Great Gable
Great Gable at 899m (2,949ft) is perhaps the most beloved mountain in Lakeland — its profile appears on the badge of the Lake District National Park, and its summit is the site of an annual Remembrance Sunday service by the Fell and Rock Climbing Club.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 899 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 13° to 11°C, gusts to 38 mph, 7.3 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 899 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
About the walk
Great Gable
- Height
- 899 m (2,949 ft)
- How long
- ~5–6 h
- How hard
- Great Gable is a hard mountain day with no scrambling on the walkers’ line — and the thing that catches people is navigation, not exposure.
- Weather today
- 🌧️ 13°/11°C, gusts 38 mph
- Parking
- Seathwaite Farm, Borrowdale (free verge)
Short version: Great Gable is a hard mountain day with no scrambling on the walkers’ line — and the thing that catches people is navigation, not exposure. That is our own field assessment of the route, not a hunch: we grade its exposure only Moderate, because there is no hands-on ground to cross, while terrain and navigation both grade harder. Rough, bouldery going over Brandreth and Green Gable, then a steep stony pull to a summit that is a broad, featureless plateau ringed by crags. In cloud that plateau is the whole problem: there is no obvious line off it, and the wrong bearing takes you toward the crags. Know your bearing off the top before you need it.
Can a beginner do it? Conditionally — a fit walker on a clear day, yes, and the start from Honister is much the kindest way, beginning around 350 m up and saving you the worst of the climb. Not a first mountain in cloud or winter, though: this is a fell where poor visibility changes the job entirely. Our grading of that route is not yet personally walked.
Against Scafell Pike? Comparable days out, differing on closely matched on every axis we grade. Neither is a walk in the park, and the choice should come down to conditions and your navigation rather than a league table.
And the Napes? Worth knowing what they are, because people see them named and wonder whether they are on the way: they are not. The Napes are the steep rock buttresses on Gable’s south face — climbers’ ground, not a walking route — and nothing on the walkers’ line goes near them. Admire them from Wasdale and leave them to people with ropes.
Routes up Great Gable
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Map & nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: Seathwaite Farm, Borrowdale (free verge), about 3.0 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Great Gable (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.
Routes over Great Gable
✎️ 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.
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass.
The View from Great Gable
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.
What you can see from Great Gable, by direction
- North: Crag Hill (10 km), Grasmoor (11 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (18 km), Skiddaw Little Man (18 km), Skiddaw South Top (19 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (19 km), Skiddaw (19 km)
- North-east: White Side (14 km), Raise (15 km), Stybarrow Dodd (16 km), Green Side (16 km), Great Dodd (17 km), Knowe Crags (20 km), Gategill Fell Top (20 km), Blencathra (21 km), Atkinson Pike (21 km)
- East: Helvellyn Lower Man (14 km), High Crag (14 km), Nethermost Pike (14 km), Dollywaggon Pike (14 km), Helvellyn (14 km), Fairfield (15 km), Cofa Pike (15 km), Hart Crag (16 km), St Sunday Crag (16 km), Dove Crag (16 km), High Street (23 km), High Raise (24 km)
- South-east: Great End (2 km), Esk Pike (4 km), Bowfell (5 km), Swirl How (12 km)
- South: Scafell Pike (3 km), Scafell (4 km)
- West: Red Pike (5 km), Black Crag (5 km), Scoat Fell (5 km), Steeple (6 km), Haycock (7 km)
- North-west: Pillar (4 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (167 km, Wales), Slieve Donard (179 km, Ireland), Carnedd Llewelyn (155 km, Wales), Merrick (109 km, Scotland), Aran Fawddwy (191 km, Wales), Broad Law (113 km, Scotland), Snaefell (84 km, Isle of Man), Moel Siabod (164 km, Wales).
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.
What you can see from Great Gable
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales, Scotland and the Isle of Man.
- Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) Wales
- Carnedd Llewelyn Wales
- Merrick Scotland
- Snaefell Isle of Man
- Ingleborough Yorkshire Dales
- Whernside Yorkshire Dales
- Criffel Scotland
- Great Dun Fell North Pennines
- Cross Fell North Pennines
- Solway Firth bay/estuary
- Irish Sea open water
All 113 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Green Gable, Kirk Fell, Brandreth, Base Brown, Seathwaite Fell (Wainwright summit), Lingmell, Grey Knotts, Great End, Scafell Pike, Allen Crags, Haystacks (Buttermere), Glaramara, Esk Pike, Scafell, Fleetwith Pike, Yewbarrow, Pillar, Red Pike (Wasdale), High Crag (Buttermere), Bowfell, Dale Head, Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), Steeple, High Stile, Hindscarth, High Spy, Haycock, Robinson, Eagle Crag, Illgill Head, Middle Fell, Castle Crag, High Raise (High White Stones), Pike of Stickle, Thunacar Knott, Seatallan, Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Loft Crag, Sergeant Man, Harrison Stickle, Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Ullscarf, Maiden Moor, Starling Dodd, Whin Rigg (Wasdale), Rannerdale Knotts, Whiteless Pike, Ard Crags, Wandope, Sail, High Tove, Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top), Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Scar Crags, Mellbreak (Mellbreak South Top), Causey Pike, Great Borne, Grasmoor, High Seat, Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Swirl How, Bleaberry Fell, Grisedale Pike, Gavel Fell, Raven Crag, Walla Crag, Seat Sandal, Blake Fell, Dollywaggon Pike, Helvellyn, White Side, Low Fell, Great Rigg, Fairfield, Raise, Watson's Dodd, Black Fell, Hart Crag, Stybarrow Dodd, Latrigg, Fellbarrow - Mosser Fell, St Sunday Crag, Lord's Seat, Dove Crag, High Pike (Scandale), Barf, Great Dodd, Clough Head, Dodd (Skiddaw), Skiddaw Little Man, Carl Side, Lonscale Fell, Long Side, Red Screes, Ullock Pike, Skiddaw, Baystones (Wansfell), Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Thornthwaite Crag, Great Calva, Rest Dodd, Ill Bell, Sour Howes, Yoke, Sallows, High Raise (High Street), Knott, Binsey, Kentmere Pike, Carrock Fell, High Pike (Caldbeck)
How Great Gable’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.
Best parking to hike Great Gable
Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).
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.
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Great Gable from Honister Slate Mine route:
On the Great Gable & Kirk Fell route:
💧 Treat water from the fell before you drink it. A mapped point is usually a tap or public supply, but never drink untreated from a beck, stream or tarn — even clear-looking hill water can carry giardia or cryptosporidium from livestock or a carcass upstream and leave you seriously ill. Run it through a filter or purifier (a LifeStraw, Sawyer Squeeze or HydraPak) or bring it to a rolling boil first.
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
Buses to Great Gable from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
Hazard & Incident Information for Great Gable
A steep-sided mountain that is rocky on every flank, with a boulder-strewn summit that is genuinely hard to navigate off in cloud. Most incidents involve walkers losing the line on the descent into dangerous ground, or slipping on the steep, loose scree paths. The Napes on the south face are climbing terrain, not for walkers.
- Summit plateau in cloud: A featureless boulder dome; walkers regularly set off down the wrong side into steep ground. A compass and the ability to hold a bearing are essential.
- Descents to Sty Head and Beck Head: Steep, loose and stony — a frequent spot for slips and turned ankles. Descend slowly and deliberately.
- The Napes / Napes Needle: Famous rock-climbing buttresses on the south face. Not a walking route — the walkers' path (Breast Route) keeps below them.
Most common causes: Navigation errors off the summit in cloud · Slips on steep, loose ground · Benightment on a longer-than-expected day
Local Mountain Rescue: Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab) · Reviewed 13 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.
Navigating Great Gable in cloud
SevereA rough, rocky summit ringed by crags, with no single obvious way off in poor visibility. A serious place to be caught in cloud: carry map and compass (or GPS) and know how to use them, or save it for a clear day.
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 Gable compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.
Frequently asked questions about Great Gable
Is Great Gable a difficult climb?
Great Gable (899 m / 2,949 ft) is a strenuous but non-technical fell by its walkers' routes. There is no scrambling required to reach the summit, but every approach is steep, rough and sustained, and the boulder-strewn top is a genuine navigation challenge in cloud.
