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427 m · Birkett — Southern (not a Wainwright summit) · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Birkett — Southern (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Great Whinscale

At 427 m (1,401 ft), Great Whinscale is a Birkett (one of the 541 tops in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells) in the Southern Fells — an overlooked summit away from the crowds.

427 m
Height
+7
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

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427 mBirkett — Southern (not a Wainwright summit)+7 bonus Birketts within 3 km

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

Modelled guidance for the 427 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 17° to 15°C, gusts to 32 mph, 1.5 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌦️
17° / 15°
💨 32 mph
🌧 1.5 mm (99%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
16° / 12°
💨 26 mph
🌧 3.5 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
14° / 8°
💨 29 mph
🌧 2.8 mm (87%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
15° / 4°
💨 23 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (86%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
15° / 6°
💨 15 mph
🌧 3.3 mm (82%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
17° / 10°
💨 20 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (35%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
17° / 8°
💨 16 mph
🌧 0.2 mm (23%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 427 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

About the walk

Key information

Great Whinscale

At 427 m (1,401 ft), Great Whinscale is a Birkett (one of the 541 tops in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells) in the Southern Fells — an overlooked summit away from the crowds. It rises the Dunnerdale. The name comes from great (Old English great, great or larger). Its nearest tops are Crook Crag (0.3 km SE); Green Crag (0.7 km S); Kepple Crag (1.0 km N) — it's usually taken in on a round of these neighbours. It's a worthwhile objective for anyone working through the Birkett list, or as a short extension to a bigger day on the higher neighbouring fells.

Routes up Great Whinscale

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

Green Crag & Great Whinscale — the wild Birker Fell round
11.9 km · ~3.2 hr · Moderate
A wild, trackless round over the knobbly tops of Birker Fell, in the empty south-western corner of the Lakes that most walkers never reach. From the Birker Fell road it crosses open, boggy moor past Devoke Water — the Lake District's largest tarn — to a cluster of five rocky little summits: Great Whinscale, Crook Crag, then Green Crag, the Wainwright and high point of the day, before Broad Crag and Great Crag on Birker Fell. Under 12 km but genuinely rough underfoot, with proper solitude and a big view over the Duddon, Eskdale and out to the sea.
Classifications & hill data
Birkett
427 m
Height
1,401 ft
In feet
SD 1980 9896
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Dalegarth Station, Eskdale (paid), about 2.8 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Great Whinscale (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.

0.3 km SECrook Crag469 m · Southern
1.0 km NKepple Crag328 m · Southern
1.2 km SSWBroad Crag - Birker Fell372 m · Southern
1.6 km SWBirker Fell - Great Crag333 m · Southern
1.7 km SSEBirker Fell - White How444 m · Southern
2.7 km ENEDemming Crag525 m · Southern
2.9 km NGoat Crag312 m · Southern

Routes over Great Whinscale

Green Crag & Great Whinscale — the wild Birker Fell roundPlanned
11.86 km · ~478 m ascent · loop · ~3–4.5 h · Moderate
Summits: Great WhinscaleCrook CragGreen CragBroad Crag - Birker FellBirker Fell - Great Crag

✎️ Park on the verge at the Devoke Water turning on the Birker Fell road between Ulpha and Eskdale — a narrow, remote fell road, so come prepared and don't rely on a phone signal. It's a long walk in across open moor to the first top.

⬇️ Download GPX

Best season: Best after a dry spell and in clear weather — Birker Moor is rough, boggy and pathless in places, and easy to misread in low cloud.

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.

Best parking to hike Great Whinscale

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

Dalegarth Station, Eskdale (paid) — 2.8 km from summit (straight line)
Pay & display at the La'al Ratty terminus — Eskdale fells, Harter Fell, Green Crag.
Directions
🚺 Dalegarth Station (263m) — Accessible☕ Fellbites Cafe
Devoke Water turning, Birker Fell road (verge) — 3.0 km from summit (straight line)
Rough free parking by the bridleway to Devoke Water for the Birker Fell group.
Directions

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.

Buses to Great Whinscale from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway (“La'al Ratty”)
Ravenglass (Cumbrian Coast main line) – Eskdale Green – Dalegarth for Boot
Catch it from: Connects from the Cumbrian Coast line (not from Penrith/Ambleside/Windermere directly)
Not a bus, but the only public transport into Eskdale. Wasdale has no public transport at all — car (or a long walk in) is the realistic option for the Wasdale fells.

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

Other fells near Great Whinscale

Maps & guidebooks for Great Whinscale

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