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

Glenridding Dodd - the summit cairn at sunrise, the sun bursting through the stones, with mist lying in the valley below and the fells across Ullswater in silhouette
Wainwright — Eastern FellsAlso a Birkett

Glenridding Dodd

Glenridding Dodd at 442m (1,450ft) is a small grassy summit above the Glenridding valley, its top giving good views of Ullswater and across to Sheffield Pike.

442 m
Height
~2–2.5 h
Typical time
+7
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →

Home › Fells › Glenridding Dodd

Written and walked by Lee McCoy

442 mWainwright — Eastern Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+7 bonus Birketts within 3 km Straightforward in cloud

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

Modelled guidance for the 442 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 13° to 10°C, gusts to 29 mph, 1.6 mm of rain forecast.

Fri 11 Sep
🌦️
13° / 10°
💨 29 mph
🌧 1.6 mm (100%)
Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
15° / 10°
💨 46 mph
🌧 16.8 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
☁️
13° / 9°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (62%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌧️
16° / 10°
💨 32 mph
🌧 7.0 mm (100%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌦️
15° / 9°
💨 35 mph
🌧 4.4 mm (89%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
12° / 9°
💨 32 mph
🌧 1.0 mm (78%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌦️
12° / 9°
💨 37 mph
🌧 4.2 mm (92%)

Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 442 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

Glenridding Dodd at a glance

Glenridding Dodd

Glenridding Dodd - the summit cairn at sunrise, the sun bursting through the stones, with mist lying in the valley below and the fells across Ullswater in silhouette
© Lee McCoy

Glenridding Dodd at 442m (1,450ft) is a small grassy summit above the Glenridding valley, its top giving good views of Ullswater and across to Sheffield Pike. Wainwright included it as the lowest of the Eastern Fells, noting its pleasant situation above the busy tourist village below. The ascent from Glenridding is short and easy. A good starting fell for beginners, or a gentle evening walk from the Ullswater hotels, with Glenridding and the lake visible throughout the ascent.

Routes up Glenridding Dodd

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

Glenridding Dodd, Sheffield Pike, Catstye Cam, Birkhouse Moor
15.6 km · ~5.1 hr
A hard round above Glenridding by every measure the site records — 1,209 m of ascent in 15.6 km. A steep pull straight out of the valley leads over Glenridding Dodd and Sheffield Pike, then the notoriously wet ground at Nick Head, the fine cone of Catstye Cam, and a long 554 m descent that tells on tired knees.

Classifications & hill data

Wainwright
Eastern
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
442 m
Height
1,450 ft
In feet
NY 3805 1756
Grid ref

The short answers

Where do you park for Glenridding Dodd?

The nearest car park we hold is Stybarrow Crag layby (free), about 0.7 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Beckside Car Park (paid), 0.8 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.

My hikes over Glenridding Dodd (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

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

Parking & buses for Glenridding Dodd

Best parking to hike Glenridding Dodd

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

Stybarrow Crag layby (free) — 0.7 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Glenridding Dodd (0.7 km), Heron Pike (Glenridding) (1.4 km), Birk Fell (Bleaberry Knott - Birk Fell) (1.6 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Beckside Car Park (paid) — 0.8 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Birkhouse Moor, Helvellyn, Catstye Cam and Glenridding Dodd — the 'Helvellyn via Striding Edge & Swirral Edge' route starts 30 m away. Also serves 'Glenridding Dodd, Sheffield Pike, Catstye Cam, Birkhouse Moor'. Paid parking (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Glencoyne Bay (NT, paid) — 0.8 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Glenridding Dodd (0.8 km), Heron Pike (Glenridding) (1.4 km), Birk Fell (Bleaberry Knott - Birk Fell) (1.6 km). Fees: £6 for 2 hours; £8 for 4 hours; £9.50 all day. Free for NT members (checked Aug 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
Glenridding village car park (northern part) (paid) — 0.8 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Glenridding Dodd, Heron Pike (Glenridding), Sheffield Pike and Catstye Cam — the 'Glenridding Dodd, Sheffield Pike, Catstye Cam, Birkhouse Moor' route starts 58 m away. Also serves 'Helvellyn via Striding Edge & Swirral Edge'. Toilets on site. Fees: pay and display; coins and cards; RingGo ID 37316 (LDNPA, checked Aug 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
Glenridding Dodd, north-east (layby) — 0.9 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Glenridding Dodd (0.9 km), Heron Pike (Glenridding) (1.4 km), Brown Hills (1.5 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions 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 Glenridding Dodd by bus

