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

Wainwright — Eastern FellsAlso a Birkett

Great Dodd

Great Dodd at 857m (2,811ft) is the highest of the northern Dodds, a broad, grassy summit at the head of the Matterdale valley that Wainwright described as a fell of more interest than its rounded outline suggests — the views north to the Pennines and south along the full Helvellyn ridge are outstanding.

857 m
Height
~3.5–4.5 h
Typical time
+9
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →
857 mWainwright — Eastern Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+9 bonus Birketts within 3 km Straightforward in cloud

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

Modelled guidance for the 857 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Sat 12 Sep): 12° to 6°C, gusts to 48 mph, 17.3 mm of rain forecast.

Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
12° / 6°
💨 48 mph
🌧 17.3 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
🌦️
12° / 7°
💨 21 mph
🌧 0.1 mm (12%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌦️
13° / 10°
💨 35 mph
🌧 2.4 mm (100%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌦️
13° / 7°
💨 35 mph
🌧 5.0 mm (98%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
10° / 6°
💨 27 mph
🌧 1.3 mm (54%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌦️
9° / 6°
💨 34 mph
🌧 9.3 mm (97%)
Fri 18 Sep
🌦️
10° / 6°
💨 35 mph
🌧 10.2 mm (92%)

Forecast snapshot from 12 Sep 2026, 15:36 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 857 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Great Dodd at a glance

Great Dodd

Great Dodd, a Lake District fell
Photo: Silence-is-infinite, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Great Dodd at 857m (2,811ft) is the highest of the northern Dodds, a broad, grassy summit at the head of the Matterdale valley that Wainwright described as a fell of more interest than its rounded outline suggests — the views north to the Pennines and south along the full Helvellyn ridge are outstanding. The summit is usually reached from Dockray via the pleasant ridge walk over Clough Head and Watson's Dodd, or from Sticks Pass. A good viewpoint fell in its own right, though overshadowed by its more dramatic southern neighbours. The approach over the northern Dodds makes for an excellent full-day ridge walk.

Field notes

Being totally honest here, I don't remember much of Great Dodd. That morning I spent at least 90% of it in the clag with my head down just trying to get through it. The summit is a plataeau with a grassy top and a very underwhelming cairn marker and a short distance away, and the actual summit has a wind shelter.

Routes up Great Dodd

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

Classifications & hill data

Wainwright
Eastern
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
Nuttall
HuMP
857 m
Height
2,812 ft
In feet
NY 3420 2053
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Great Dodd a Wainwright?

Great Dodd is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Nuttall list, the Fellranger list and the HuMP list.

Where do you park for Great Dodd?

We hold no car park within 2.5 km of the summit, so there is no short walk-in to recommend here. 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 Great 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 Great Dodd

Best parking to hike Great Dodd

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

Legburthwaite (United Utilities, small) — 2.6 km from summit (straight line)
St John's in the Vale — Sticks Pass side, High Rigg, Raven Crag. Fees: pay and display; coins and cards (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked Aug 2026). Pay and display (visitlakedistrict.com) (United Utilities, checked Aug 2026).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
If it is full: Roadside parking for Great How (free) (0.6 km) a few spaces only; Raven Crag car park (1.5 km, 98 m up); Roadside parking for Raven Crag (free) (1.7 km, 105 m up) a few spaces only
🚺 Legburthwaite Car Park (opens in new tab) (~8 m straight line) — Free
High Bridge End Caravan and Camping Site (free) — 2.8 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Brown Crag, White Side, Raise and Stybarrow Dodd — the 'Brown Crag and Raise' route starts 212 m away. Also serves 'Three Dodds and Calfhow Pike'. Free (OSM-tagged). Ground surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Castle Rock (layby) — 2.8 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Brown Crag, White Side, Raise and Stybarrow Dodd — the 'Brown Crag and Raise' route starts 213 m away. Also serves 'Three Dodds and Calfhow Pike'. Free (OSM-tagged). Ground surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Roadside parking for Great How (free) — 2.8 km from summit (straight line)
0.5 km from Great How. Added from the 5 Aug 2026 OSM candidate review.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Great How (layby) — 2.9 km from summit (straight line)
Community walk pages start here for 'The Dodds and Clough Head, via Sticks Pass and St John's in the Vale' (community walk listings). Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved 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 Great Dodd by bus

