Calfhow Pike
Calfhow Pike at 660m (2,165ft) is a Birkett top on the broad grassy ridge between Clough Head (1.4 km NNE) and Great Dodd (1.3 km ESE), at the northern end of the Helvellyn range and west of Ullswater, with Matterdale Common falling away to the east and wide views east towards the Pennines.
Summit conditions on Calfhow Pike
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 11° to 4°C, gusts to 62 mph, 19.5 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 Calfhow Pike
Choose the way up before the car park: these two routes start from two places, and the last two rows give the parking and bus at each route’s own start. Full maps further down.
| Compared | Three Dodds and Calfhow Pike | Threlkeld Knotts & Clough Head |
|---|---|---|
| Starts from | Legburthwaite (United Utilities, small) (paid) | Wanthwaite Bridge Car Park |
| Distance and climb | 11.12 km, 833 m of climb | 11.2 km, 803 m of climb |
| Time, fast to steady | ~3½–5 h | ~3½–5 h |
| Scrambling | Not mentioned in the route’s notes | Not mentioned in the route’s notes |
| Exposure | Not assessed | Not assessed |
| Navigation | Moderate | Moderate |
| Steepest stretch | Descent of about 47% at 9.0 km (Severe) | Descent of about 48% at 7.5 km (Severe) |
| After the summit | No further tops | No further tops |
| Walked or planned | Planned: drawn, not yet walked | Planned: drawn, not yet walked |
| Car park at the start | Legburthwaite (United Utilities, small) (paid) | St John's in the Vale verge, High Rigg (free) |
| Bus to the start | 555 at the start | 509, 2.4 km walk from Threlkeld West End (near) |
Times run from fast to steady pace (Naismith’s rule). Scrambling quotes each route’s own notes; “not mentioned” means they do not say, not that the ground has none. Each route’s page has its map, stages and GPX.
Distance, climb and the steepest stretch are measured from each route’s GPX track; the other grades are set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap, and each route page says which. How we check →
How hard is Calfhow Pike?
The shortest way up we hold is Three Dodds and Calfhow Pike — 11.12 km, 833 m of ascent, ~3½–5 h. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.
All axes: steepness: Severe · length: Moderate · navigation: Moderate · terrain: Not assessed · exposure: Not assessed.
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 660 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Full 7-day forecast
Taken 27 October 2026, 08:13 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)
Parking & buses for Calfhow Pike
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
3 more places to park near Calfhow Pike
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 555 stops at Stanah Dam road end (near), a 270 m walk from the start of Three Dodds and Calfhow Pike — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: steepness). As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Kendal (555): Tuesday to Friday 21:35 to Ambleside, 20:35 to Windermere, 17:42 to Kendal; Saturday 21:35 to Ambleside, 20:35 to Windermere, 18:12 to Kendal; Sunday 19:42 to Windermere, 18:12 to Kendal. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 24 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 Calfhow Pike
Notes from a planned route, not walked: Three Dodds and Calfhow Pike
- Almost all grass with few features, the Dodds are a notorious place to go wrong in mist or whiteout — easy to drift off a vague bearing into the wrong valley. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the summit; don't navigate by the feel of the slope.
If you need to get off (the leg from Great Dodd): You are now on the route's final descent: continue to Calfhow Pike and follow the route's own path down into the valley.
Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: its warnings and the note for the leg that reaches Calfhow Pike.
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 Calfhow Pike
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Calfhow Pike
Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked
Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked
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 Calfhow Pike
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Three Dodds and Calfhow Pike route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
About Calfhow Pike
My Strava hikes over Calfhow Pike
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- Crappy Weather Up There But a Nice Leisurely Jaunt Up 6 Wainwrights (opens in new tab) — 22.1 km · 1105 m ascent · 5h 03m moving · 20 August 2023
Data from Strava.
Classifications & hill data
Is Calfhow Pike a Wainwright?
Calfhow Pike is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge 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 Wanthwaite Bridge: 3 places in Keswick