The 508 stops at Glenridding, at Bus Shelter, 140 m from the start of Glenridding Dodd, Sheffield Pike, Catstye Cam, Birkhouse Moor. The last bus is 19:41 towards Windermere (508) and 17:55 towards Penrith (508) and 17:45 towards Grasmere (559) and 17:29 towards Patterdale (509) and 16:00 towards Keswick (509) and 15:04 towards Hartsop (509), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 508 “Ullswater Bus”
Penrith – Pooley Bridge – Aira Force – Glenridding – Patterdale (summer services continue over Kirkstone Pass to Troutbeck and Windermere)
Catch it from: Penrith · Windermere (summer only)
The key route from Penrith for the Eastern and Far Eastern fells: Helvellyn from Glenridding, Place Fell, the Hartsop fells. The summer Kirkstone extension drops you at the pass for Red Screes and Caudale Moor.

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

Hazards on Glenridding Dodd

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.

Navigating Glenridding Dodd in cloud

Straightforward

A rough, rocky summit ringed by crags, with no single obvious way off in poor visibility. 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 Glenridding Dodd compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Stybarrow Crag layby (free), about 0.7 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Glenridding Dodd (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 WNWHeron Pike (Glenridding)612 m · Eastern
1.9 km NBrown Hills551 m · Eastern
2.2 km NSwineside Knott553 m · Eastern
2.3 km ENEBirk Fell (Bleaberry Knott)512 m · Far Eastern
2.4 km EThe Knight552 m · Far Eastern
2.7 km NWBirkett Fell725 m · Eastern
2.9 km NCommon Fell552 m · Eastern

Routes over Glenridding Dodd

Glenridding Dodd, Sheffield Pike, Catstye Cam, Birkhouse MoorRevised
15.58 km · ~1209 m ascent · loop · ~5–7 h
Summits: Glenridding DoddHeron Pike (Glenridding)Sheffield PikeCatstye CamBirkhouse Moor

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

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 Glenridding Dodd

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Glenridding Dodd, Sheffield Pike, Catstye Cam, Birkhouse Moor route:

🛖 map (51 m)🚺 map (71 m)🚌 Glenridding, at Bus Shelter (51 m)