The 555 stops at Stanah Dam road end (near), 270 m from the start of Three Dodds and Calfhow Pike. Last bus: Monday to Friday 21:35 towards Ambleside (555) and 20:35 towards Windermere (555) and 18:12 towards Kendal (555); Saturday 21:35 towards Ambleside (555) and 20:35 towards Windermere (555) and 18:12 towards Kendal (555); Sunday 19:42 towards Windermere (555) and 18:12 towards Kendal (555). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 555
Kendal – Staveley – Windermere – Ambleside – Rydal – Grasmere – Thirlmere (Wythburn & Swirls) – Keswick
Catch it from: Windermere · Ambleside
Year-round, roughly hourly. The backbone bus of the A591 — ideal for Helvellyn (Wythburn/Swirls), Fairfield, the Central fells and anything around Grasmere/Rydal. From Penrith, take the X4/X5 to Keswick and change.

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

Hazards on Great Dodd

Hazard & Incident Information for Great Dodd

Hazard: Moderate

The highest of the Dodds at the northern end of the Helvellyn range — a smooth, rounded, grassy dome that is easy walking but almost entirely featureless. The hazard is navigation: in thick cloud visibility drops to the point where you can't even see the summit cairn, and the broad top catches severe wind. It is a classic place to lose your bearings. Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.

  • Featureless summit & navigation in cloud: The wide grassy dome has almost nothing to fix on, and in thick cloud you may not see the cairn until you're on it. This is a notorious place to wander off line. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the top; don't navigate by the lie of the slope.
  • Severe wind and exposure: High, open and shelterless, Great Dodd takes the full force of the wind, which can be severe enough to knock you off balance and make navigation harder. Plan for far worse conditions than the valley and be ready to turn back.
  • Winter on the open dome: In snow the featureless top becomes a whiteout navigation challenge and the slopes can be icy. Carry full winter kit and the skills to navigate and move safely blind.
Who should attempt this fell: Great Dodd is gentle underfoot but a real navigation test — the smooth, blank top defeats people in cloud who'd handle far rougher ground, and the wind up here can be fierce. Be confident with map, compass and bearings, set your line before moving, and treat winter conditions on the open dome with full kit and respect.

Most common causes: Navigation errors on the featureless grassy dome in cloud or whiteout · Being blown off balance by severe wind on the exposed top · Disorientation in winter snow · Underestimating an easy fell that is hard to navigate in poor visibility

Local Mountain Rescue: Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab) · Reviewed 14 Jun 2026

Safety: Hazard guidance compiled from published Mountain Rescue reports and well-documented accident history - editorial background, not a live feed of callouts. Always check current conditions, carry proper navigation equipment, and seek qualified instruction before heading onto the fells. In an emergency, call 999, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Report incorrect information (opens in new tab)

Navigating Great Dodd 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”.

From walking it — not from the terrain model

What catches people out: The Dodds are grassy domes with vanishing trods — between summits there is often no path at all and few features to correct against.

The line to take: Dome-to-dome is compass work; the steep exception is the eastern slopes — the safe lines off the ridge run west to the old coach road.

First-hand knowledge of this top, written by Lee. It adds to the computed grade above — it never changes it, and its absence on another fell means only that it has not been written yet.

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 Great 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: Legburthwaite (United Utilities, small), about 2.6 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Great 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.

0.5 km WSWLittle Dodd (St John's Common)785 m · Eastern
0.9 km NERanderside729 m · Eastern
1.3 km WNWCalfhow Pike660 m · Eastern
2.1 km SSEGreen Side (White Stones)794 m · Eastern
2.2 km WSWCastle Rock339 m · Eastern
2.4 km ESEBirkett Fell725 m · Eastern
2.6 km WWren Crag311 m · Central
2.7 km ENEHigh Brow575 m · Eastern
2.8 km NNWThrelkeld Knotts514 m · Eastern

Routes over Great Dodd

16.45 km · ~694 m ascent · loop · ~4–6 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.

