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

Grike - a stone cairn and a low shelter on a grassy summit, the view lost in thick mist
Wainwright — Western FellsAlso a Birkett

Grike

Grike is a low, heathery fell on the far-western fringe of the Lakes, above Ennerdale and the old mining ground of Kinniside.

488 m
Height
~3.5–4.5 h
Typical time
+6
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › Grike

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

488 mWainwright — Western Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+6 bonus Birketts within 3 km Straightforward in cloud

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

Modelled guidance for the 488 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 15° to 14°C, gusts to 34 mph, 1.0 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌦️
15° / 14°
💨 34 mph
🌧 1.0 mm (90%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
14° / 12°
💨 28 mph
🌧 12.2 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
13° / 7°
💨 28 mph
🌧 3.7 mm (75%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
15° / 4°
💨 21 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (76%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
14° / 7°
💨 14 mph
🌧 2.7 mm (73%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
16° / 9°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (27%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
16° / 7°
💨 17 mph
🌧 0.4 mm (22%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 488 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

Grike

Grike - a stone cairn and a low shelter on a grassy summit, the view lost in thick mist
© Lee McCoy

Grike is a low, heathery fell on the far-western fringe of the Lakes, above Ennerdale and the old mining ground of Kinniside. It is one of the quietest of all the Wainwrights — rarely visited and a world away from the central honeypots — and on a clear day the view reaches west to the Isle of Man and the Irish Sea. Its name echoes the dialect word 'grike', a cleft or fissure in rock. A summit shelter and a forestry edge mark the top; most come from the Coldfell road or Ennerdale Bridge and link it with Crag Fell and Lank Rigg into a round of these lonely western tops.

Routes up Grike

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

Grike, Crag Fell and Lank Rigg
13.1 km · ~3.6 hr
Classifications & hill data
Wainwright
Western
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
488 m
Height
1,601 ft
In feet
NY 0849 1408
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Bowness Knott, Ennerdale (Forestry, paid), about 2.8 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Grike (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.

1.6 km WSWBlakeley Raise389 m · Western
1.9 km SEWhoap511 m · Western
2.2 km SWBurn Edge320 m · Western
2.5 km SSWKinniside375 m · Western
2.8 km SSWLatter Barrow354 m · Western
2.9 km SWSwarth Fell (Kinniside)335 m · Western

Routes over Grike

Grike, Crag Fell and Lank RiggRevised
13.07 km · ~618 m ascent · loop · ~3.5–5 h
Summits: GrikeCrag FellWhoapLank Rigg

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass.