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

The view from Glenridding Dodd

The 360° skyline from Glenridding Dodd

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 Glenridding Dodd29 labelled tops shown (0 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWHelvellyn Lower Man · 5 kmRaise · 4 kmFairfield · 6 kmWhite Side · 4 kmSt Sunday Crag · 4 kmHigh Street · 9 kmHigh Raise · 8 kmRampsgill Head · 8 kmThornthwaite Crag · 9 kmRed Screes · 9 kmStony Cove Pike · 8 kmSeat Sandal · 7 kmBirkett Fell · 3 kmCross Fell · 35 km · clear daysBirks · 3 kmSt Raven's Edge · 10 kmDollywaggon Pike · 6 kmSwineside Knott · 2 kmCommon Fell · 3 kmBrown Hills · 2 kmGreat Mell Fell · 8 kmArthur's Pike · 9 kmLittle Mell Fell · 8 kmGreen Hill · 4 kmPlace Fell · 3 kmHeron Pike · 1 kmThe Knight · 2 kmSighty Crag · 67 km · clear daysDunmallet · 11 kmGavel Pike · 4 kmCaudale Moor · 8 kmThe Knott · 8 kmFroswick · 11 kmCatstye Cam · 4 kmBirk Fell · 2 km
What you can see from Glenridding Dodd, by direction
  • North: Brown Hills (2 km), Swineside Knott (2 km), Common Fell (3 km), Great Mell Fell (8 km)
  • North-east: Green Hill (4 km), Gowbarrow Fell (5 km), Little Mell Fell (8 km), Cross Fell (35 km)
  • East: The Knight (2 km), Place Fell (3 km), Arthur's Pike (9 km)
  • South-east: Angletarn Pikes (4 km), Angletarn Pikes South Top (4 km), Brock Crags (5 km), Rest Dodd (6 km), Hartsop Dodd (6 km), The Knott (8 km), Rampsgill Head (8 km), High Raise (8 km), Caudale Moor (8 km), Stony Cove Pike (8 km), High Street (9 km), Thornthwaite Crag (9 km), Froswick (11 km)
  • South: Birks (3 km), Gavel Pike (4 km), St Sunday Crag (4 km), Cofa Pike (6 km), Fairfield (6 km), Middle Dodd (8 km), Red Screes (9 km), St Raven's Edge (10 km)
  • South-west: Catstye Cam (4 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (5 km), Dollywaggon Pike (6 km), Seat Sandal (7 km)
  • West: Heron Pike (1 km), Raise (4 km), White Side (4 km)
  • North-west: Birkett Fell (3 km)

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.

Sunrise and sunset on Glenridding Dodd

Glenridding Dodd waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 October, when the sun is up for 34 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 07:48 against an almanac sunrise of 07:14. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the east-south-east from here (101.3°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 4.4°.

0°30°40°50°60°04:38
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 lightAlmanac sunriseDifference
Midsummer04:38 BST ±5.0 min04:36+2 min
Equinox06:38 GMT ±5.0 min06:15+23 min
Midwinter08:59 GMT ±5.0 min08:33+26 min

The northern horizon stands at about 2.32° from here.

Last light — when the sun leaves Glenridding Dodd

Glenridding Dodd loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls on 1 June, when last light is 99 minutes before almanac sunset — 19:58 against 21:37. The sun goes down to the west-north-west from here (292.6°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 11.61°.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
Last lightAlmanac sunsetDifference
Midsummer20:16 BST ±5.0 min21:52-96 min
Equinox17:43 GMT ±5.0 min18:26-43 min
Midwinter15:05 GMT ±5.0 min15:48-43 min

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 Glenridding Dodd. 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. 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 Glenridding Dodd

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
28Wainwrights in view+3 marginal
36 kmFurthest sightlineGreat Dun Fell
—Sea in viewnone from here
Far horizons
  • Great Dun Fell North PenninesENE · 36 km clear
  • Cross Fell North PenninesENE · 35 km clear
All 28 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Place Fell, Arnison Crag, Birks, Catstye Cam, Raise, St Sunday Crag, Angletarn Pikes (Angletarn Pikes North Top), White Side, Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit), Brock Crags (Wainwright), Dollywaggon Pike, Hallin Fell, Fairfield, Rest Dodd, Hartsop Dodd, Seat Sandal, The Knott (High Street), Little Mell Fell, Rampsgill Head, High Raise (High Street), Great Mell Fell, Middle Dodd, Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), Arthur's Pike, High Street, Red Screes, Thornthwaite Crag, Froswick

How Glenridding Dodd’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.

Places to stay near this fell

Greenbank Farm Bed and Breakfast guest house

about 2.5 km from the start, in a straight line

The only property in this radius that answers the whole evening for a family off Striding Edge in one page: a three-person family room, an evening meal from £14, a £6 packed lunch ordered for tomorrow, and somewhere to dry kit — all four stated by the property itself and priced. That is why it outranks nearer B&Bs at 0.5 km whose pages answer nothing. Book knowing the bathroom is shared, not en-suite.

