747 mWainwright — Northern Fells+8 bonus Birketts within 3 km Fewer traps in Clag
Carl Side at 747m (2,450ft) is the prominent shoulder of Skiddaw above Millbeck, its summit giving excellent views across Bassenthwaite Lake and north to Scotland on clear days.
Summit conditions on Carl Side
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 4°C, gusts to 61 mph, 15.3 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.
Against our lines, Tuesday 27 October: wind, cold and cloud from the Met Office UKV 2 km model (daylight hours, as in the verdict above); rain from the summit line’s forecast (the whole day). A tile is large when this top is past its line.
Wind on the top
Past the line
65mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour
The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 53 mph times our exposure factor of 1.23. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 61 mph, before any exposure factor.
under 25
25–35
35–45
45–55
55+
The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS (opens in new tab) describes what wind does to a walker across a range rather than at a line: from about 20–25 mph it starts to affect your balance.
Estimated: it is not calibrated against summit readings, and the two forecasts can disagree by more than a band.
Rain, and the becks
Past the line
15.3mm of rain over the whole day, midnight to midnight
The same figure as the summit line above and the 7-day forecast.
The line Our line: 6 mm in the day, where our scorer counts a day as soaking. We read rainfall, never river levels: becks in spate.
Open-Meteo’s forecast. It says nothing about rain already in the ground.
Also checkedcold: feels like −1 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 22 out of 100, over our in-cloud line of 20. Under a line is not the same as fine: it means only that these figures are under the lines we use.
Not in these tiles Lightning, river levels, snow or ice already lying, and the ground under your feet. A tile cannot see them, so an empty space here never means they are absent.
Snow figures with a second opinion: Powered by Met Office data
Wainwrights are scored for walking conditions each morning from the Met Office’s UK forecast model, read for each summit through Open-Meteo; the forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →
12.41 km · ~1123 m ascent · ~4¼–6 h · loop · 6 summits
Hard effortHard: steepness and navigation
Park: Dodd Wood (paid) · Bus: X4 at the start
A grand horseshoe of the northern Skiddaw group from the forest at Dodd Wood.
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 →
Is Carl Side hard to climb?
The top itself is a gentle grassy dome; the effort is in getting up to it. What people mean by the question is the slope above it: the pull from Carlside Tarn directly up onto Skiddaw is short, very steep and loose underfoot, and it is the hardest few minutes of that side of the mountain.
Our round with Ullock Pike and Dodd is 12.4 km with 1123 m of ascent, which we rate Hard overall for its steepness. Our round comes back down that same slope to Carlside Tarn, so allow time for it.
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
Dodd Wood (paid) — 0.1 km from the start of Skiddaw via Ullock Pike and Dodd (straight line)
Forestry car park for Dodd, Carl Side and the Ullock Pike ridge onto Skiddaw. Fees: First 20 min free; first hour £2.10; then £0.55 per 15 min; all-day max £13. ANPR pay-on-exit, one pay station beside the toilet block; blue badge holders not exempt; card or Park with Ease online within 48h; no charge if arriving car-free (Forestry England, checked August 2026). Open 24/7 (Forestry England, checked August 2026). Free for Forestry England members (checked August 2026).
Ullock Pike car park (free) — 2.3 km from summit (straight line)
On the A591 below Ullock Pike, about 40 m from the Long Side Plantation bus stop and about 1.1 km east of the lake. The 'Skiddaw via Ullock Pike and Dodd' route starts at Dodd Wood, 1.2 km south on foot. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Watches, south-west (layby) — 2.4 km from summit (straight line)
Beside the A591 about 290 m north of the Ullock Pike car park. The 'Skiddaw via Ullock Pike and Dodd' route starts at Dodd Wood, 1.5 km south on foot. Free (OSM-tagged).
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 and X4 stop at Skiddaw, outside Osprey View Point, a 60 m walk from the start of Skiddaw via Ullock Pike and Dodd — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: steepness and navigation). As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Keswick (554): Tuesday to Friday, Sunday 17:39; Saturday 20:09. Towards Keswick (X4): Tuesday to Saturday 18:37 only. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 24 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
Year-round, every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday between Penrith and Keswick and hourly on Sundays, from outside Penrith station. One ticket from any station on the West Coast Main Line to Keswick includes this bus: search for ‘Keswick Bus (KWK)’ when you book the train. From Penrith this is your way into Keswick and the Northern fells — Threlkeld/Scales stops serve Blencathra directly, Braithwaite serves the Coledale fells.
Notes from the Skiddaw via Ullock Pike and Dodd route
Longside Edge is an airy ridge — fine in calm weather and nothing like Striding Edge, but it can feel daunting in a high wind.
The pull onto Skiddaw is loose scree, with a navigation trap. From the col at Carlside Tarn the path climbs the scree north-east to the summit ridge; drifting north (left) too early takes you beneath the summit, so keep on the line that heads straight up the slope.
The descent from Carl Side to Dodd needs care with the GPS: turn right at White Stones down towards the road — the 'direct' line straight up to the left near the bottom is almost impassable — then right along the road and immediately left, back on yourself, to pick up the clear path to Dodd.
Off Dodd, a clearing to the left looks like a short-cut but isn't: it leads through branches and moss to a sharp drop. Head back to the road and follow the track home.
