned
9.18 km · ~597 m ascent · loop · ~2.5–3.5 h
Summits: Honister Crag (Black Star)Fleetwith PikeBrandrethGrey Knotts

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

🥾 Walked in part — Lee walked this ground in April 2026; km 0.9–1.7, km 4.7–5.5 of this line are from the map.

A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.

Great Gable from Honister Slate MinePlanned
9.61 km · ~690 m ascent · loop · ~3–4 h · Hard
Summits: Great GableGreen GableBrandrethGrey Knotts

⬇️ Download GPX

⚠️ Warnings: The summit plateau in cloud. Gable’s top is a broad sea of boulders with crags on several sides and no handrails. Take a bearing off the summit and follow it precisely — this is where the callouts start. Do not drift towards the Napes. The southern face is a climbers’ playground of crags and gullies, not a walkers’ descent. The Windy Gap descent is loose and steep. Take it slowly, especially in the wet.

Full route guide ↗

✎️ 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.

On the hill: terrain and water on Brandreth

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Black Star Brandreth and others route:

🚌 Honister Youth Hostel / Slate Quarry (E) (157 m)🚌 map (163 m)⛺ Honister Pass YHA (112 m)

On the Great Gable from Honister Slate Mine route:

🚌 Honister Youth Hostel / Slate Quarry (E) (88 m)🚌 map (91 m)⛺ Honister Pass YHA (39 m)

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

The view from Brandreth

The 360° skyline from Brandreth

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 Brandreth36 labelled tops shown (8 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWHelvellyn · 13 kmIll Crag · 5 kmSkiddaw · 18 kmGreat End · 4 kmBowfell · 6 kmGreat Gable · 2 kmPillar · 4 kmHigh Crag · 13 kmRaise · 14 kmFairfield · 14 kmBlencathra · 19 kmGreat Dodd · 15 kmGrasmoor · 9 kmStybarrow Dodd · 15 kmScoat Fell · 6 kmCrag Hill · 9 kmRed Pike · 5 kmHigh Stile · 6 kmGrisedale Pike · 11 kmGlaramara · 4 kmRed Screes · 18 kmJenkin Hill · 17 kmHarrison Stickle · 8 kmHindscarth · 5 kmClough Head · 16 kmHigh House Tarn Top · 4 kmMungrisdale Common · 20 kmGreat Borne · 10 kmIllgill Head · 8 kmKirk Fell · 2 kmGreen Gable · 1 kmCombe Head · 4 kmBleaberry Fell · 10 kmCarling Knott · 13 kmCrag Fell · 12 kmMellbreak North Top · 10 kmSkiddaw Little Man · 17 kmDollywaggon Pike · 13 kmSteeple · 6 kmHaycock · 7 kmRampsgill Head · 23 kmDove Crag · 16 kmAllen Crags · 4 kmLooking Steads · 4 kmWandope · 8 kmHigh Raise · 7 kmRed Beck Top · 4 kmLonscale Fell · 17 kmScar Crags · 9 kmCalfhow Pike · 15 kmSouther Fell · 22 kmPillar Rock · 4 kmThirdgill Head Man · 8 kmLow Saddle · 8 kmHeron Pike North Top · 15 kmSeathwaite Fell · 2 kmWhin Rigg · 10 kmHigh Snockrigg · 6 kmBengairn · 62 km · clear daysLow Fell · 13 kmDarling Fell · 14 kmHatteringill Head · 15 kmBowness Knott · 11 kmMerrick · 108 km · a rare clear dayCairnsmore of Carsphairn · 106 km · a rare clear dayYr Eifl · 188 km · a handful of days a yearWhite Coomb · 103 km · a rare clear dayAgnew's Hill · 180 km · a handful of days a yearColt Hill · 101 km · a rare clear dayLaw Kneis · 102 km · a rare clear dayWhite Hill · 70 km · a rare clear day
What you can see from Brandreth, by direction
  • North: Crag Hill (9 km), Grisedale Pike (11 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (17 km), Skiddaw Little Man (17 km), Skiddaw South Top (17 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (18 km), Skiddaw (18 km)
  • North-east: Raise (14 km), Watson's Dodd (14 km), Stybarrow Dodd (15 km), Great Dodd (15 km), Green Side (15 km), Knowe Crags (18 km), Gategill Fell Top (19 km), Blencathra (19 km), Atkinson Pike (20 km)
  • East: Helvellyn Lower Man (13 km), High Crag (13 km), Nethermost Pike (13 km), Helvellyn (13 km), White Side (13 km), Dollywaggon Pike (13 km), Fairfield (14 km), Cofa Pike (14 km), Dove Crag (16 km), Rampsgill Head (23 km)
  • South-east: Esk Pike (5 km), Bowfell (6 km)
  • South: Great Gable (2 km), Great End (4 km), Ill Crag (5 km)
  • West: Pillar (4 km), Black Crag (5 km), Red Pike (5 km), Scoat Fell (6 km), Steeple (6 km), Haycock (7 km)
  • North-west: High Stile (5 km), High Stile (6 km), Grasmoor (9 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Merrick (108 km, Scotland), Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (106 km, Scotland), Corserine (104 km, Scotland), Lamachan Hill (102 km, Scotland), Yr Eifl (188 km, Wales), White Coomb (103 km, Scotland), Cairnsmore [Black Craig of Dee] (90 km, Scotland), Agnew's Hill (180 km, Ireland).

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 (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on Brandreth

Brandreth sits close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its longest wait of the modelled year (on 1 February) first light is only 7 minutes after almanac sunrise, so the published sunrise time is a fair guide here.

