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529 m · Outlying Fell — South Lakeland · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Outlying Fell — South LakelandAlso a Birkett

Caw

Caw at 529m (1,736ft) is an isolated, rocky summit in the Dunnerdale Fells above the Duddon valley, its craggy top giving fine views of the Coniston Fells and the Duddon estuary.

529 m
Height
+4
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →
529 mOutlying Fell — South Lakeland✓ summit is also a Birkett+4 bonus Birketts within 3 km

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

Modelled guidance for the 529 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Sat 12 Sep): 15° to 6°C, gusts to 40 mph, 29.2 mm of rain forecast.

Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
15° / 6°
💨 40 mph
🌧 29.2 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
☁️
15° / 10°
💨 12 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (7%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌧️
15° / 11°
💨 38 mph
🌧 7.7 mm (82%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌧️
14° / 10°
💨 38 mph
🌧 16.7 mm (95%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌧️
11° / 9°
💨 30 mph
🌧 7.1 mm (62%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌧️
10° / 9°
💨 36 mph
🌧 28.0 mm (92%)
Fri 18 Sep
🌧️
12° / 8°
💨 37 mph
🌧 22.8 mm (86%)

Forecast snapshot from 12 Sep 2026, 18:50 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 529 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Caw at a glance

Caw

Caw at 529m (1,736ft) is an isolated, rocky summit in the Dunnerdale Fells above the Duddon valley, its craggy top giving fine views of the Coniston Fells and the Duddon estuary. Wainwright included it in The Outlying Fells of Lakeland, noting its pleasant character and the excellent views it gives of the southern Lake District. The ascent from Seathwaite in Dunnerdale is a fine short walk. An interesting fell with good rock scenery and views across the Duddon valley.

Routes up Caw

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

Classifications & hill data

Outlying Fell
South Lakeland
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
HuMP
529 m
Height
1,736 ft
In feet
SD 2304 9445
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Caw a Wainwright?

Caw is one of Wainwright's Outlying Fells, not one of the 214 in the Pictorial Guides. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Fellranger list and the HuMP list.

Where do you park for Caw?

The nearest car park we hold is Seathwaite, Duddon Valley (roadside), about 1.6 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Green Pikes car park (paid), 1.6 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.

How hard is Caw?

The shortest way up we hold is Birketts by Dunnerdale Fells — 19.8 km, 1036 m of ascent, about 5.7 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.

All axes: steepness: Severe · exposure: Hard · length: Hard · terrain: Moderate · navigation: Moderate.

Parking & buses for Caw

Best parking to hike Caw

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

Seathwaite, Duddon Valley (roadside) — 1.6 km from summit (straight line)
Limited roadside parking near the Newfield Inn for the Dunnerdale fells and Walna Scar side.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Green Pikes car park (paid) — 1.6 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Green Pikes (1.2 km), Pikes (1.6 km), Caw (1.6 km). Paid parking (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Green Pikes car park — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
1.3 km from Green Pikes.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Stickle Pike, north-east (layby) — 1.9 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Stickle Pike (0.6 km), Fox Haw (0.9 km), Raven's Crag (Stickle Pike) (1.0 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Stickle Pike (layby) — 2.0 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Stickle Pike (0.6 km), Fox Haw (1.1 km), Brock Barrow (1.1 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Ground surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?

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.

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 Caw by bus

The nearest bus stop we hold is the 505 at Coniston, outside The Ruskin Centre, 7.9 km of walking from the start — not realistically reachable without a car.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Hazards on Caw

No hazard card for this fell. The usual open-fell rules apply: check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected.

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Seathwaite, Duddon Valley (roadside), about 1.6 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Caw (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 WBrock Barrow343 m · Southern
1.1 km SWFox Haw385 m · Southern
2.2 km ENEWhite Pike (Seathwaite)600 m · Southern
2.7 km ENEWhite Maiden613 m · Southern

Routes over Caw

19.84 km · ~1036 m ascent · loop · ~5.5–7.5 h

⬇️ Download GPX

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 Caw

Water & shelter on the way up

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

Places to stay near this fell

Wallabarrow (High Wallabarrow Farm self-catering cottage, camping barn and bunkhouse) (opens in new tab)

about 1.5 km from the start, in a straight line

It answers the two questions that decide a Dunnerdale weekend for a family, in the property's own words: where the children sleep (a king-plus-single family room with a stair gate offered, a single bedroom downstairs and a full-size futon in the living room) and whether the dog can come (yes, with the livestock it will meet listed by name). It lends a 3-wheeler jogger and a macpac carrier, so a toddler need not be carried. It is also the only property in this cluster whose owner's own phone, email and postal address are on the page rather than a booking agency's, and at 1.51 km it is the nearest candidate in the radius with any fetchable page at all.

A National Trust-owned hill farm at the end of a no-through road below the 1,000ft Wallabarrow Crag, which sells guests its own free-range eggs and sometimes Herdwick lamb and Galloway beef.

  • Dogs “Well behaved dogs are welcome and must always be under control as they are likely to encounter sheep, cows, horses, chickens, rabbits, working dogs and young children on a daily basis!”
  • Family rooms “two bedrooms, a family room upstairs with a king size bed and a single bed (stair gate available) and a single bedroom downstairs with a four foot (small double) bed”
  • Children “For 'wee uns' we have a 3-wheeler jogger and a macpac carrier which visitors are welcome to borrow.”

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 (opens in new tab).

Other fells near Caw