Heron Pike (Rydal)
Heron Pike at 612m (2,008ft) is the southern end of the Fairfield Horseshoe ridge above Rydal, its rocky summit giving excellent views across Windermere and south to Morecambe Bay.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 612 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 12° to 8°C, gusts to 28 mph, 1.0 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 612 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
Heron Pike (Rydal) at a glance
Heron Pike (Rydal)
Routes up Heron Pike (Rydal)
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Is Heron Pike (Rydal) a Wainwright?
Heron Pike (Rydal) is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Nuttall list.
Where do you park for Heron Pike (Rydal)?
The nearest car park we hold is Nab Scar (layby), about 1.6 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Grasmere, roadside layby (free), 1.6 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.
How hard is Heron Pike (Rydal)?
The shortest way up we hold is Fairfield Horseshoe — 16.9 km, 925 m of ascent, about 4.9 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is exposure — Hard.
All axes: exposure: Hard · navigation: Hard · length: Hard · steepness: Hard · terrain: Moderate.
My hikes over Heron Pike (Rydal) (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 Heron Pike (Rydal)
Best parking to hike Heron Pike (Rydal)
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 Heron Pike (Rydal) 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 Heron Pike (Rydal)
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 Heron Pike (Rydal) in cloud
StraightforwardA 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 Heron Pike (Rydal) 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: Nab Scar (layby), about 1.6 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Heron Pike (Rydal) (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 Heron Pike (Rydal)
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 Heron Pike (Rydal)
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 Heron Pike (Rydal)
The 360° skyline from Heron Pike (Rydal)
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 Heron Pike (Rydal), by direction
- North: Hart Crag (3 km), Fairfield (4 km), Helvellyn (7 km)
- East: Red Screes (4 km), Caudale Moor (6 km), Stony Cove Pike (6 km), Thornthwaite Crag (8 km)
- South-west: Wetherlam (10 km), Great Carrs (11 km), Swirl How (11 km), Little Stand (12 km), Great How (12 km), Grey Friar (12 km), Brim Fell (13 km), The Old Man of Coniston (13 km)
- West: High Raise (8 km), Shelter Crags (11 km), Crinkle Crags (11 km), Crinkle Crags (11 km), Crinkle Crags (11 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (11 km), Bowfell (11 km), Crinkle Crags (11 km), Esk Pike (12 km), Great End (13 km), Ill Crag (13 km), Broad Crag (14 km), Scafell Pike (14 km), Great Gable (15 km), Scafell (15 km), High Crag (18 km), High Stile (20 km), High Stile (20 km), Red Pike (21 km)
- North-west: Sail (20 km), Crag Hill (20 km), Eel Crag (21 km), Grisedale Pike (21 km), Sand Hill (22 km), Hopegill Head (22 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (171 km, Wales), Carnedd Llewelyn (159 km, Wales), Aran Fawddwy (192 km, Wales), Moel Siabod (167 km, Wales), Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (118 km, Scotland), Arenig Fawr (179 km, Wales), Yr Eifl (191 km, Wales), Craig Cwm Silyn (178 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 Heron Pike (Rydal)
Heron Pike (Rydal) waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when the sun is up for 30 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 05:07 against an almanac sunrise of 04:37. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the north-east from here (51.4°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 3.0°.
| First light | Almanac sunrise | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 05:07 BST ±5.0 min | 04:37 | +30 min |
| Equinox | 06:28 GMT ±5.0 min | 06:15 | +13 min |
| Midwinter | 08:31 GMT ±5.0 min | 08:32 | -1 min |
The northern horizon stands at about 2.4° from here.
Last light — when the sun leaves Heron Pike (Rydal)
The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (on 1 October) last light is only 10 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on Heron Pike (Rydal).
| Last light | Almanac sunset | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 21:56 BST ±5.0 min | 21:52 | +4 min |
| Equinox | 18:17 GMT ±5.0 min | 18:26 | -9 min |
| Midwinter | 15:40 GMT ±5.0 min | 15:49 | -9 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 Heron Pike (Rydal). 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 Heron Pike (Rydal)
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
- Criffel Scotland
- Ingleborough Yorkshire Dales
- Whernside Yorkshire Dales
- Morecambe Bay bay/estuary
All 65 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Stone Arthur, Low Pike, High Pike (Scandale), Great Rigg, Dove Crag, Helm Crag, Hart Crag, Loughrigg Fell, Seat Sandal, Fairfield, Silver How, Red Screes, Gibson Knott, Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Dollywaggon Pike, Tarn Crag (Easedale), Blea Rigg, Baystones (Wansfell), Calf Crag, Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), Helvellyn, Black Fell, Sergeant Man, Pavey Ark, Harrison Stickle, Ullscarf, High Raise (High White Stones), Thunacar Knott, Thornthwaite Crag, Loft Crag, Holme Fell, Sour Howes, Pike of Blisco, Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top), Wetherlam, Cold Pike, High Tove, Bowfell, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Great Carrs, Swirl How, Allen Crags, High Seat, Esk Pike, Grey Friar, Great End, Brim Fell, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Scafell Pike, Grey Knotts, Scafell, Harter Fell (Eskdale), High Crag (Buttermere), Causey Pike, Scar Crags, Sail, High Stile, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Red Pike (Buttermere), Grisedale Pike, Hopegill Head, Whinlatter (Brown How - Whinlatter), Lord's Seat, Broom Fell
How Heron Pike (Rydal)’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 Heron Pike (Rydal)
Is Heron Pike easy?
Easy in the sense that matters most: there is no scrambling and the path is clear. It is not a short day, though, because Heron Pike is the first climb on the Fairfield Horseshoe — 16.9 km and 925 m of ascent for the full round, which we rate Moderate, and the steepest of that comes early on the climb out of Rydal.
Most of the effort is in the first hour. Once you are on the ridge the gradient eases and the walking is simple as far as Great Rigg.
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 Heron Pike (Rydal)
- 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
- Great Rigg
- Hart Crag
- Hart Side
- Hartsop Above How (Gill Crag)
- Helvellyn
- 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