hikes.guideLake District

Great Dodd

Written and walked by · Summited

Choose a route ↓

Home › Fells › Great Dodd

857 mWainwright — Eastern Fells+9 bonus Birketts within 3 km

Great Dodd at 857m (2,812ft) is the highest of the northern Dodds, a broad, grassy summit at the head of the Matterdale valley; the views north to the Pennines and south along the full Helvellyn ridge are outstanding.

Summit conditions on Great Dodd

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 3°C, gusts to 62 mph, 20.0 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.

Against our lines, Tuesday 27 October: wind, cold and cloud from the Met Office UKV 2 km model (daylight hours, as in the verdict above); rain from the summit line’s forecast (the whole day). A tile is large when this top is past its line.

Wind on the top

Past the line

74 mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 57 mph times our exposure factor of 1.3. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 62 mph, before any exposure factor.

The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS describes what wind does to a walker across a range rather than at a line: from about 20–25 mph it starts to affect your balance.

Estimated: it is not calibrated against summit readings, and the two forecasts can disagree by more than a band.

Cloud on the top

Past the line

19 out of 100, the clear-top reading

Averaged over the daylight hours, from the forecast’s humidity and low cloud.

The line Our line: a clear-top reading under 20 out of 100, where our scorer says “summit likely clagged in”. There is no outside threshold to cite; it is our estimate. What cloud does to finding the way: navigating in cloud.

Not an observation: cloud lifts and drops within the hour.

Rain, and the becks

Past the line

20.0 mm of rain over the whole day, midnight to midnight

The same figure as the summit line above and the 7-day forecast.

The line Our line: 6 mm in the day, where our scorer counts a day as soaking. We read rainfall, never river levels: becks in spate.

Open-Meteo’s forecast. It says nothing about rain already in the ground.

Also checked cold: feels like −2 °C, no ice or snow forecast. Under a line is not the same as fine: it means only that these figures are under the lines we use.

Not in these tiles Lightning, river levels, snow or ice already lying, and the ground under your feet. A tile cannot see them, so an empty space here never means they are absent.

Snow figures with a second opinion: Powered by Met Office data

Full 7-day summit forecast ↓

Wainwrights are scored for walking conditions each morning from the Met Office’s UK forecast model, read for each summit through Open-Meteo; the forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com

Routes up Great Dodd

Choose the way up before the car park: these three routes start from three places, and the last two rows give the parking and bus at each route’s own start. Full maps further down.

Hart Side, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, Watson's Dodd and moreThree Dodds and Calfhow PikeBirketts above Ullswater
Starts fromHigh RowLegburthwaite (United Utilities, small) (paid)High Cascades (NT, paid)
Distance and climb21.89 km, 1,281 m of climb11.12 km, 833 m of climb16.45 km, 766 m of climb
Time, fast to steady~6½–8¾ h~3½–5 h~4½–6¼ h
ScramblingNot mentioned in the route’s notesNot mentioned in the route’s notesNot mentioned in the route’s notes
ExposureModerateNot assessedNot assessed
NavigationHardModerateHard
Steepest stretchDescent of about 32% at 16.6 km (Hard)Descent of about 47% at 9.0 km (Severe)Descent of about 21% at 16.3 km (Moderate)
After the summitOver Clough HeadOver Calfhow PikeOver Stybarrow Dodd, Hart Side, Birkett Fell, Brown Hills, Round How and Bracken How
Walked or plannedWalked by Lee, August 2023Planned: drawn, not yet walkedPlanned: drawn, not yet walked
Car park at the startLow How (layby)Legburthwaite (United Utilities, small) (paid)High Cascades (NT, paid)
Bus to the start509, 1.6 km walk from Dockray, outside The Royal Hotel. The UB1 runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season.555 at the start509, 750 m walk from Dockray, outside The Royal Hotel. The UB1 runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season.

Times run from fast to steady pace (Naismith’s rule). Scrambling quotes each route’s own notes; “not mentioned” means they do not say, not that the ground has none. Each route’s page has its map, stages and GPX.

Distance, climb and the steepest stretch are measured from each route’s GPX track; the other grades are set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap, and each route page says which. How we check →

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 833 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. On a clear day it is one of the easiest big fells in the range; in cloud it is a compass exercise.

