658 mWainwright — Northern Fells+6 bonus Birketts within 3 km Fewer traps in Clag
High Pike at 658m (2,159ft) above Caldbeck is one of the northernmost fells in Wainwright's guide, a broad grassy summit on the edge of the Lake District whose summit gives an extraordinary view north and east — the Solway Firth, the Isle of Man and the Pennines all visible on a clear day.
Summit conditions on High Pike (Caldbeck)
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 11° to 5°C, gusts to 53 mph, 18.2 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
59mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour
The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 50 mph times our exposure factor of 1.17. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 53 mph, before any exposure factor.
under 25
25–35
35–45
45–55
55+
The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS (opens in new tab) 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
18.2mm 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 checkedcold: feels like 1 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 31 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
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 →
Over Hare Stones, Great Lingy Hill, Miller Moss (Little Lingy Hill), Knott and Great Calva
Walked or planned
Walked in part; km 5.8–8.4, km 8.6–11.8 from the map
Walked by Lee, September 2026
Car park at the start
Roadside parking for Carrock Fell (free)
Roadside parking for Carrock Fell (free)
Bus to the start
Nearest stop 7 km on foot
Nearest stop 7 km on foot
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 →
How hard is High Pike (Caldbeck)?
The shortest way up we hold is Carrock Fell and Knott — 16.62 km, 751 m of ascent, ~4½–6¼ h. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.
All axes: steepness: Severe · length: Hard · terrain: Moderate · navigation: Moderate · exposure: Moderate.
These are the route page’s grades, set by the rules on how we grade: length and steepness measured from its GPX track, the others set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap. The route page says which. How we check →
Conditions and 7-day summit forecast
Modelled for the 658 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Round Knott (verge) — 2.5 km from summit (straight line)
Not suitable for ordinary cars: the Caldew valley road west of the Mosedale / Bowscale verge has very large potholes (seen 29 September 2026). In a 4x4, expect deep potholes and drive slowly. 1.3 km from Round Knott.
Round Knott (layby) — 2.5 km from summit (straight line)
Not suitable for ordinary cars: the Caldew valley road west of the Mosedale / Bowscale verge has very large potholes (seen 29 September 2026). In a 4x4, expect deep potholes and drive slowly. 1.3 km from Round Knott.
Roadside parking for Round Knott (free) — 2.7 km from summit (straight line)
Not suitable for ordinary cars: the Caldew valley road west of the Mosedale / Bowscale verge has very large potholes (seen 29 September 2026). In a 4x4, expect deep potholes and drive slowly. Approx 6 spaces. 1.2 km from Round Knott. Added from the 5 August 2026 OSM candidate review.
Millhouse (layby) — 2.8 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest published walking: 2.2 km from the 'Carrock Fell and Knott' route start; 2.2 km from Carrock Fell. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
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 nearest bus stop we hold is the 509, X4 and X5 stop at Mungrisdale, adjacent to Road End, 7.0 km of walking from the start — no bus route we hold serves it.
Notes from the Carrock Fell High Pike, Knott and Great Calva route
If you need to get off (the leg from Miton Hill): From High Pike, you can bail north/north-east down the distinct, engineered track towards Caldbeck, a clear descent off the high fells.
Quoted from the route page: the note for the leg that reaches High Pike (Caldbeck).
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
Fewer traps in cloud
Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of near-level ground around the summit. This top is in the lowest of the index’s four bands, and a low band never means “safe”: carry map and compass and know how to use them.
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 Pike (Caldbeck) 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.
Download GPXWalked in part, September 2026 · km 5.8–8.4, km 8.6–11.8 from the map
Picked for its light in:January, NovemberA winter pick assumes the tops are clear of snow and ice on the day, or that you carry winter kit and know how to use it.
Warnings:Carrock Fell: The crags are bypassed by a steep grassy rake (Rake Trod) that is hard to find, hidden among bracken and scree, on loose volcanic rock. Take care to locate and stay on the line; the loose rock, thistles and heather make for a tortuous, slippery climb.