0°30°40°50°60°04:34
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
Midsummer04:34 BST ±5.0 min04:37-3 min
Equinox06:18 GMT ±5.0 min06:16+2 min
Midwinter08:29 GMT ±5.0 min08:33-4 min

A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean -0.05°).

Last light — when the sun leaves Brandreth

The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (on 1 December) last light is only 14 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on Brandreth.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
Last lightAlmanac sunsetDifference
Midsummer21:57 BST ±5.0 min21:53+4 min
Equinox18:17 GMT ±5.0 min18:27-10 min
Midwinter15:39 GMT ±5.0 min15:50-11 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 Brandreth. 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 Brandreth

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
69Wainwrights in view+14 marginal
109 kmFurthest sightlineMerrick · possible under favourable refraction
1Sea in viewIrish Sea

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Scotland.

Far horizons
  • Merrick ScotlandNW · 109 km clear
  • Ingleborough Yorkshire DalesSE · 65 km clear
  • Irish Sea open waterSW · 48 km in view
All 69 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Grey Knotts, Green Gable, Base Brown, Great Gable, Seathwaite Fell (Wainwright summit), Kirk Fell, Fleetwith Pike, Haystacks (Buttermere), Glaramara, Great End, Allen Crags, High Crag (Buttermere), Pillar, Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, High Spy, Esk Pike, Red Pike (Wasdale), Robinson, Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), High Stile, Steeple, Sergeant's Crag, Eagle Crag, Bowfell, Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Haycock, High Raise (High White Stones), Ullscarf, Whiteless Pike, Ard Crags, Rannerdale Knotts, Harrison Stickle, Wandope, Illgill Head, Sail, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Scar Crags, High Tove, Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top), Grasmoor, Mellbreak (Mellbreak South Top), High Seat, Great Borne, Bleaberry Fell, Whin Rigg (Wasdale), Grisedale Pike, Walla Crag, Crag Fell, Seat Sandal, Nethermost Pike, Grike, Helvellyn, White Side, Dollywaggon Pike, Low Fell, Raise, Great Rigg, Fairfield, Stybarrow Dodd, Fellbarrow - Mosser Fell, Dove Crag, High Pike (Scandale), Red Screes, Froswick, Rampsgill Head, Yoke, Kidsty Pike, Carrock Fell

How Brandreth’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

Seatoller House guest house

about 2.0 km from the start, in a straight line

The nearest serviced bed to the top of Honister with a kitchen behind it. It is the only property inside 3 km whose own page answers evening meal, breakfast time, parking, dogs and a family room together - and two of its ten rooms are downstairs, which matters to a walker who has just come off Haystacks on wrecked knees.

Worth knowing: “Well behaved dogs are allowed, they are not allowed in the dining room at any time,Please clean and dry all dogs on entering Seatoller via the back door.”

The house is 400 years old, has taken guests for more than a century, and is the biggest building in the hamlet of Seatoller.

  • Dogs “Well behaved dogs are allowed, they are not allowed in the dining room at any time,Please clean and dry all dogs on entering Seatoller via the back door.”
  • Family rooms “Rabbit Large Family room, Private bathroom directly opposite, great views of garden & Fells”
  • Evening meal “The dining room has two large traditional oak tables creating a friendly atmosphere where guests are served a set meal at 7 pm (excluding Wednesdays).”
  • Parking “There are 10 bedrooms all with private bathrooms, a large award winning garden surrounding the house and ample private car parking.”

YHA Borrowdale hostel

about 3.1 km from the start, in a straight line

The only bed in the cluster whose own page states a cot, a highchair, ground-floor rooms, wheelchair access, a drying room, a self-catering kitchen and a 07:30 breakfast. For a family where one adult walks Great Gable and the rest do not, nothing else in the radius answers as many of their questions - which is why it earns a row despite not being independent.

Worth knowing: “Dogs: Pets are not permitted at YHA Borrowdale, except in our Camping & Cabins accommodation. Assistance dogs are welcome - please notify us at the time of booking.”

There has been a youth hostel in this valley since before the war - the present one opened at Longthwaite at Easter 1939, after an earlier hostel at Grange-in-Borrowdale closed in 1937.

  • Drying room “Self-catering kitchen Shared drying room Shared lounge Sole use available Unlimited breakfast Water refill station Wheelchair accessible WiFi”
  • Family rooms “YHA Borrowdale offers a variety of accommodation options including rooms of varying sizes, camping pods and camping pitches.”
  • Evening meal “With tasty breakfasts, packed lunches and evening meals, groups are sure to find something delicious to eat at YHA Borrowdale (see sample menu ).”
  • Packed lunch “With tasty breakfasts, packed lunches and evening meals, groups are sure to find something delicious to eat at YHA Borrowdale (see sample menu ).”
  • Parking “Parking: This hostel has on-site parking (subject to availability). Charges apply though overnight guests benefit from a discounted rate of £5 per vehicle for 24 hours.”
  • Children “Accessible rooms available Bed linen Central heating Cot available Ground floor rooms available Heating Hot water Lock on doors Smoke alarm”

What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions about Brandreth

Is Brandreth a hard walk?

Not to climb — it is a broad, sodden plateau of a summit topped with a scatter of stones and old fence posts, and there are no crags on the fell itself. The two things it asks of you are patience with bog and attention to your bearing.

The ground between Brandreth, Grey Knotts and Green Gable is among the boggiest around, and the top is high, shelterless and short of landmarks; the old fence line is the handrail, and it is worth knowing which side of it you want. The crags of Gillercomb drop away just to the east, so do not let a descent in cloud drift into that hollow. Our short round from Honister is 9.2 km with 597 m of ascent, graded hard for navigation.

Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction

Other fells near Brandreth