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 857 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast
Tue 27 Oct
10° / 3°
62 mph
20.0 mm (100%)
Wed 28 Oct
7° / 4°
49 mph
8.4 mm (100%)
Thu 29 Oct
7° / 5°
27 mph
0.7 mm (75%)
Fri 30 Oct
7° / 4°
24 mph
0.3 mm (8%)
Sat 31 Oct
6° / 2°
8 mph
3.3 mm (6%)
Sun 1 Nov
6° / 1°
12 mph
0.6 mm (2%)
Mon 2 Nov
4° / -3°
8 mph
0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for Great Dodd

Parking

Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.

Low How (layby) — at the start of Hart Side, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, Watson's Dodd and more
0.7 km from Low How. Seen full by about 08:00 on a Saturday - Lee's own visit; a single sighting rather than a pattern.
Gravel parking area at Low How on an August afternoon, full of cars, with woodland behind
Gravel parking area at Low How on an August afternoon, full of cars, with woodland behind Taken August 2023
Directions Something changed here?
Legburthwaite (United Utilities, small) — 0.1 km from the start of Three Dodds and Calfhow Pike (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 August 2026). Pay and display (visitlakedistrict.com) (United Utilities, checked August 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: Roadside parking for Great How (free) (0.7 km) a few spaces only; Dam Triangle, Thirlmere (paid) (1.4 km, 70 m up); Roadside parking for Raven Crag (free) (1.5 km, 70 m up) a few spaces only
Legburthwaite Car Park (~8 m straight line) — Free
High Cascades (NT, paid) — at the start of Birketts above Ullswater
Walking base for Low How, High Brow, Randerside and Great Dodd — the 'Birketts above Ullswater' route starts 21 m away. Fees: £6 for 2 hours; £8 for 4 hours; £9.50 all day. Compacted surface (OSM-tagged). Free for NT members (checked August 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
4 more places to park near Great Dodd
High Bridge End, St John's in the Vale (lane, 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 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 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 August 2026 OSM candidate review.
Directions 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 Something changed here?

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 555 stops at Stanah Dam road end (near), a 270 m walk from the start of Three Dodds and Calfhow Pike — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: steepness). As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Kendal (555): Tuesday to Friday 21:35 to Ambleside, 20:35 to Windermere, 17:42 to Kendal; Saturday 21:35 to Ambleside, 20:35 to Windermere, 18:12 to Kendal; Sunday 19:42 to Windermere, 18:12 to Kendal. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 24 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 or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat

Hazards on Great Dodd

Hazard & Incident Information for Great Dodd

Checked by Lee McCoy, . Draws on published material from Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team. Editorial background, not a live callout feed.

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 and open, 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.

What to watch for: 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

Safety: 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

Navigating in cloud

Not graded by the model

Our terrain model finds nothing to grade on this summit, so it gives no cloud grade here — that is not a sign of easy navigation. Read this fell’s hazard notes and the route pages before a day in cloud. Carry map and compass, and know how to use them.

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. Decide before you go up which way you are coming down, and find the start of that path on the map before you leave the summit.

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 (experimental).

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 (read 26 October 2026).

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).

Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.

Birketts within 3 km of Great Dodd

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.

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

Birketts above Ullswater
Summits: Low HowHigh BrowRandersideGreat DoddStybarrow DoddHart SideBirkett FellBrown HillsRound HowBracken How

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Picked for its light in: May

Warnings: Great Dodd: 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. Almost all grass with few features, the Dodds are a notorious place to go wrong in mist or whiteout — easy to drift off a vague bearing into the wrong valley. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the summit; don't navigate by the feel of the slope.

From the hazard notes for Great Dodd, each with its sources.

Route guide →

Hart Side, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, Watson's Dodd and more
Summits: Birkett FellHart SideRaiseStybarrow DoddWatson's DoddGreat DoddClough Head

Download GPX Walked by Lee, August 2023

Warnings: Watson's Dodd: The flat grassy top has almost no features and only a small cairn at its western edge — in mist it's easy to cross the plateau without finding the summit, or to leave on the wrong bearing. Navigate by compass and don't rely on spotting the cairn. Raise catches and keeps snow, and its slopes can be hard enough that step-kicking alone won't get you up or down safely. When there's snow or ice you need an ice axe, crampons and the skills to use them; the steep flanks toward Keppel Cove and Sticks Gill are unforgiving of a slip. Almost all grass with few features, the Dodds are a notorious place to go wrong in mist or whiteout — easy to drift off a vague bearing into the wrong valley. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the summit; don't navigate by the feel of the slope. Great Dodd: 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.

