Great Rigg
Great Rigg at 766m (2,513ft) is the subsidiary summit on the Fairfield Horseshoe between Fairfield and Heron Pike, a broad ridge top that Wainwright described as giving one of the finest views of the Rydal valley and the wooded country south towards Ambleside.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 766 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Sat 12 Sep): 13° to 6°C, gusts to 44 mph, 25.3 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 12 Sep 2026, 15:36 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 766 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
Great Rigg at a glance
Great Rigg
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Field notes
Many would have bagged Great Rigg without knowing as the pass through on their route around the Fairfield Horseshoe. But I'm sure it was AW himself that said something about always remember to look behind you as you climb Lakeland fells as there's always a view worth having towards where you've come from - and it's no different with Great Rigg with that stunning view down the length of Windermere.Routes up Great Rigg
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Is Great Rigg a Wainwright?
Great Rigg is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Nuttall list and the Fellranger list.
Where do you park for Great Rigg?
The nearest car park we hold is Helm Crag (layby), about 2.2 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Helm Crag car park (paid), 2.3 km out. 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 Rigg (Strava)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- Bit of a hike in the Lake District (opens in new tab) — 23.0 km · 1488 m ascent · 6h 13m moving · 3 Apr 2023
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Parking & buses for Great Rigg
Best parking to hike Great Rigg
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.
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 Rigg by bus
The 505 stops at Ambleside, at Hayes Garden Centre, 340 m from the start of Long Hike to Fairfield from Ambleside. Last bus: Monday to Friday 22:43 towards Grasmere (555) and 20:29 towards Keswick (555) and 09:47 towards Coniston (505) and 09:21 towards Dungeon Ghyll (516); Saturday 22:43 towards Grasmere (555) and 20:29 towards Keswick (555) and 09:47 towards Coniston (505) and 09:21 towards Dungeon Ghyll (516); Sunday 19:09 towards Grasmere (555) and 18:15 towards Keswick (555) and 09:47 towards Coniston (505) and 09:21 towards Dungeon Ghyll (516). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
Hazards on Great Rigg
No hazard card for this fell. The usual open-fell rules apply: check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected.
Navigating Great Rigg in cloud
StraightforwardWalkable ground sits close to a lethal drop — in cloud it’s easy to walk straight onto steep ground. 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”.
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 Rigg 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
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: Helm Crag (layby), about 2.2 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Great Rigg (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 Rigg
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.
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 Rigg
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Fairfield Horseshoe route:
On the Long Hike to Fairfield from Ambleside route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
The view from Great Rigg
The 360° skyline from Great Rigg
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 Rigg, by direction
- North: Fairfield (1 km), Dollywaggon Pike (3 km), Helvellyn (5 km), Raise (7 km)
- East: Dove Crag (2 km), Red Screes (4 km), Rampsgill Head (9 km), High Raise (10 km), Harter Fell (10 km)
- South-west: Crinkle Crags (12 km), Shelter Crags (12 km), Crinkle Crags (12 km), Crinkle Crags (12 km), Crinkle Crags (12 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (12 km), Great Carrs (13 km), Swirl How (13 km), Brim Fell (15 km), The Old Man of Coniston (15 km)
- West: Bowfell (12 km), Esk Pike (12 km), Great End (13 km), Ill Crag (14 km), Broad Crag (14 km), Green Gable (14 km), Scafell Pike (14 km), Great Gable (14 km), Scafell (15 km), Pillar (18 km), Pillar Rock (18 km), Black Crag (19 km), Red Pike (19 km), High Stile (19 km), High Stile (19 km), Scoat Fell (20 km), Steeple (20 km)
- North-west: Crag Hill (19 km), Eel Crag (20 km), Grisedale Pike (20 km), Grasmoor (21 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (173 km, Wales), Carnedd Llewelyn (161 km, Wales), Aran Fawddwy (194 km, Wales), Moel Siabod (169 km, Wales), Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (116 km, Scotland), Corserine (115 km, Scotland), Arenig Fawr (181 km, Wales), Yr Eifl (193 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.
