Gowk Hill
Gowk Hill at 471m (1,545ft) is a heathery Birkett summit in the Far Eastern Fells, at the head of Fusedale (0.5 km to the north), with Martindale 0.8 km to the west and Wether Hill 1.1 km to the east.
Summit conditions on Gowk Hill
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 55 mph, 11.2 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 Gowk Hill
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
High Street, Rampsgill Head, High Raise and Low Raise on the far-eastern tops — eight summits in 23.8 km with 1,336 m of climbing. Severe for length, hard for steepness and to navigate: about 7–9½ hours.
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 →
How hard is Gowk Hill?
The shortest way up we hold is Birketts West of Haweswater — 23.83 km, 1336 m of ascent, ~7–9½ h. On our scale its hardest axis is distance — Severe.
All axes: length: Severe · steepness: Hard · navigation: Hard · 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 471 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 Gowk Hill
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
3 more places to park near Gowk Hill
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 nearest bus stop we hold is the 508 and 509 stop at Hartsop, adjacent to road end, 8.6 km of walking from the start — no bus route we hold serves it.
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Hazards on Gowk Hill
Notes from a planned route, not walked: Birketts West of Haweswater
- Beyond Red Crag the round is largely pathless — Gowk Hill, Low Kop and the Bampton Common crossing are trackless grass moor. A clear-weather round; bearings needed in mist.
If you need to get off (the leg from Red Crag): Retreat: No way down from Gowk Hill to the shore has been checked for this guide.
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 Gowk Hill.
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 Gowk Hill
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Gowk Hill
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 Gowk Hill
Terrain & access
A near-path top (about 471 m): a mapped path comes within about 214 m of the summit. We have not checked a way from it to the top: the figures here are measured along a straight line on a terrain model, not a route. That line climbs about 47 m. The summit is on CRoW open access land.
Computed from open data, not walked — pathless ground needs confident navigation, and mapped paths, barriers and access boundaries can be incomplete. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass); Natural England CRoW Access Land; DoBIH v18.4 (CC BY 4.0); Copernicus GLO-30. CRoW access layer: © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. See the terrain & access report for how this is worked out across all 144 fells.
About Gowk Hill
My Strava hikes over Gowk Hill
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- Fusedale Circuit - absolutely stunning weather. Could see for miles. (opens in new tab) — 15.5 km · 999 m ascent · 4h 10m moving · 6 September 2024
Data from Strava.
Classifications & hill data
Is Gowk Hill a Wainwright?
Gowk Hill 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
- Haweswater Hotel (opens in new tab) hotelabout 3.4 km
Also nearby, but not independent
- Mosedale Cottage (opens in new tab) hutabout 2.8 km
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).