hikes.guideLake District

700 m · Wainwright — Southern Fells · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Wainwright — Southern FellsAlso a Birkett

Cold Pike

Cold Pike at 701m (2,300ft) is a rocky little summit on the ridge between Pike of Blisco and Crinkle Crags, its three small tops each providing slightly different views.

700 m
Height
~3–4 h
Typical time
+12
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › Cold Pike

700 mWainwright — Southern Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+12 bonus Birketts within 3 km Straightforward in cloud

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

Modelled guidance for the 700 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 14° to 13°C, gusts to 39 mph, 9.7 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌧️
14° / 13°
💨 39 mph
🌧 9.7 mm (99%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
13° / 11°
💨 32 mph
🌧 7.2 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
12° / 5°
💨 28 mph
🌧 1.3 mm (87%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
14° / 1°
💨 24 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (86%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
14° / 3°
💨 15 mph
🌧 3.6 mm (82%)
Sun 2 Aug
🌫️
15° / 5°
💨 19 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (35%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
15° / 6°
💨 16 mph
🌧 0.2 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 700 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

Cold Pike

Cold Pike, a Lake District fell
Photo: The original uploader was StephenDawson at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cold Pike at 701m (2,300ft) is a rocky little summit on the ridge between Pike of Blisco and Crinkle Crags, its three small tops each providing slightly different views. Wainwright included it as a separate fell in his Southern guide, noting its craggy, interesting character and the fine views it gives south-west across the Duddon valley. Most walkers pass through it without stopping en route between Blisco and Crinkle Crags on the classic Great Langdale circuit. The summit provides good views of the Coniston Fells to the south and is a pleasant, unhurried spot when the main tops are crowded.

Routes up Cold Pike

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

Langdale Horseshoe
20.2 km · ~6.5 hr · Severe
The full Langdale Horseshoe — fifteen tops, 1,500 m of ascent and one of the hardest days in the Lakes that involves no rope. The Langdale Pikes, Bowfell, the whole Crinkle Crags ridge and Pike of Blisco in a single round. It is long, rough, and the Crinkles will try to lead you down the wrong side. Do not start it late.
Classifications & hill data
Wainwright
Southern
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
Nuttall
700 m
Height
2,297 ft
In feet
NY 2628 0361
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Three Shire Stone, Wrynose Pass (verge), about 1.8 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Cold 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.

0.7 km NNWGreat Knott695 m · Southern
1.3 km WSWLittle Stand740 m · Southern
1.4 km WNWStonesty Pike765 m · Southern
1.6 km NWCrinkle Crags South Top (First Crinkle)834 m · Southern
1.7 km ENEWrynose Fell - Long Crag547 m · Southern
2.0 km NWCrinkle Crags - Fourth Crinkle832 m · Southern
2.0 km NWCrinkle Crags - Gunson Knott (Fifth Crinkle)822 m · Southern
2.1 km SSEHell Gill Pike662 m · Southern
2.2 km NWShelter Crags815 m · Southern
2.2 km SSELittle Carrs692 m · Southern
2.2 km EBlake Rigg (Little Langdale)535 m · Southern
2.4 km NWhite Stones - The Band568 m · Southern

Routes over Cold Pike

Langdale HorseshoePlanned
20.2 km · ~1497 m ascent · loop · ~6.5–8.5 h · Severe
Summits: Pavey ArkHarrison StickleThorn CragLoft CragPike of StickleBlack Crags (Mickleden)Rossett PikeBowfellShelter CragsCrinkle Crags - Gunson Knott (Fifth Crinkle)Crinkle Crags - Fourth CrinkleCrinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle)Crinkle Crags South Top (First Crinkle)Cold PikePike of Blisco

⬇️ Download GPX

⚠️ Warnings: The Bad Step (Crinkle Crags, Long Top). A short, awkward rock step that turns a walk into a scramble and regularly stops people dead. There is a bypass path to the left — use it if you are unsure.; Do not attempt Jack’s Rake on Pavey Ark unless you know what you are taking on. It is a graded scramble with real exposure, not a path. The walkers’ line goes round.; 20 km, 1,497 m and fifteen tops. This is a full, committing day. Start early, and decide your turn-back time before you leave the car.; The Crinkles are the classic place to descend the wrong side in cloud. Know which valley you want before you are in it.

