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High Hartsop Dodd - a small cairn on the grassy summit, looking down the valley to Brothers Water with the fells above Patterdale under grey cloud

High Hartsop Dodd

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519 mWainwright — Eastern Fells+3 bonus Birketts within 3 km Serious in Clag

High Hartsop Dodd at 519m (1,703ft) is a small, grassy summit above Hartsop village, its top giving good views of Brothers Water and the lower Patterdale valley. Wainwright included it as a separate fell.

Summit conditions on High Hartsop Dodd

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 53 mph, 11.1 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.

Against our lines, Tuesday 27 October: wind, cold and cloud from the Met Office UKV 2 km model (daylight hours, as in the verdict above); rain from the summit line’s forecast (the whole day). A tile is large when this top is past its line.

Wind on the top

Past the line

47 mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 42 mph times our exposure factor of 1.12. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 53 mph, before any exposure factor.

The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS describes what wind does to a walker across a range rather than at a line: from about 20–25 mph it starts to affect your balance.

Estimated: it is not calibrated against summit readings, and the two forecasts can disagree by more than a band.

Rain, and the becks

Past the line

11.1 mm of rain over the whole day, midnight to midnight

The same figure as the summit line above and the 7-day forecast.

The line Our line: 6 mm in the day, where our scorer counts a day as soaking. We read rainfall, never river levels: becks in spate.

Open-Meteo’s forecast. It says nothing about rain already in the ground.

Also checked cold: feels like 3 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 28 out of 100, over our in-cloud line of 20. Under a line is not the same as fine: it means only that these figures are under the lines we use.

Not in these tiles Lightning, river levels, snow or ice already lying, and the ground under your feet. A tile cannot see them, so an empty space here never means they are absent.

Snow figures with a second opinion: Powered by Met Office data

Full 7-day summit forecast ↓

Wainwrights are scored for walking conditions each morning from the Met Office’s UK forecast model, read for each summit through Open-Meteo; the forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com

Routes up High Hartsop Dodd

Both start from Cow Bridge, Hartsop (paid); the last two rows give its parking and bus. Full maps further down.

Hartsop Fells and Hart CragMiddle Dodd Little Hart Crag and High Hartsop Dodd
Starts fromCow BridgeCow Bridge
Distance and climb11.87 km, 837 m of climb10.42 km, 743 m of climb
Time, fast to steady~3¾–5¼ h~3¼–4½ h
ScramblingHands for a few steps: the last push onto Hart Crag (about km 4.5).Not mentioned in the route’s notes
ExposureModerateHard
NavigationModerateHard
Steepest stretchDescent of about 41% at 9.3 km (Severe)Climb of about 53% at 3.7 km (Severe)
After the summitNo further topsNo further tops
Walked or plannedWalked by Lee, July 2025Walked by Lee, July 2025
Car park at the startCow Bridge, Hartsop (paid)Cow Bridge, Hartsop (paid)
Bus to the start508 at the start508 at the start

Times run from fast to steady pace (Naismith’s rule). Scrambling quotes each route’s own notes; “not mentioned” means they do not say, not that the ground has none. Each route’s page has its map, stages and GPX.

Distance, climb and the steepest stretch are measured from each route’s GPX track; the other grades are set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap, and each route page says which. How we check →

Is High Hartsop Dodd a hard walk?

Its own climb is short, but it shares a valley with some very steep ground and the ridge out to it is narrow in places. There is no scrambling.

Our shortest round over it is 10.4 km with 743 m of ascent, which we grade severe for steepness. Most of that figure belongs to Middle Dodd rather than to this fell, though both our rounds come down this fell’s steep northern nose.

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 519 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast
Tue 27 Oct
12° / 6°
53 mph
11.1 mm (100%)
Wed 28 Oct
10° / 6°
37 mph
15.1 mm (100%)
Thu 29 Oct
10° / 7°
24 mph
1.4 mm (75%)
Fri 30 Oct
8° / 6°
24 mph
0.9 mm (8%)
Sat 31 Oct
7° / 4°
7 mph
1.2 mm (6%)
Sun 1 Nov
8° / 4°
15 mph
0.3 mm (2%)
Mon 2 Nov
6° / -1°
6 mph
0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for High Hartsop Dodd

Parking

Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.