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.
Navigating in cloud
Fewer traps in cloud
Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of steep ground within half a kilometre of the summit. This top is in the lowest of the index’s four bands, and a low band never means “safe”: 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 Carl Side compares with all 214: the Clag Index (experimental).
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.
Start from the forestry car park at Dodd Wood (Mirehouse), on the A591 by the east shore of Bassenthwaite Lake — the path heads up through the trees, over a brook, and north past Sand Beds.
Best season: A popular route walkable in most seasons. Save Longside Edge for a day without a gale, and expect the loose scree onto Skiddaw to be the one real effort. In winter the scree and the high, open ridge need proper care and kit.
Warnings: Longside Edge is an airy ridge — fine in calm weather and nothing like Striding Edge, but it can feel daunting in a high wind. The pull onto Skiddaw is loose scree, with a navigation trap. From the col at Carlside Tarn the path climbs the scree north-east to the summit ridge; drifting north (left) too early takes you beneath the summit, so keep on the line that heads straight up the slope. The descent from Carl Side to Dodd needs care with the GPS: turn right at White Stones down towards the road — the 'direct' line straight up to the left near the bottom is almost impassable — then right along the road and immediately left, back on yourself, to pick up the clear path to Dodd. Off Dodd, a clearing to the left looks like a short-cut but isn't: it leads through branches and moss to a sharp drop. Head back to the road and follow the track home.
Wainwright described the ridge from Ullock Pike over Long Side and Carl Side as the finest approach to Skiddaw — an excellent horseshoe returning via the main summit and Skiddaw Little Man. Carlside Tarn, in the col just north-east of the summit, is a pleasant spot. The views of Bassenthwaite from this western ridge are consistently excellent.
Field notes
This is a fell that most will probably either have their head down as they traverse their way to or from Skiddaw, the summit cairn isn't much of a feature. The terrain is relatively flat and grassy. But if you do have your head up and blessed with fine weather you'll have grand views to the south to Keswick and west to Bassenthwaite Lake and beyond. To the north you'll be looking at the scree track up to the parent summit - hopefully you would have done that already and not have it to go.
This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.
The summit is also a Birkett.
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 →
The view from Carl Side
The 360° skyline from Carl Side
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
The skyline as a list, by direction
North-east: Skiddaw (1 km)
South-east: Little Dodd (11 km), Great Dodd (12 km), Stybarrow Dodd (13 km), Green Side (14 km), Raise (14 km), White Side (14 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (15 km), Catstye Cam (15 km), Helvellyn (16 km), High Crag (17 km), High Raise (24 km)
South: Great Gable (18 km), Kirk Fell East Top (18 km), Kirk Fell (19 km), Great End (20 km), Esk Pike (21 km), Broad Crag (21 km), Ill Crag (21 km), Scafell Pike (21 km), Bowfell (22 km), Scafell (22 km), Shelter Crags (23 km), Crinkle Crags (23 km), Crinkle Crags (23 km), Crinkle Crags (23 km), Crinkle Crags (23 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (24 km), Swirl How (28 km), Brim Fell (30 km), The Old Man of Coniston (30 km)
South-west: Eel Crag (10 km), Crag Hill (10 km), Grasmoor (11 km), High Stile (16 km), High Stile (16 km), Pillar (18 km), Steeple (19 km), Scoat Fell (19 km), Haycock (21 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Slieve Donard (187 km, Ireland), Merrick (101 km, Scotland), Broad Law (96 km, Scotland), Snaefell (95 km, Isle of Man), Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (96 km, Scotland), Cairnsmore of Fleet (85 km, Scotland), Corserine (96 km, Scotland), Windlestraw Law (116 km, Scotland).
Carl Side waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when the sun is up for 95 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 06:11 against an almanac sunrise of 04:36. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the east-north-east from here (63.8°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 10.52°.
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 light
Almanac sunrise
Difference
Midsummer
06:11 BST ±5.0 min
04:36
+95 min
Equinox
06:43 GMT ±5.0 min
06:16
+27 min
Midwinter
08:36 GMT ±5.0 min
08:34
+2 min
The northern horizon stands at about 3.07° from here.
Last light — when the sun leaves Carl Side
Carl Side holds the light. On not one of the sixteen dates modelled does the sun leave this summit before almanac sunset — the ground falls away westward rather than standing over you, and at midsummer it is still in the sun 4 minutes after the valley has lost it.
The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
Last light
Almanac sunset
Difference
Midsummer
21:58 BST ±5.0 min
21:54
+4 min
Equinox
18:32 GMT ±5.0 min
18:27
+5 min
Midwinter
15:50 GMT ±5.0 min
15:48
+2 min
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 Carl Side
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
89Wainwrights in view+10 marginal
192 kmFurthest sightlineSlieve Binnian · possible under favourable refraction
2Sea in viewIrish Sea, Solway Firth
On the clearest days the view reaches across to Scotland, the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland.
How the view from Carl Side compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.
How the skyline, light and sightlines are computed
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 Carl Side. 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.
Sightlines from the Copernicus GLO-30 elevation model, which is a surface model: each 30 m cell holds the top of whatever stands there, trees and buildings included, rather than bare ground. 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.
We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).