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.

The View from Cold Pike

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
Computed 360-degree skyline from Cold Pike36 labelled tops shown (5 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWHelvellyn · 14 kmSkiddaw · 26 kmFairfield · 13 kmBlencathra · 25 kmSkiddaw Little Man · 24 kmDollywaggon Pike · 13 kmGreat Dodd · 19 kmCrag Hill · 18 kmHigh Street · 19 kmHigh Raise · 21 kmBrim Fell · 5 kmGreat Carrs · 3 kmGlaramara · 7 kmHarter Fell · 20 kmGrey Friar · 3 kmWetherlam · 4 kmBlack Sails · 4 kmKnott · 30 kmYoke · 18 kmHarter Fell · 6 kmBowfell · 3 kmBlack Combe · 22 kmCrinkle Crags · 2 kmCrinkle Crags · 2 kmCrinkle Crags South Top · 2 kmBuck Barrow · 17 kmLittle Stand · 1 kmIngleborough · 56 km · clear daysWhernside · 52 km · clear daysThe Calf · 41 km · clear daysSwinklebank Crag · 24 kmCaw · 10 kmCapple Howe · 17 kmWhite Pike · 14 kmGreat Knoutberry Hill · 55 km · clear daysStickle Pike · 12 kmHelvellyn Lower Man · 14 kmNethermost Pike · 13 kmStybarrow Dodd · 17 kmHart Crag · 13 kmDove Crag · 13 kmGrisedale Pike · 20 kmHigh Raise · 6 kmMardale Ill Bell · 20 kmIll Bell · 18 kmSeat Sandal · 11 kmCombe Head · 7 kmLong Side · 25 kmThunacar Knott · 5 kmHigh Pike · 32 km · clear daysShipman Knotts · 21 kmWhitfell · 15 kmCrinkle Crags · 2 kmShelter Crags · 2 kmDow Crag · 6 kmYoadcastle · 14 kmGreat Knott · 1 kmLittle Carrs · 2 kmWhite Combe · 20 kmWild Boar Fell · 50 km · clear daysPikes · 9 kmPen-y-ghent · 65 km · clear daysGreat Crag · 11 kmBaugh Fell · 49 km · clear daysFair Snape Fell · 66 km · clear daysKepple Crag · 7 kmGrandsire · 18 kmSnowdon · 163 km · a handful of days a yearAran Fawddwy · 186 km · a handful of days a yearYr Eifl · 182 km · a handful of days a yearWhite Coomb · 112 km · a rare clear dayGreat Whernside · 80 km · a rare clear day
What you can see from Cold Pike, by direction
  • North: High Raise (6 km), Looking Steads (7 km), Glaramara (7 km), Sail (18 km), Grisedale Pike (20 km), Knowe Crags (24 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (24 km), Skiddaw Little Man (24 km), Gategill Fell Top (24 km), Blencathra (25 km), Skiddaw South Top (25 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (25 km), Skiddaw (26 km), Skiddaw North Top (26 km)
  • North-east: Fairfield (13 km), Dollywaggon Pike (13 km), High Crag (13 km), Hart Crag (13 km), Dove Crag (13 km), Nethermost Pike (13 km), Helvellyn (14 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (14 km), St Sunday Crag (14 km), Raise (16 km), Stybarrow Dodd (17 km), Watson's Dodd (18 km), Great Dodd (19 km), High Street (19 km), Rampsgill Head (20 km), Kidsty Pike (20 km), High Raise (21 km)
  • East: Red Screes (14 km), Stony Cove Pike (17 km), Mardale Ill Bell (20 km), Harter Fell (20 km)
  • South-east: Wetherlam (4 km)
  • South: Great Carrs (3 km), Grey Friar (3 km), Brim Fell (5 km)
  • North-west: Crag Hill (18 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (163 km, Wales), Carnedd Llewelyn (151 km, Wales), Aran Fawddwy (186 km, Wales), Moel Siabod (159 km, Wales), Arenig Fawr (172 km, Wales), Yr Eifl (182 km, Wales), Craig Cwm Silyn (170 km, Wales), Gyrn Ddu (179 km, Wales).

