⛰️ Great End

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

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910 mWainwright — Southern Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+11 bonus Birketts within 3 km

📖 Key Information

Great End at 910m (2,985ft) is the northern fortress of the Scafell massif, its great crags plunging dramatically into upper Borrowdale and forming one of the most imposing cliff faces in Lakeland. Wainwright described it as a fell of great character — from Esk Hause its summit wall looks almost impregnable, though the walker's route up the south-west ridge is straightforward enough. The summit commands outstanding views along the full length of Borrowdale and across to Skiddaw and Blencathra. Reached most naturally from Seathwaite via Styhead or from Great Langdale via Rossett Gill — a worthy objective in its own right, not just a stepping stone to Scafell Pike.

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

🎯 Bonus Birketts 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.

1.1 km SSWIll Crag931 m · Southern
1.2 km SWBroad Crag935 m · Southern
1.3 km NSeathwaite Fell (Great Slack - Seathwaite Fell)631 m · Southern
1.6 km ENEHigh House Tarn Top (High House - Allen Crags)683 m · Southern
1.7 km SSWPen762 m · Southern
1.8 km SSEPike de Bield810 m · Southern
2.1 km NERed Beck Top (Glaramara South Top) (Lincomb Head - Glaramara)720 m · Southern
2.6 km NELooking Steads (Glaramara)774 m · Southern
2.6 km SHigh Gait Crags572 m · Southern
2.7 km ESEBuck Pike (Mickleden)606 m · Southern
2.9 km EBlack Crags (Mickleden)588 m · Southern

⚠️ Hazard & Incident Information

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🦶 My hikes over Great End (Strava)

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🅿️ Potential parking

Seathwaite Farm, Borrowdale (free verge) — 4.4 km from summit (straight line)
Free verge parking on the Seathwaite lane — the honeypot start for the Scafells, Great Gable and Glaramara. Arrive very early.
Directions ↗
Honister Pass (paid, slate mine) — 5.2 km from summit (straight line)
Pay & display at the top of the pass — Dale Head, Fleetwith Pike, Grey Knotts with minimal ascent.
Directions ↗

Positions are approximate — zoom the map to confirm. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.

🚌 Buses from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

Stagecoach 78 “Borrowdale Rambler”
Keswick – Lodore – Grange – Rosthwaite – Seatoller
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 or X4/X5)
Year-round, frequent in season. Serves all the Borrowdale starts — Glaramara, the Scafells and Great Gable via Seathwaite (alight Seatoller, 20 min walk up the lane).
Stagecoach 77 / 77A “Honister Rambler”
Keswick – Portinscale – Hawse End (Catbells) – Grange – Seatoller – Honister Pass – Buttermere – Lorton – Whinlatter – Keswick (circular)
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 from Windermere/Ambleside or X4/X5 from Penrith)
Seasonal (roughly Easter–October). Brilliant for the North Western fells: Catbells, Dale Head from Honister, the Buttermere fells and Whinlatter.

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

🌦️ 7-day summit forecast

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Other fells in this region

Open Great End in the interactive explorer ↗