A working sheep farm B&B directly below Arnison Crag, run by Beverley and Peter Iredale, looking across to Place Fell and Angletarn Pikes; the guest sitting room has a log burner and there are only three rooms sharing one bathroom.

  • Drying room “We also have drying facilities and a large patio and garden to enjoy the view.”
  • Family rooms “Family: Room for three with a double and one single bed.”
  • Evening meal “We offer hearty home-cooked breakfasts and evening meals as well as packed lunches if required.”
  • Packed lunch “Packed Lunches £6.00 Evening Meals From £14.00”

YHA Helvellyn hostel

about 2.0 km from the start, in a straight line

Under-12s cannot take a dorm bunk (book a private room instead — a cot is available and ground-floor rooms exist), and dogs are barred from everything except the Landpods. With that understood it is the strongest wet-boots answer in the radius: a shared drying room, breakfast from 07:30, meals until 20:00, free on-site parking and reception open 17:00-22:00 for a late arrival — and it is already 963 ft up the hill you are climbing. Filed as a recommendation, not a refusal, because the same page says "People of all ages are welcome at YHA" and "A cot is available": the dorm rule rules out a bunk bed, not the family.

Worth knowing: “Pets are not permitted at YHA Helvellyn, except in our Camping & Cabins accommodation or when hiring the whole hostel through YHA Exclusive Hire.”

The hostel is the old Greenside lead mine site 963 ft up the fellside, 17 bedrooms sleeping 64, and in winter there is a ski slope with a drag lift about forty minutes' walk from the door.

  • Drying room “Shared drying room”
  • Family rooms “A cot is available.”
  • Evening meal “Meals are also available from 17:00 - 20:00”
  • Packed lunch “With tasty breakfasts, packed lunches and evening meals, groups are sure to find something delicious to eat at YHA Helvellyn”
  • Parking “The property has a free car park on-site for guests and patrons. This car park is controlled by an ANPR parking system.”
  • Children “Under 12s are not permitted in dorm rooms.”

YHA Patterdale (and Patterdale Youth Hostel camp site) hostel

about 1.8 km from the start, in a straight line

This row exists for two reasons only: it is the nearest hostel to the start at 1.83 km (its campsite 1.87 km), and it publishes a direct address. Nothing else here has been verified, because the fetch of its hostel page returned YHA's generic national search page instead of the hostel's own — the word "Patterdale" does not appear once in 154,598 characters of cached text. Assume nothing about its drying room, rooms or meals from the YHA Helvellyn row above; the two hostels are separate buildings. YHA's site-wide policy that under-12s cannot take dorm beds does apply, but it is a chain policy and not evidence about this building.

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.

Frequently asked questions about Glenridding Dodd

Is Glenridding Dodd a hard walk?

Short but genuinely steep — the honest answer. It's only 442 m (1,450 ft) and under an hour from Glenridding village, but the pull up to the col above Mossdale Beck is relentless for its length, on a rough zig-zag path. Nothing technical, just steep.

The reward is one of the best low viewpoints on Ullswater — the lake fills the view from a summit you can climb before breakfast. We walked it in July 2026.

Where do you start the Glenridding Dodd walk?

From Glenridding village (big pay-and-display car park): head up past the shops towards Greenside, then take the path climbing right towards the col between the Dodd and Sheffield Pike. The summit path doubles back right from the col.

How long does Glenridding Dodd take?

About 1.5–2 hours up and down from the village. Our walked route continues over Sheffield Pike to Catstye Cam and Birkhouse Moor — a fine full round of about 15.5 km if you want more than a viewpoint.

Is Glenridding Dodd a Wainwright?

Yes — the little Eastern Fells one above the village, once a favourite Victorian viewpoint when Glenridding was a mining town. The old Greenside mine workings above it are part of the fell's story — and part of why the becks below carry the history they do — which is worth knowing before you refill a bottle from a Lakeland beck.

Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-07-27 · Suggest a question or correction

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