Broad End
Broad End at 832m (2,730ft) is the broad north ridge of Skiddaw, a Birkett top giving views across the Solway Firth to Scotland and along the northern fells.
Summit conditions on Broad End
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 4°C, gusts to 61 mph, 16.0 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 Broad End
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Skiddaw the long way, taking in Lonscale Fell and Bakestall: 19.3 km and 1,118 m, with a pull averaging 22% from Lesser Man onto Little Man and loose slate underfoot high up.
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 Broad End?
The shortest way up we hold is Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Lesser Man, Skiddaw and Bakestall in the sun! — 19.25 km, 1118 m of ascent, ~5½–7¾ h. On our scale its hardest axes are distance, steepness and terrain — Hard.
All axes: length: Hard · steepness: Hard · terrain: Hard · navigation: Moderate · exposure: Easy.
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 832 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Full 7-day forecast
Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)
Parking & buses for Broad End
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
3 more places to park near Broad End
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 553, 554, X4 and X5 stop at Keswick, opposite The Pheasant. From there it is 2.5 km and 300 m of ascent to the start of Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Lesser Man, Skiddaw and Bakestall in the sun! — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: distance, steepness and terrain) — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 24.3 km in all, with the walk. As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Keswick (554): Tuesday to Friday 17:49; Saturday 20:19; Sunday 17:50. 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.
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Hazards on Broad End
Notes from the Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Lesser Man, Skiddaw and Bakestall in the sun! route
If you need to get off (the leg from Skiddaw): If visibility is zero, returning to the summit and using the main southern tourist path is the best bet.
Quoted from the route page: the note for the leg that reaches Broad End.
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 Broad End
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Broad End
Download GPX Walked by Lee, June 2025
Route guide: Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Lesser Man, Skiddaw and Bakestall in the sun! →
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 Broad End
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Lesser Man, Skiddaw and Bakestall in the sun! route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
About Broad End
Field notes
This is a Birkett that flummoxed me. I tried to bag it (do I actually claim it as I was so close) on my second trip to Skiddaw and then down along the Cumbria Way. At the time I had no way of really seeing where the Birketts are (hence why I created this website), so I was walking around the flat, featureless mass looking for any sign of a summit marker. How I didn't actually notice what I can now see on the photo I took amazes me. This goes to show that we rely on technology too much and should have used my own eyes. As you can see from my track below, I was too far east by about 50 metres. So at least you can see where it is if you ever venture up here. As with Bakestall, a short distance away, the views are splendid and the footfall light and could be a nice gentle hike up from the parking near Low Melbecks if you want to venture out on a busy summer's day.— Lee McCoy, who walked it on our Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Lesser Man, Skiddaw and Bakestall in the sun! route in June 2025
My Strava hikes over Broad End
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Lesser Man, Skiddaw and Bakestall in the sun! (opens in new tab) — 19.2 km · 980 m ascent · 4h 56m moving · 29 June 2025
Data from Strava.
Classifications & hill data
Is Broad End a Wainwright?
Broad End is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett 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 Underscar: 10 places in Keswick