From the hazard notes for Carrock Fell, each with its sources.
Warnings:Carrock Fell: The crags are bypassed by a steep grassy rake (Rake Trod) that is hard to find, hidden among bracken and scree, on loose volcanic rock. Take care to locate and stay on the line; the loose rock, thistles and heather make for a tortuous, slippery climb. Miller Moss to Knott (stage 8): Very boggy and dangerous from west of Little Lingy Hill, past Thief Gill, up to about 640 m on Knott: hidden streams have cut deep channels you cannot see, and the crossing of Thief Gill is a jump followed by a steep, muddy climb. Avoid it unless you are a very experienced fell walker with at least one other person; a satellite SOS device is essential. A likely better line from High Pike, which Lee has walked as our Carrock Fell and Knott route: follow the Cumbria Way to the foot of Coomb Height, then head south-west towards Rigg and climb Knott from the east.
From the hazard notes for Carrock Fell, each with its sources.
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 Pike (Caldbeck)
The 360° skyline from High Pike (Caldbeck)
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
The skyline as a list, by direction
South-east: High Raise (25 km), Rampsgill Head (25 km), Kidsty Pike (26 km), High Street (27 km), Thornthwaite Crag (27 km)
South: Atkinson Pike (7 km), Blencathra (7 km), Gategill Fell Top (8 km), Knowe Crags (8 km), Great Dodd (15 km), Green Side (17 km), Raise (18 km), Helvellyn (20 km), St Sunday Crag (22 km), Gavel Pike (22 km), Glaramara (26 km), Allen Crags (28 km), Great End (28 km), Esk Pike (29 km), Broad Crag (29 km), Ill Crag (29 km), Bowfell (30 km), Scafell Pike (30 km), Shelter Crags (30 km), Scafell (31 km), Crinkle Crags (31 km), Crinkle Crags (31 km), Crinkle Crags (31 km), Crinkle Crags (31 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (31 km)
South-west: Broad End (8 km), Skiddaw North Top (8 km), Skiddaw (8 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (8 km), Skiddaw South Top (9 km), Skiddaw Little Man (9 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (9 km), Great Gable (27 km), Kirk Fell East Top (27 km), Kirk Fell (28 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Merrick (102 km, Scotland), Snaefell (103 km, Isle of Man), Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (96 km, Scotland), The Cheviot (104 km, England), Cairnsmore of Fleet (88 km, Scotland), Corserine (97 km, Scotland), Lamachan Hill (98 km, Scotland), Tinto (106 km, Scotland).
High Pike (Caldbeck) catches the sun before the valley does. On not one of the sixteen dates modelled does this summit wait for first light — the eastern horizon falls away rather than standing over you, and at midsummer the light reaches it 5 minutes before almanac sunrise.
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 light
Almanac sunrise
Difference
Midsummer
04:30 BST ±5.0 min
04:35
-5 min
Equinox
06:15 GMT ±5.0 min
06:15
—
Midwinter
08:32 GMT ±5.0 min
08:34
-2 min
A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean -0.4°).
Last light — when the sun leaves High Pike (Caldbeck)
The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (at midwinter) last light is only 19 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on High Pike (Caldbeck).
The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
Last light
Almanac sunset
Difference
Midsummer
21:58 BST ±5.0 min
21:54
+4 min
Equinox
18:31 GMT ±5.0 min
18:26
+5 min
Midwinter
15:29 GMT ±5.0 min
15:48
-19 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 Pike (Caldbeck)
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
49Wainwrights in view+9 marginal
104 kmFurthest sightlineSnaefell · possible under favourable refraction
1Sea in viewSolway Firth
On the clearest days the view reaches across to Scotland and the Isle of Man.
How the view from High Pike (Caldbeck) 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 Pike (Caldbeck). 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.
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 (opens in new tab).