Sunrise and sunset on Great Rigg
Great Rigg sits close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its longest wait of the modelled year (on 1 June) first light is only 15 minutes after almanac sunrise, so the published sunrise time is a fair guide here.
| First light | Almanac sunrise | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 04:37 BST ±5.0 min | 04:37 | — |
| Equinox | 06:19 GMT ±5.0 min | 06:15 | +4 min |
| Midwinter | 08:29 GMT ±5.0 min | 08:32 | -3 min |
The northern horizon stands at about 1.88° from here.
Last light — when the sun leaves Great Rigg
The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (on 1 March) last light is only 6 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on Great Rigg.
| Last light | Almanac sunset | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 21:59 BST ±5.0 min | 21:52 | +7 min |
| Equinox | 18:26 GMT ±5.0 min | 18:26 | — |
| Midwinter | 15:55 GMT ±5.0 min | 15:49 | +6 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 Rigg. 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 Rigg
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales and Scotland.
- Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) Wales
- Carnedd Llewelyn Wales
- Merrick Scotland
- Criffel Scotland
- Solway Firth bay/estuary
- Ingleborough Yorkshire Dales
- Whernside Yorkshire Dales
- Morecambe Bay bay/estuary
All 95 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Fairfield, Stone Arthur, Hart Crag, Seat Sandal, Dove Crag, Heron Pike (Rydal), High Pike (Scandale), Dollywaggon Pike, Low Pike, Helm Crag, Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Gibson Knott, Nethermost Pike, Red Screes, Helvellyn, Silver How, Tarn Crag (Easedale), Loughrigg Fell, Calf Crag, Catstye Cam, Blea Rigg, Raise, Sergeant Man, Baystones (Wansfell), Pavey Ark, Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), Harrison Stickle, Thunacar Knott, The Knott (High Street), Ill Bell, Loft Crag, Pike of Stickle, Black Fell, Rampsgill Head, Kidsty Pike, High Raise (High Street), Sour Howes, High Seat, Pike of Blisco, Holme Fell, Glaramara, Kentmere Pike, Wetherlam, Cold Pike, Bleaberry Fell, Bowfell, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Allen Crags, Esk Pike, Great Carrs, Swirl How, Great End, Base Brown, High Spy, Grey Friar, Grey Knotts, Green Gable, Dale Head, Brandreth, Scafell Pike, Great Gable, Brim Fell, Cat Bells (Catbells), The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Hindscarth, Scafell, Dow Crag, Robinson, Causey Pike, Barrow, Harter Fell (Eskdale), Ard Crags, High Crag (Buttermere), Scar Crags, Pillar, Sail, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Red Pike (Wasdale), Wandope, High Stile, Whiteless Pike, Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), Steeple, Grisedale Pike, Red Pike (Buttermere), Dodd (Skiddaw), Grasmoor, Hopegill Head, Long Side, Ullock Pike, Barf, Lord's Seat, Whinlatter (Brown How - Whinlatter), Broom Fell, Sale Fell
How Great Rigg’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 Rydal: 7 places in Ambleside · From Ambleside or Grasmere: 3 places
Frequently asked questions about Great Rigg
Is Great Rigg a hard walk?
No — on its own it is a simple grassy rise, and there is nothing on it that needs hands. Almost nobody climbs it alone: it is the shoulder between Heron Pike and Fairfield, and you meet it in the middle of a bigger day.
That day is the measure of it. The Fairfield Horseshoe from Rydal is 16.9 km with 925 m of ascent and we rate it Moderate; the long version from Ambleside over Red Screes is 22.4 km and 1350 m, which we grade severe. The care needed is at the far end: Fairfield’s flat top is a well-known trap in cloud, with steep drops to the north. Take your bearing before you leave it.
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 Rigg
- Arnison Crag
- Birkhouse Moor
- Birks
- Catstye Cam
- Clough Head
- Dollywaggon Pike
- Dove Crag
- Fairfield
- Glenridding Dodd
- Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit)
- Great Dodd
- Great Mell Fell
- Hart Crag
- Hart Side
- Hartsop Above How (Gill Crag)
- Helvellyn
- Heron Pike (Rydal)
- High Hartsop Dodd
- High Pike (Scandale)
- Little Hart Crag (West Top)
- Little Mell Fell
- Low Pike
- Middle Dodd
- Nab Scar
- Nethermost Pike
- Raise
- Red Screes
- Seat Sandal
- Sheffield Pike
- St Sunday Crag
- Stone Arthur
- Stybarrow Dodd
- Watson's Dodd
- White Side