Computed from terrain in perfect clarity, not photographed · distances are straight-line.

Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

What you can see from Cold Pike

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
81Wainwrights in view+5 marginal
163 kmFurthest sightlineSnowdon (Yr Wyddfa) · possible under favourable refraction
1Sea in viewIrish Sea

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales.

Far horizons
  • Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) WalesSSW · 163 km clear
  • Carnedd Llewelyn WalesSSW · 147 km clear
  • Ingleborough Yorkshire DalesESE · 57 km clear
  • Whernside Yorkshire DalesESE · 52 km clear
  • Irish Sea open waterWSW · 44 km in view
All 81 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Pike of Blisco, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Great Carrs, Swirl How, Grey Friar, Bowfell, Wetherlam, Loft Crag, Pike of Stickle, Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), Harrison Stickle, Rossett Pike, Thunacar Knott, Brim Fell, Blea Rigg, Dow Crag, Sergeant Man, Harter Fell (Eskdale), High Raise (High White Stones), Glaramara, Tarn Crag (Easedale), Sergeant's Crag, Black Fell, Loughrigg Fell, Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Nab Scar, Heron Pike (Rydal), Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Seat Sandal, Great Rigg, Low Pike, High Pike (Scandale), Dale Head, Fairfield, Dollywaggon Pike, Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Hart Crag, Dove Crag, Nethermost Pike, Hindscarth, Helvellyn, Baystones (Wansfell), Red Screes, St Sunday Crag, High Seat, Middle Dodd, Raise, Bleaberry Fell, Troutbeck Tongue, Sour Howes, Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), Stybarrow Dodd, Sallows, Watson's Dodd, Ill Bell, Yoke, Sail, Froswick, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Gray Crag, Great Dodd, High Street, Mardale Ill Bell, The Knott (High Street), Rampsgill Head, Kidsty Pike, Harter Fell (Mardale), Kentmere Pike, High Raise (High Street), Shipman Knotts, Latrigg, Lonscale Fell, Dodd (Skiddaw), Skiddaw Little Man, Carl Side, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Long Side, Ullock Pike, Skiddaw, Knott, High Pike (Caldbeck)

How Cold Pike’s view compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

Sightlines from a bare-earth terrain model (forests and buildings not included), 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.

Best parking to hike Cold Pike

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

Three Shire Stone, Wrynose Pass (verge) — 1.8 km from summit (straight line)
High-level start for Pike o' Blisco, Cold Pike, Wet Side Edge and the Greenburn fells.
Directions
Blea Tarn (NT, paid) — 3.2 km from summit (straight line)
Between the Langdales — Lingmoor, Pike o' Blisco, Blake Rigg side.
Directions
🚺 Public toilets (1613m) — Free🚺 Public toilets (1680m) — Free

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.

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Langdale Horseshoe route:

💧 possible water source (5 m)💧 possible water source (6 m)💧 possible water source (81 m)🚺 map (10 m)🚺 map (11 m)🚌 New Dungeon Ghyll (144 m)

💧 Treat water from the fell before you drink it. A mapped point is usually a tap or public supply, but never drink untreated from a beck, stream or tarn — even clear-looking hill water can carry giardia or cryptosporidium from livestock or a carcass upstream and leave you seriously ill. Run it through a filter or purifier (a LifeStraw, Sawyer Squeeze or HydraPak) or bring it to a rolling boil first.

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

Buses to Cold Pike from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

No regular bus serves the start points for this fell — this is one for the car (or a long approach from the nearest served valley). The nearest hubs are Penrith (X4/X5 & 508), Ambleside and Windermere (555, 505, 516).

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

Navigating Cold Pike in cloud

Straightforward

A broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. Navigation here is relatively straightforward even in cloud — but carry map and compass and know how to use them; a low score never means “safe”.

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 Cold Pike compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.

Other fells near Cold Pike

Maps & guidebooks for Cold Pike

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases — at no extra cost to you. How affiliate links work →