24.44 km · ~816 m ascent · loop · ~6–8 h

⬇️ 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.

11.12 km · ~819 m ascent · loop · ~3.5–5 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 Great Dodd

Water & shelter on the way up

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

The view from Great Dodd

The 360° skyline from Great 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 Great Dodd36 labelled tops shown (20 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWScafell Pike · 18 kmHelvellyn · 5 kmSkiddaw · 12 kmBowfell · 17 kmGreat Gable · 17 kmPillar · 19 kmFairfield · 9 kmBlencathra · 7 kmGrasmoor · 17 kmSt Sunday Crag · 8 kmHigh Street · 14 kmHigh Stile · 18 kmHigh Raise · 13 kmKnowe Crags · 7 kmThe Old Man of Coniston · 24 kmGrisedale Pike · 14 kmThornthwaite Crag · 14 kmHigh Raise · 13 kmCaudale Moor · 13 kmCarl Side · 12 kmPike of Blisco · 18 kmCross Fell · 37 km · clear daysHelvellyn Lower Man · 5 kmGreat Borne · 22 kmHart Side · 2 kmRanderside · 1 kmBirkett Fell · 2 kmLonscale Pike · 9 kmBowscale Fell · 10 kmGrey Knotts · 15 kmLoadpot Hill · 12 kmCalfhow Pike · 1 kmMiddle Dodd · 12 kmThe Tongue · 10 kmCommon Fell · 4 kmWhinlatter Top · 15 kmEsk Pike · 17 kmGategill Fell Top · 7 kmBroad End · 12 kmRed Pike · 20 kmHart Crag · 10 kmLingmell · 18 kmRampsgill Head · 13 kmGreat Carrs · 21 kmGavel Pike · 8 kmSand Hill · 16 kmRed Pike · 19 kmLow Raise · 13 kmDale Head · 13 kmThunacar Knott · 14 kmFroswick · 15 kmWhiteless Pike · 16 kmHobcarton End · 15 kmCatstye Cam · 5 kmStybarrow Dodd · 2 kmGreen Side · 2 kmDoddick Fell · 7 kmScales Fell · 7 kmTarn Crags Top · 10 kmLittle Calva · 12 kmHigh Brow · 3 kmLord's Seat · 15 kmSwarth Fell · 11 kmHare Crag · 11 kmGreat Mell Fell · 7 kmSouther Fell · 9 kmBirk Fell · 6 kmBengairn · 66 km · clear daysDodd · 12 kmTarbarrel Moss · 14 kmGowbarrow Fell · 7 kmBrown Rigg · 7 kmFloutern Cop · 22 kmSighty Crag · 66 km · clear daysGreen Hill · 7 kmGreat Meldrum · 8 kmEycott Hill · 10 kmCold Fell · 44 km · clear daysAye Gill Pike · 50 km · clear daysSnowdon · 182 km · a handful of days a yearSlieve Donard · 194 km · a handful of days a yearMerrick · 112 km · a rare clear dayThe Cheviot · 115 km · a rare clear dayCairnsmore of Fleet · 96 km · a rare clear dayWindlestraw Law · 123 km · a handful of days a yearSouth Barrule · 117 km · a rare clear daySlieve Croob · 193 km · a handful of days a yearGreen Lowther · 102 km · a rare clear dayPendle Hill · 92 km · a rare clear dayDivis · 194 km · a handful of days a yearWhite Coomb · 96 km · a rare clear dayCairnharrow · 88 km · a rare clear dayGreat Whernside · 81 km · a rare clear dayBlackhope Scar · 128 km · a handful of days a yearCauldcleuch Head · 81 km · a rare clear dayBlackcraig Hill · 110 km · a rare clear dayPeel Fell · 84 km · a rare clear dayBlackwood Hill · 78 km · a rare clear dayKirkland Hill · 114 km · a rare clear day
What you can see from Great Dodd, by direction
  • North: Gategill Fell Top (7 km), Blencathra (7 km), Atkinson Pike (8 km)
  • South-east: High Raise (13 km), High Street (14 km)
  • South: Helvellyn (5 km), St Sunday Crag (8 km), Fairfield (9 km), Hart Crag (10 km), Swirl How (21 km), The Old Man of Coniston (24 km)
  • South-west: Great Gable (17 km), Esk Pike (17 km), Bowfell (17 km), Pike de Bield (17 km), Ill Crag (18 km), Shelter Crags (18 km), Kirk Fell (18 km), Broad Crag (18 km), Crinkle Crags (18 km), Crinkle Crags (18 km), Crinkle Crags (18 km), Lingmell (18 km), Crinkle Crags (18 km), Scafell Pike (18 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (18 km), Pillar (19 km), Red Pike (20 km)
  • West: Crag Hill (15 km), Eel Crag (15 km), Grasmoor (17 km), High Stile (18 km), High Stile (18 km)
  • North-west: Knowe Crags (7 km), Skiddaw Little Man (10 km), Skiddaw South Top (12 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (12 km), Skiddaw (12 km), Skiddaw North Top (12 km), Broad End (12 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (182 km, Wales), Slieve Donard (194 km, Ireland), Carnedd Llewelyn (170 km, Wales), Merrick (112 km, Scotland), The Cheviot (115 km, England), Cairnsmore of Fleet (96 km, Scotland), Corserine (108 km, Scotland), Windlestraw Law (123 km, Scotland).