Cow Bridge, Hartsop (paid) — at the start of Hartsop Fells and Hart Crag and Middle Dodd Little Hart Crag and High Hartsop Dodd
Paid car park by Brothers Water — Hartsop above How, Dovedale, Caudale Moor. Fees: pay and display; coins and cards; RingGo ID 37323 (LDNPA, checked August 2026).
Directions When people arrive, and what it costs →Something changed here?
A592 south of Windy Corner (car park) — 0.8 km from summit (straight line)
South of Windy Corner on the Kirkstone Pass side, about 480 m south of the Windy Corner bus stops. The nearest route starts are 'Finishing of the Far Eastern Fells', 2.6 km north on foot at Hartsop, and the two at Cow Bridge, 2.9 km north on foot. Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Windy Corner (layby) — 1.0 km from summit (straight line)
On the A592 at Windy Corner, beside the Windy Corner bus stops. The nearest route starts are 'Finishing of the Far Eastern Fells', 2.1 km north on foot at Hartsop, and the two at Cow Bridge, 2.3 km north on foot. Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
3 more places to park near High Hartsop Dodd
Caudale Bridge (layby) — 1.2 km from summit (straight line)
On the A592 south of Brothers Water, near Caudale Bridge and about 290 m from the Brotherswater Inn bus stops. The nearest route starts are 'Finishing of the Far Eastern Fells', 1.8 km north on foot at Hartsop, and the two at Cow Bridge, 2.0 km north on foot. Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Middle Dodd, north-east car park (free) — 1.3 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Middle Dodd (0.7 km), Caudale Moor - John Bell's Banner (1.0 km), Red Screes (1.3 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Middle Dodd (layby) — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Middle Dodd (0.6 km), Red Screes (0.9 km), St Raven's Edge (1.0 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate.

Of the pay-and-display machine tickets sold at Cow Bridge from 17 August 2024 to 31 March 2026, 34% were bought before 10am (our count of FOI/2026.500 ticket data). Contains public sector information provided by the Lake District National Park Authority and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Vehicles are left at their owner’s risk: we list places people park and cannot vouch for any of them. Take valuables with you and leave nothing on show.

Buses

The 508 and 509 stop at Hartsop, opposite Cow Bridge, a 30 m walk from the start of Hartsop Fells and Hart Crag — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: steepness). The last bus is 19:51 towards Windermere (508) and 15:14 towards Hartsop (509), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 508 “Ullswater Bus”
Penrith – Pooley Bridge – Aira Force – Glenridding – Patterdale (summer services continue over Kirkstone Pass to Troutbeck and Windermere)
Catch it from: Penrith · Windermere (summer only)
The key route from Penrith for the Eastern and Far Eastern fells: Helvellyn from Glenridding, Place Fell, the Hartsop fells. The summer Kirkstone extension drops you at the pass for Red Screes and Caudale Moor.

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

Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat

Hazards on High Hartsop Dodd

Notes from the Hartsop Fells and Hart Crag route

If you need to get off (the leg from Little Hart Crag): Go back south over Little Hart Crag to Scandale Pass for the Caiston Glen path.

Quoted from the route page: the note for the leg that reaches High Hartsop Dodd.

We have not written a hazard card for this fell yet, and that is not a sign that it is low-hazard. Read the warnings on the route pages that climb it, check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected. The National Park Authority’s What to pack page, AdventureSmart’s hill walking kit list and Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s safety page are linked from our what to carry guide.

Navigating in cloud

Serious in cloud

Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of steep ground within half a kilometre of the summit. 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 High Hartsop Dodd compares with all 214: the Clag Index (experimental).

