High Pike (Scandale)
High Pike at 656m (2,152ft), above Scandale, is a broad grassy summit at the southern end of the ridge above Ambleside giving wide views south across Windermere and north to the Fairfield group.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 657 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 11° 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 657 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
High Pike (Scandale) at a glance
High Pike (Scandale)
Routes up High Pike (Scandale)
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Is High Pike (Scandale) a Wainwright?
High Pike (Scandale) is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.
Where do you park for High Pike (Scandale)?
We hold no car park within 2.5 km of the summit, so there is no short walk-in to recommend here. 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 High Pike (Scandale)?
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 High Pike (Scandale) (Strava)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- 4 Wainwrights, 3 Kids and a while load of "how far is the car?" (opens in new tab) — 16.0 km · 873 m ascent · 4h 41m moving · 25 Jun 2023
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Parking & buses for High Pike (Scandale)
Best parking to hike High Pike (Scandale)
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 High Pike (Scandale) by bus
The 555 stops at Rydal, at White Moss Common. From there it is 2.3 km and 121 m of ascent to the start of Fairfield Horseshoe — a route we rate Moderate — a walk in before the walk. Last bus: Monday to Friday 23:06 towards Kendal (555) and 21:58 towards Ambleside (555) and 20:58 towards Windermere (555) and 19:20 towards Bowness on Windermere (599); Saturday 23:06 towards Kendal (555) and 21:58 towards Ambleside (555) and 20:58 towards Windermere (555) and 19:20 towards Bowness on Windermere (599); Sunday 20:05 towards Windermere (555) and 19:35 towards Kendal (555) and 19:20 towards Bowness on Windermere (599). 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 High Pike (Scandale)
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 High Pike (Scandale) 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 High Pike (Scandale) 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: St Raven's Edge car park, about 2.6 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near High Pike (Scandale) (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 High Pike (Scandale)
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 High Pike (Scandale)
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Fairfield Horseshoe route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
The view from High Pike (Scandale)
The 360° skyline from High Pike (Scandale)
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 High Pike (Scandale), by direction
- North-east: Rampsgill Head (8 km), Kidsty Pike (8 km), High Raise (9 km)
- East: Red Screes (2 km), Caudale Moor (4 km), Stony Cove Pike (4 km), Thornthwaite Crag (6 km)
- South-west: Wetherlam (12 km), Great Carrs (13 km), Swirl How (13 km), Great How (14 km), Grey Friar (14 km), Brim Fell (15 km), The Old Man of Coniston (15 km)
- West: High Raise (9 km), Shelter Crags (13 km), Glaramara (13 km), Crinkle Crags (13 km), Crinkle Crags (13 km), Crinkle Crags (13 km), Bowfell (13 km), Crinkle Crags (13 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (13 km), Esk Pike (14 km), Great End (15 km), Ill Crag (15 km), Broad Crag (16 km), Scafell Pike (16 km), Green Gable (16 km), Great Gable (16 km), Scafell (17 km), Slight Side (17 km), High Crag (20 km), Pillar (21 km), Pillar Rock (21 km), High Stile (21 km), High Stile (22 km), Red Pike (22 km)
- North-west: Fairfield (3 km), Grasmoor (23 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (172 km, Wales), Carnedd Llewelyn (160 km, Wales), Aran Fawddwy (193 km, Wales), Moel Siabod (168 km, Wales), Arenig Fawr (180 km, Wales), Yr Eifl (193 km, Wales), Craig Cwm Silyn (180 km, Wales), Pendle Hill (80 km, England).
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 High Pike (Scandale)
High Pike (Scandale) waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 October, when the sun is up for 24 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 07:38 against an almanac sunrise of 07:14. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the east from here (99.3°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 3.05°.
| First light | Almanac sunrise | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 04:36 BST ±5.0 min | 04:37 | -1 min |
| Equinox | 06:38 GMT ±5.0 min | 06:15 | +23 min |
| Midwinter | 08:30 GMT ±5.0 min | 08:32 | -2 min |
The northern horizon stands at about 2.72° from here.
Last light — when the sun leaves High Pike (Scandale)
High Pike (Scandale) loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when last light is 25 minutes before almanac sunset — 21:27 against 21:52. The sun goes down to the north-west from here (309.9°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 2.34°.
| Last light | Almanac sunset | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 21:27 BST ±5.0 min | 21:52 | -25 min |
| Equinox | 18:23 GMT ±5.0 min | 18:26 | -3 min |
| Midwinter | 15:45 GMT ±5.0 min | 15:49 | -4 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 High Pike (Scandale). 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 High Pike (Scandale)
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales.
- Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) Wales
- Carnedd Llewelyn Wales
- Irish Sea open water
- Ingleborough Yorkshire Dales
- Whernside Yorkshire Dales
- Morecambe Bay bay/estuary
All 67 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Low Pike, Little Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top), Heron Pike (Rydal), Red Screes, Great Rigg, Middle Dodd, Nab Scar, Fairfield, Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), Loughrigg Fell, Baystones (Wansfell), Hartsop Dodd, Thornthwaite Crag, Gray Crag, Brock Crags (Wainwright), High Street, Angletarn Pikes (Angletarn Pikes North Top), Tarn Crag (Easedale), Blea Rigg, The Knott (High Street), Rest Dodd, Calf Crag, Sour Howes, Rampsgill Head, Black Fell, Kidsty Pike, Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), High Raise (High Street), The Nab, Sergeant Man, Ullscarf, Pavey Ark, High Raise (High White Stones), Harrison Stickle, Thunacar Knott, Loft Crag, Holme Fell, Pike of Blisco, Wether Hill, Wetherlam, Cold Pike, Loadpot Hill, Glaramara, Great Carrs, Swirl How, Bowfell, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Allen Crags, Esk Pike, Grey Friar, Brim Fell, Great End, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), High Spy, Scafell Pike, Green Gable, Grey Knotts, Brandreth, Great Gable, Scafell, Slight Side, Hindscarth, Harter Fell (Eskdale), High Crag (Buttermere), Pillar, High Stile, Red Pike (Buttermere)
How High Pike (Scandale)’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: 8 places in Ambleside
Other fells near High Pike (Scandale)
- 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
- Heron Pike (Rydal)
- High Hartsop Dodd
- 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