From the hazard notes for Watson's Dodd · Great Dodd, each with its sources.

Route guide →

Three Dodds and Calfhow Pike
Summits: Stybarrow DoddWatson's DoddGreat DoddCalfhow Pike

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Warnings: Almost all grass with few features, the Dodds are a notorious place to go wrong in mist or whiteout — easy to drift off a vague bearing into the wrong valley. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the summit; don't navigate by the feel of the slope. Watson's Dodd: The flat grassy top has almost no features and only a small cairn at its western edge — in mist it's easy to cross the plateau without finding the summit, or to leave on the wrong bearing. Navigate by compass and don't rely on spotting the cairn. Great Dodd: 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.

From the hazard notes for Watson's Dodd · Great Dodd, each with its sources.

Route guide →

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 Great Dodd

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Three Dodds and Calfhow Pike route:

bus shelter (78 m off the line) toilets (110 m off the line) Thirlmere Dam Road End (250 m from the start, straight line)

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

About Great Dodd

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

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 plateau with a grassy top and a very underwhelming cairn, and a short distance away there is a wind shelter.

— Lee McCoy, who walked it on our Hart Side, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, Watson's Dodd and more route in August 2023

My Strava hikes over Great Dodd

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

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, the HuMP list and the Hewitt list.

Selected lists

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

This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.

The summit is also a Birkett.

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 →

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
The skyline as a list, 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 Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills v18.4 (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.

0°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

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.
115Wainwrights in view+25 marginal
198 kmFurthest sightlineSlieve Binnian · possible under favourable refraction
—Sea in viewnone from here

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

Far horizons
  • Slieve Binnian Northern IrelandWSW · 198 km clear
  • Slieve Donard Northern IrelandW · 194 km clear
  • 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 115 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Watson's Dodd, Stybarrow Dodd, Hart Side, Clough Head, Raise, Sheffield Pike, High Rigg (Naddle Fell), White Side, Raven Crag, Catstye Cam, Birkhouse Moor, Helvellyn, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, High Tove, Walla Crag, Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit), Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top), Place Fell, Great Mell Fell, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, St Sunday Crag, Latrigg, Bannerdale Crags, Lonscale Fell, Souther Fell, Little Mell Fell, Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Fairfield, Angletarn Pikes (Angletarn Pikes North Top), Hallin Fell, Beda Fell (Beda Head), Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Hart Crag, Cat Bells (Catbells), Bowscale Fell, Brock Crags (Wainwright), Steel Knotts (Pikeawassa - Steel Knotts), Skiddaw Little Man, The Nab, Maiden Moor, Calf Crag, High Hartsop Dodd, Hartsop Dodd, Bonscale Pike, Rest Dodd, Carl Side, High Spy, Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, Barrow, Loadpot Hill, Skiddaw, Tarn Crag (Easedale), Arthur's Pike, Dodd (Skiddaw), Wether Hill, Long Side, The Knott (High Street), Middle Dodd, Causey Pike, High Raise (High White Stones), Rampsgill Head, Bakestall, High Raise (High Street), Sergeant Man, Red Screes, Dale Head, Carrock Fell, Outerside, Hindscarth, Blea Rigg, Scar Crags, Ard Crags, Barf, Sail, Harrison Stickle, Grisedale Pike, Robinson, Knott Rigg, High Pike (Caldbeck), Base Brown, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Lord's Seat, Froswick, Seathwaite Fell (Wainwright summit), Wandope, Hopegill Head, Ill Bell, Rossett Pike, Allen Crags, Green Gable, Whiteless Pike, Great Gable, Great End, Esk Pike, Bowfell, High Crag (Buttermere), Sale Fell, Kirk Fell, Pike of Blisco, Lingmell, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Scafell Pike, Cold Pike, Red Pike (Buttermere), Pillar, Scafell, Wetherlam, Red Pike (Wasdale), Great Carrs, Swirl How, Hen Comb, Great Borne, Caw Fell, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man)

How the view from Great Dodd compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

How the skyline, light and sightlines are computed

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.

Sightlines from the Copernicus GLO-30 elevation model, which is a surface model: each 30 m cell holds the top of whatever stands there, trees and buildings included, rather than bare ground. 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

Other places nearby

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.

Frequently asked questions about Great Dodd

Is Great Dodd hard? Answered above.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction

Other fells near Great Dodd