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 (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on Great Dodd

Great Dodd catches the sun before the valley does. On not one of the sixteen dates modelled does this summit wait for first light — the eastern horizon falls away rather than standing over you, and at midsummer the light reaches it 6 minutes before almanac sunrise.

30°40°50°60°04:30
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
Midsummer04:30 BST ±5.0 min04:36-6 min
Equinox06:13 GMT ±5.0 min06:15-2 min
Midwinter08:28 GMT ±5.0 min08:33-5 min

A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean -0.48°).

Last light — when the sun leaves Great Dodd

The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (at midsummer) last light is only 3 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on Great Dodd.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
Last lightAlmanac sunsetDifference
Midsummer21:50 BST ±5.0 min21:53-3 min
Equinox18:32 GMT ±5.0 min18:26+6 min
Midwinter15:56 GMT ±5.0 min15:48+8 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 Great 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 Great Dodd

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
114Wainwrights in view+26 marginal
182 kmFurthest sightlineSnowdon (Yr Wyddfa) · possible under favourable refraction
Sea in viewnone from here

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales and Scotland.

Far horizons
  • Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) WalesSSW · 182 km clear
  • Merrick ScotlandNW · 113 km clear
  • Ingleborough Yorkshire DalesSE · 62 km clear
  • Great Dun Fell North PenninesENE · 39 km clear
  • Cross Fell North PenninesENE · 37 km clear
All 114 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

How Great 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

From the Aira Force National Trust car park start

Lowthwaite Bed and Breakfast (opens in new tab) guest house

about 3.9 km from the start, in a straight line

The only property in the cluster that answers the whole arrival sequence for a family: a drying room in the all-rooms facilities list, a cot and a high chair, children of all ages accepted, and an honest note that its ground-floor room is still reached by steps. It is also the only page in the radius that describes this exact walk from its own door - Gowbarrow Fell to Aira Force and back through Matterdale - and Little Mell Fell, the second summit of one of the routes this start serves, is the fell behind the house.

Most of the furniture in the rooms was made by hand in Tanzania, where the owners used to run a business organising Kilimanjaro climbs.

  • Drying room “The following are available for all rooms: Television,DVD player, Hairdryer, Tea/Coffee making facilities, Use of garden and patio, Use of guidebooks and other books, Maps (for planning and laminated for walks), Drying room, and Fridge (in the Dining Room).”
  • Family rooms “We have a cot, high chair(s) and special cutlery for small children.”
  • Parking “Another alternative is to use what3words where our car park is primed.lavished.amounting”
  • Children “Children Welcome We are very happy to welcome children of all ages.”