If you need Mountain Rescue

Dial 999 or 112 and ask for the Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Before you call, have ready: where you are (a grid reference if you can – the OS Locate app shows yours on your phone), what has happened, how many of you there are, and your mobile number.

Then stay where you are until the rescue team contacts you.

If you cannot make a voice call because of a hearing or speech impairment, emergency SMS works only if you have registered first: text “register” to 999.

From Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s guidance on calling them out (read 26 October 2026).

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).

Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.

Birketts within 3 km of High Hartsop Dodd

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.

1.7 km NGale Crag512 m · Eastern
2.0 km ESECaudale Moor - John Bell's Banner755 m · Far Eastern
2.7 km SSESt Raven's Edge593 m · Far Eastern

Routes over High Hartsop Dodd

Hartsop Fells and Hart Crag
Summits: Gale CragHartsop Above How (Gill Crag - Hartsop Above How)Hart CragDove CragLittle Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top)High Hartsop Dodd

Download GPX Walked by Lee, July 2025

Route guide →

Middle Dodd Little Hart Crag and High Hartsop Dodd
Summits: Middle DoddLittle Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top)High Hartsop Dodd

Download GPX Walked by Lee, July 2025

Route guide →

Every line here is a guide, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate for yourself and carry a map and compass. How to use this guide.

On the hill: terrain and water on High Hartsop Dodd

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Hartsop Fells and Hart Crag route:

Cow Bridge (29 m from the start, straight line) Cow Bridge car park (33 m from the start, straight line) Road End (306 m from the start, straight line)

On the Middle Dodd Little Hart Crag and High Hartsop Dodd route:

Cow Bridge (53 m from the start, straight line) Cow Bridge car park (54 m from the start, straight line) Road End (329 m from the start, straight line)

On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.

About High Hartsop Dodd

High Hartsop Dodd - a small cairn on the grassy summit, looking down the valley to Brothers Water with the fells above Patterdale under grey cloud
© Lee McCoy

The climb from Hartsop is short, but both our rounds come down the fell's steep grassy northern nose, about 43% to 56% at its steepest and slippery when wet. The views north to Place Fell and south to the Kirkstone Pass fells are fine.

My Strava hikes over High Hartsop Dodd

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is High Hartsop Dodd a Wainwright?

High Hartsop Dodd is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.

Selected lists

Wainwright
Eastern
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
519 m
Height
1,703 ft
In feet
NY 3935 1077
Grid ref

This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.

The summit is also a Birkett.

Lists, height and summit position from the Database of British and Irish Hills; the feet are converted from its metres and the grid reference from that position. How we check →

The view from High Hartsop Dodd

The 360° skyline from High Hartsop Dodd

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 High Hartsop Dodd19 labelled tops shown (2 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWNethermost Pike · 6 kmGreat Dodd · 11 kmHigh Raise · 6 kmGray Crag · 4 kmRest Dodd · 5 kmLoadpot Hill · 10 kmWether Hill · 9 kmPlace Fell · 6 kmBirks · 4 kmAngletarn Pikes South Top · 4 kmSt Sunday Crag · 4 kmSwineside Knott · 9 kmSwarth Fell · 11 kmGreat Mell Fell · 15 kmDove Crag · 2 kmRed Screes · 2 kmGale Crag · 2 kmMiddle Dodd · 1 kmLittle Hart Crag · 1 kmHigh Crag · 6 kmHartsop Dodd · 2 kmCommon Fell · 10 kmGavel Pike · 3 kmRound How · 10 kmWisp Hill · 89 km · a rare clear dayCauldcleuch Head · 90 km · a rare clear day
The skyline as a list, by direction
  • North: Gale Crag (2 km), Birks (4 km), Arnison Crag (4 km), Place Fell (6 km), Brown Hills (9 km), Swineside Knott (9 km), Common Fell (10 km), Round How (10 km), Bracken How (10 km), Great Mell Fell (15 km)
  • North-east: Hartsop Dodd (2 km), Brock Crags (4 km), Angletarn Pikes South Top (4 km), Angletarn Pikes (4 km), The Knott (5 km), Rest Dodd (5 km), The Nab (6 km), High Raise (6 km), Wether Hill (9 km), Loadpot Hill (10 km), Swarth Fell (11 km), Bonscale Pike (11 km)
  • East: Gray Crag (4 km)
  • South: Middle Dodd (1 km), Red Screes (2 km)
  • South-west: Little Hart Crag (1 km)
  • West: Dove Crag (2 km)
  • North-west: Hartsop Above How (2 km), Gavel Pike (3 km), St Sunday Crag (4 km), High Crag (6 km), Nethermost Pike (6 km), Green Side (9 km), Great Dodd (11 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Wisp Hill (89 km, Scotland), Cauldcleuch Head (90 km, Scotland), Roan Fell (82 km, Scotland), Pikethaw Hill (87 km, Scotland), Greatmoor Hill (90 km, Scotland).

Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills v18.4 (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on High Hartsop Dodd

High Hartsop Dodd waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 March, when the sun is up for 49 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 07:51 against an almanac sunrise of 07:02. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the east-south-east from here (112.2°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 6.47°.

0°30°40°50°60°70°04:48
Midsummer. The filled shape is the skyline as seen from the summit; the line is the sun’s path. Where they meet is first light — everything left of that point is the wait.
Times for 2026, in Lakeland clock time (GMT in winter, BST in summer) — and model outputs rather than observations.
First lightAlmanac sunriseDifference
Midsummer04:48 BST ±5.0 min04:36+12 min
Equinox06:50 GMT ±5.0 min06:15+35 min
Midwinter08:55 GMT ±5.0 min08:32+23 min

The northern horizon stands at about 1.05° from here.

Last light — when the sun leaves High Hartsop Dodd

High Hartsop Dodd loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls on 1 December, when last light is 73 minutes before almanac sunset — 14:39 against 15:52. The sun goes down to the south-west from here (216.5°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 6.93°.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
Last lightAlmanac sunsetDifference
Midsummer21:15 BST ±5.0 min21:52-37 min
Equinox17:29 GMT ±5.0 min18:26-57 min
Midwinter14:38 GMT ±5.0 min15:49-71 min

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 High Hartsop Dodd

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
23Wainwrights in view+4 marginal
—Sea in viewnone from here
All 23 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Little Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top), Middle Dodd, Hartsop Above How (Gill Crag - Hartsop Above How), Dove Crag, Red Screes, Hartsop Dodd, Hart Crag, Gray Crag, St Sunday Crag, Brock Crags (Wainwright), Birks, Angletarn Pikes (Angletarn Pikes North Top), The Knott (High Street), Rest Dodd, The Nab, Nethermost Pike, High Raise (High Street), Place Fell, Wether Hill, Loadpot Hill, Great Dodd, Bonscale Pike, Great Mell Fell

How the view from High Hartsop Dodd compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

How the skyline, light and sightlines are computed

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 High Hartsop Dodd. 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.

Sightlines from the Copernicus GLO-30 elevation model, which is a surface model: each 30 m cell holds the top of whatever stands there, trees and buildings included, rather than bare ground. 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

We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions about High Hartsop Dodd

Is High Hartsop Dodd a hard walk? Answered above.

How hard is Little Hart Crag and High Hartsop Dodd?

Hard, if you start from the valley floor — the climb is steep and relentless. Our round from Cow Bridge over Middle Dodd, Little Hart Crag and High Hartsop Dodd is 10.4 km with 743 m of ascent, and its steepest sustained pull runs at about 53%.

The catch is that the short distance hides it: about 700 m of climbing in 10 km, and we graded the terrain, navigation and exposure hard on the ground. Give it the time a longer day would need, and keep something in reserve for the way down.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-10-05 · Suggest a question or correction

Other fells near High Hartsop Dodd

Places nearby: Brothers Water · Kirkstone Pass