It is harder than it looks: the pyramidal shape means relentless climbing whichever way you go, and the summit is a chaos of rock with steep drops on several sides. Fit walkers comfortable with rough ground and basic navigation will enjoy it; it is not a good choice for a first-ever fell.
Is Great Gable a scramble?
The normal walkers' routes are not scrambles — they are rough, bouldery paths, but you reach the summit on your feet. However, Great Gable's dramatic south face, the Napes, is serious territory:
- Napes Needle and the Napes Ridges are rock climbs, not walks — this is the birthplace of British rock climbing and should only be attempted by experienced climbers.
- The Climbers' Traverse beneath the Napes is an exposed path that should not be confused with the ordinary routes.
Stick to the marked paths from Sty Head or Windy Gap unless you are a competent scrambler or climber.
Sources: Wasdale MRT — accident black spots (opens in new tab)
What is the easiest route up Great Gable?
There is no truly easy way up Great Gable, but the least steep approach is from Honister Pass, which starts high and crosses Grey Knotts, Brandreth and Green Gable before the final pull to the summit. It spreads the ascent out and is mostly straightforward walking.
The other popular routes are tougher: from Seathwaite (Borrowdale) via Sty Head and Aaron Slack, and the short but brutally steep direct climb from Wasdale Head up Gavel Neese. Whichever you choose, the last section to the summit is steep and bouldery.
How long does it take to walk up Great Gable?
Allow 4 to 6 hours for the round trip. The Honister route is around 5–6 miles (8–10 km) and typically takes 4 to 5 hours; the steep direct climb from Wasdale Head is shorter in distance but slow and tiring, also around 4 to 5 hours up and down.
Many people combine Great Gable with neighbouring fells such as Green Gable, Kirk Fell or the Scafells via Sty Head, which makes a longer and more committing day. Build in extra time for the rough ground and for navigating the summit.
Where do you park for Great Gable?
The three usual starting points each have parking nearby:
- Honister Pass — the slate mine pay & display at the top of the pass (the highest, gentlest start).
- Seathwaite, Borrowdale — roadside verge parking at the end of the lane (arrive very early; it fills fast).
- Wasdale Head — the National Trust car park, for the steep direct ascent.
All fill quickly on fine weekends, so start early. See the parking section on this page for the nearest spots, distances and facilities.
What was Wainwright's favourite fell, and what is Great Gable known for?
Great Gable was one of Alfred Wainwright's best-loved fells, and it holds a special place in Lakeland affection for several reasons:
- The war memorial: the summit carries a bronze plaque to members of the Fell & Rock Climbing Club who died in the First World War, and a Remembrance Sunday service is held there every November.
- Napes Needle: the iconic rock pinnacle on its south face, whose ascent in 1886 is often called the birth of British rock climbing.
- Its shape: the bold pyramid seen from Wasdale is one of the most recognisable mountain profiles in England — it inspired the Lake District National Park's logo.
How do I check conditions before climbing Great Gable?
Great Gable's exposed, rocky summit is a serious place in poor weather, so check a mountain forecast rather than the valley forecast before you set off:
- Met Office Lake District mountain forecast.
- Mountain Weather Information Service (MWIS).
Carry a map and compass — the boulder-strewn top is a known navigation trap in cloud — tell someone your plans, and be prepared to turn back. In an emergency call 999, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.
Sources: Met Office — Lake District mountain forecast (opens in new tab) · Mountain Weather Information Service (MWIS) (opens in new tab)
Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-06-14 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)
Other fells near Great Gable
- Base Brown
- Blake Fell
- Brandreth
- Buckbarrow
- Burnbank Fell
- Caw Fell
- Crag Fell
- Fellbarrow - Mosser Fell
- Fleetwith Pike
- Gavel Fell
- Great Borne
- Green Gable
- Grey Knotts
- Grike
- Haycock
- Haystacks (Buttermere)
- Hen Comb
- High Crag (Buttermere)
- High Stile
- Kirk Fell
- Lank Rigg
- Low Fell
- Mellbreak (Mellbreak South Top)
- Middle Fell
- Pillar
- Red Pike (Buttermere)
- Red Pike (Wasdale)
- Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell)
- Seatallan
- Starling Dodd
- Steeple
- Yewbarrow
Maps & guidebooks for Great Gable
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