Low Gale (opens in new tab) self-catering

about 4.4 km from the start, in a straight line

The best answer in the cluster for a party with a dog, a small child and tired knees at once: single storey, sleeps seven, cot available, off-road parking, drying facilities and a coin laundry, with hot food available from the hotel kitchen so nobody has to drive at seven in the evening. The price of all that is a three-night minimum with fixed Friday and Monday changeover, which is why the minimum-stay line matters more here than anywhere else in this list.

The Ullswater Steamer jetty at Howtown is reached from the cottage by footpath, so the lake boat can be walked to rather than driven to.

  • Drying room “Ample storage and drying facilites Very spacious, comfortable lounge Fully fitted dining kitchen”
  • Dogs “Low Gale Ullswater is an elevated single storey, dog friendly holiday cottage located just beside Fusedale Beck and can easily accomodate 7 people.”
  • Family rooms “Cot available Dishwasher *Washing Machine 2 bathrooms 1 double bedroom 2 twin rooms 1 single room”
  • Evening meal “visitors can cook local fayre or alternatively take advantage of the dine at home meals available from the Hotel kitchen.”
  • Parking “Facilities Free Superfast Broadband Dog friendly Off road parking Smoke-free Garden / Patios Cot available Dishwasher *Washing Machine”

Other places nearby

Fornside Farm Cottages (opens in new tab) guest house

about 1.1 km from the start, in a straight line

Ranked first on usefulness, not distance. It answers more of a walking family's questions than anything else in the valley: four separate self-catering units sleeping 4 or 6, an EV charger, dogs in two of the four, a private farm trail, and walks from the door onto the Helvellyn range the three routes climb. It is also 1.12 km from the start, so the tiebreak never had to be used.

The four cottages are converted 17th-century barns adjoining a grade II listed farmhouse, heated by a ground source heat pump part-powered by solar panels — and there is a private farm trail through the woods and fields for guests.

  • Family rooms “Rigg Barn was converted from a detached bank barn and sleeps up to six people.”
  • Parking “You can charge your electric vehicle on our PodPoint car charger, available exclusively for our guests.”
  • Children “We have just returned from a week in Swaledale Garth with our toddler.”

Dale Head Hall Lakeside Hotel (opens in new tab) hotel

about 2.1 km from the start, in a straight line

The only serviced hotel inside two and a half kilometres of the start, and the only property in the cluster offering rooms on the ground floor — which matters to anyone who has just come down Sticks Pass on tired knees, and to a family who would rather not carry a sleeping child upstairs. Several rooms are explicitly convertible to family use with extra single beds.

A 16th-century hall standing alone on the shore of Thirlmere inside a designated red squirrel reserve, with Helvellyn directly behind it; the site publishes its front door as the what3words location CRACKS.DIAMOND.RESPECTED.

  • Family rooms “A warm, traditionally designed family room, with one double and two single beds. Overlooking the back of the hotel.”
  • Evening meal “Why not enjoy a trip out to nearby Keswick for the day before coming back and enjoying a delicious bar meal.”
  • Children “This room can accommodate two extra single beds for a family.”

Worth knowing before you book

These places state on their own site that they do not take children.

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).

Frequently asked questions about Great Dodd

Is Great Dodd hard?

Not to walk. It is a smooth grassy dome, the highest of the Dodds, and the ground gives you no trouble at all. Our shortest way over it — the three Dodds and Calfhow Pike — is 11.1 km with 819 m of ascent.

The difficulty is navigation, and it is real. The summit is almost entirely featureless, so in thick cloud there is very little to take a bearing from and nothing to tell you which way you are drifting. It is also badly exposed to wind: there is no shelter anywhere near the top. On a clear day it is one of the easiest big fells in the range; in cloud it is a compass exercise.

Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

Other fells near Great Dodd