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660 m · Birkett — Eastern (not a Wainwright summit) · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Birkett — Eastern (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Calfhow Pike

Calfhow Pike at 660m (2,165ft) is a Birkett top on the broad moorland ridge above the Matterdale valley east of Ullswater, giving wide views across Ullswater and the eastern fells towards the Pennines.

660 m
Height
+7
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › Calfhow Pike

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

660 mBirkett — Eastern (not a Wainwright summit)+7 bonus Birketts within 3 km

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

Modelled guidance for the 660 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 15° to 13°C, gusts to 39 mph, 5.7 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌦️
15° / 13°
💨 39 mph
🌧 5.7 mm (100%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
15° / 11°
💨 34 mph
🌧 5.8 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
12° / 4°
💨 29 mph
🌧 2.3 mm (78%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
14° / 1°
💨 23 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (78%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
14° / 2°
💨 14 mph
🌧 5.4 mm (54%)
Sun 2 Aug
🌫️
15° / 3°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (24%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
15° / 4°
💨 15 mph
🌧 0.4 mm (23%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 660 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

About the walk

Key information

Calfhow Pike

Calfhow Pike at 660m (2,165ft) is a Birkett top on the broad moorland ridge above the Matterdale valley east of Ullswater, giving wide views across Ullswater and the eastern fells towards the Pennines. Part of the high ground between Great Dodd and the Dockray area. A quiet summit on the eastern edge of the main Helvellyn massif.

Classifications & hill data
Birkett
Synge
660 m
Height
2,165 ft
In feet
NY 3307 2113
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Legburthwaite (United Utilities, small), about 2.3 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Calfhow Pike (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.

1.0 km SELittle Dodd (St John's Common)785 m · Eastern
1.7 km SSWCastle Rock339 m · Eastern
1.8 km SWWren Crag311 m · Eastern
1.8 km ERanderside729 m · Eastern
1.9 km NThrelkeld Knotts514 m · Eastern
2.4 km WHigh Rigg (High Rigg South Top)343 m · Eastern
2.9 km SWGreat How (Thirlmere)333 m · Eastern

Best parking to hike Calfhow Pike

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

Legburthwaite (United Utilities, small) — 2.3 km from summit (straight line)
St John's in the Vale — Sticks Pass side, High Rigg, Raven Crag.
Directions
🚺 Legburthwaite Car Park (155m) — Free
Threlkeld village (free/donation) — 4.4 km from summit (straight line)
Blencathra via Hall's Fell ridge; Clough Head across the valley.
Directions
🚺 Threlkeld Village Hall (57m) — Free · Accessible☕ Threlkeld Coffee Shop🍺 Horse & Farrier Inn🍺 Salutation Inn

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 Calfhow Pike from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

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.
Stagecoach X4 / X5
Penrith – Rheged – Threlkeld – Keswick – Braithwaite – Cockermouth – Workington
Catch it from: Penrith
Year-round, frequent. From Penrith this is your way into Keswick and the Northern fells — Threlkeld/Scales stops serve Blencathra directly, Braithwaite serves the Coledale fells.

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

My hikes over Calfhow Pike (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

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

Other fells near Calfhow Pike

Maps & guidebooks for Calfhow Pike

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