The View from Grike

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 Grike32 labelled tops shown (18 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWSkiddaw · 23 kmPillar · 9 kmFairfield · 28 kmGrasmoor · 11 kmHigh Stile · 8 kmHaycock · 7 kmWandope · 12 kmRed Pike · 8 kmStarling Dodd · 6 kmBrae Fell · 29 kmBlake Fell · 6 kmSteeple · 8 kmLank Rigg · 2 kmWhin Rigg · 12 kmGavel Fell · 5 kmCriffel · 50 km · clear daysHesk Fell · 21 kmMurton Fell · 5 kmWhoap · 2 kmBengairn · 51 km · clear daysCairnharrow · 69 km · clear daysBlakeley Raise · 2 kmKinniside · 2 kmLatter Barrow · 3 kmBengray · 64 km · clear daysDent · 5 kmSwainson Knott · 6 kmSwarth Fell · 3 kmCold Fell · 6 kmBainloch Hill · 47 km · clear daysFlat Fell · 3 kmWhite Hill · 69 km · clear daysDollywaggon Pike · 26 kmBrandreth · 13 kmCaw Fell · 6 kmCarling Knott · 7 kmBroom Fell · 17 kmSharp Knott · 6 kmPonsonby Fell · 7 kmSnowdon · 167 km · a handful of days a yearSlieve Donard · 167 km · a handful of days a yearMerrick · 97 km · a rare clear dayAran Fawddwy · 193 km · a handful of days a yearBroad Law · 110 km · a rare clear daySnaefell · 74 km · a rare clear dayCairnsmore of Carsphairn · 97 km · a rare clear dayCairnsmore of Fleet · 79 km · a rare clear daySlieve Croob · 167 km · a handful of days a yearGreen Lowther · 100 km · a rare clear dayDivis · 169 km · a handful of days a yearCulter Fell · 115 km · a rare clear dayCadair Berwyn · 182 km · a handful of days a yearBeneraird · 115 km · a rare clear dayColt Hill · 93 km · a rare clear dayCalkin Rig · 76 km · a rare clear dayCairnkinna Hill · 93 km · a rare clear dayWard Law · 103 km · a rare clear day
What you can see from Grike, by direction
  • North-east: Great Borne (4 km), Gavel Fell (5 km), Blake Fell (6 km), Carling Knott (7 km), Loweswater End (7 km), Whiteless Pike (11 km), Grasmoor (11 km), Whiteside (12 km), Wandope (12 km), Whiteside East Top (12 km), Gasgale Crags (12 km), Crag Hill (12 km), Hopegill Head (13 km), Swinside (13 km), Broom Fell (17 km), Lord's Seat (17 km), Skiddaw South Top (23 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (23 km), Skiddaw (23 km), Skiddaw North Top (23 km), Brae Fell (29 km)
  • East: Starling Dodd (6 km), Steeple (8 km), Red Pike (8 km), High Stile (8 km), Black Crag (8 km), Pillar (9 km), High Crag (10 km), Seat (10 km), Brandreth (13 km), Grey Knotts (13 km), Coldbarrow Fell (20 km), Dollywaggon Pike (26 km), Cofa Pike (27 km), Fairfield (28 km)
  • South-east: Caw Fell (6 km), Little Gowder Crag (6 km), Haycock (7 km), Whin Rigg (12 km)
  • South: Lank Rigg (2 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (167 km, Wales), Slieve Donard (167 km, Ireland), Carnedd Llewelyn (155 km, Wales), Merrick (97 km, Scotland), Aran Fawddwy (193 km, Wales), Broad Law (110 km, Scotland), Snaefell (74 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 (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

What you can see from Grike

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
26Wainwrights in view+8 marginal
167 kmFurthest sightlineSnowdon (Yr Wyddfa) · possible under favourable refraction
2Sea in viewIrish Sea, Solway Firth

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales, Scotland and the Isle of Man.

Far horizons
  • Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) WalesSSW · 167 km clear
  • Carnedd Llewelyn WalesSSW · 152 km clear
  • Merrick ScotlandNW · 98 km clear
  • Snaefell Isle of ManWSW · 74 km clear
  • Criffel ScotlandNNW · 50 km clear
  • Solway Firth bay/estuaryNNW · 40 km in view
  • Irish Sea open waterNW · 20 km in view
All 26 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Crag Fell, Lank Rigg, Great Borne, Gavel Fell, Caw Fell, Blake Fell, Haycock, Steeple, Red Pike (Buttermere), Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), High Stile, Pillar, High Crag (Buttermere), Whiteless Pike, Haystacks (Buttermere), Grasmoor, Whiteside (Whiteside West Top), Wandope, Whin Rigg (Wasdale), Hopegill Head, Brandreth, Grey Knotts, Lord's Seat, Skiddaw, Dollywaggon Pike, Fairfield

How Grike’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 Grike

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

Bowness Knott, Ennerdale (Forestry, paid) — 2.8 km from summit (straight line)
Forestry England car park at the end of the Ennerdale valley road, on the lake's north shore (OS NY 110 154; parking charges apply since 2023) — Great Borne, Starling Dodd, and the long walk-ins to Pillar and Steeple.
Directions
Wath Brow, Cleator Moor (roadside) — 6.1 km from summit (straight line)
Start of the Nannycatch/Dent paths for the far-western outliers.
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 Grike from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

No regular bus serves the start points for this fell — this is one for the car (or a long approach from the nearest served valley). The nearest hubs are Penrith (X4/X5 & 508), Ambleside and Windermere (555, 505, 516).

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

My hikes over Grike (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.

Navigating Grike in cloud

Straightforward

A broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. 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 Grike compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.

Other fells near Grike

Maps & guidebooks for Grike

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