804 mWainwright — Far Eastern Fells+4 bonus Birketts within 3 km Care needed in cloud
High Raise at 804m (2,636ft) above Haweswater is the northern hub of the High Street range, from whose broad summit the ridges fan out to Kidsty Pike, Rampsgill Head and the Loadpot Hill plateau.
Summit conditions on High Raise (High Street)
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 4°C, gusts to 55 mph, 12.0 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
57mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour
The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 45 mph times our exposure factor of 1.27. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 55 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
12.0mm 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 →
Hands for a few steps: Rough Crag and Long Stile (km 0.0–3.4).
Exposure
Hard
Not assessed
Navigation
Hard
Hard
Steepest stretch
Descent of about 32% at 11.2 km (Hard)
Climb of about 34% at 3.0 km (Hard)
After the summit
Over Kidsty Pike
Over Low Raise, Red Crag, Gowk Hill, Low Kop and Castle Crag (Mardale)
Walked or planned
Walked by Lee, July 2025
Planned: drawn, not yet walked
Car park at the start
Mardale Head, Haweswater (free)
Mardale Head, Haweswater (free)
Bus to the start
Nearest stop 8.7 km on foot
Nearest stop 8.6 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 Raise (High Street)?
The shortest way up we hold is Mardale Ill Bell, High Street, The Knott, Rampsgill Head, High Raise and Kidsty Pike — 13.7 km, 904 m of ascent, ~4¼–5¾ h. On our scale its hardest axes are steepness, terrain, navigation and exposure — Hard.
All axes: steepness: Hard · terrain: Hard · navigation: Hard · exposure: Hard · length: 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 804 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
Mardale Head, Haweswater (free) — at the start of Mardale Ill Bell, High Street, The Knott, Rampsgill Head, High Raise and Kidsty Pike and Birketts West of Haweswater
Free but small and fills very early — High Street, Harter Fell, Kidsty Pike, Branstree. Five routes on this site start here, among them the 'Mardale Horseshoe' and the 'Mardale circuit'. Fees: Free parking; donation cairn with suggested £2 contribution (cash only - no mobile signal) plus a Mountain Rescue donation cairn (wildhaweswater.co.uk) (United Utilities, checked August 2026). Staying overnight in a vehicle or tent is banned here without the landowner's written consent (Westmorland and Furness Council, Public Spaces Protection Order 2026 No. 008, in force 18 March 2026). Open 24/7 (United Utilities, checked August 2026).
1 more place to park near High Raise (High Street)
Hartsop village (donation) — 3.8 km from summit (straight line)
For Hartsop Dodd, Gray Crag, High Street via Hayeswater, Brock Crags. It asks an optional donation, not a charge (Lee, who walked past it on 14 August 2026). People also use the Cow Bridge car park, 0.9 km away, if they would rather not drive down the lane.
If it is full: Cow Bridge, Hartsop (paid) (0.9 km, 32 m up)
Positions are approximate.
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 508 and 509 stop at Hartsop, adjacent to road end, 8.6 km of walking from the start — no bus route we hold serves it.
Notes from the Mardale Ill Bell, High Street, The Knott, Rampsgill Head, High Raise and Kidsty Pike route
If you need to get off (the leg from Rampsgill Head): Turn back towards Rampsgill Head and the High Street plateau.
Quoted from the route page: the note for the leg that reaches High Raise (High Street).
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
Care needed∗
A broad, stony dome on the High Street plateau; the plateau is featureless and confusing in mist. Take care in poor visibility — 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 Raise (High Street) 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.
Warnings: Beyond Red Crag the round is largely pathless — Gowk Hill, Low Kop and the Bampton Common crossing are trackless grass moor. A clear-weather round; bearings needed in mist. High Street: Broad, flat and almost featureless, with few landmarks to fix on. In cloud it is very easy to walk off on the wrong bearing and end up above crags or descending into the wrong valley. Take a compass bearing before you leave the summit and trust it — don't navigate by the vague feel of the slope. Rampsgill Head: Ridges to The Knott/Rest Dodd, High Raise, High Street and the Straits of Riggindale all meet here over pathless, boggy ground. In mist it is easy to take the wrong arm. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the summit. High Street: The eastern rim drops in steep crags to Blea Water, the deepest tarn in the Lakes. The Long Stile ridge is the narrow, craggy crest along this edge. Keep well back from the lip in wind or mist; the ground that looks like a continuation of the plateau ends abruptly in cliffs. High Street: In winter the plateau holds snow and offers no shelter or reference points, and cornices and ice form along the crag edges above Blea Water. Whiteout navigation here is genuinely serious — full winter skills, ice axe and crampons needed, and extra margin kept from the corniced edge.
Warnings:High Street: In winter the plateau holds snow and offers no shelter or reference points, and cornices and ice form along the crag edges above Blea Water. Whiteout navigation here is genuinely serious — full winter skills, ice axe and crampons needed, and extra margin kept from the corniced edge. Rampsgill Head: Ridges to The Knott/Rest Dodd, High Raise, High Street and the Straits of Riggindale all meet here over pathless, boggy ground. In mist it is easy to take the wrong arm. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the summit. High Street: The eastern rim drops in steep crags to Blea Water, the deepest tarn in the Lakes. The Long Stile ridge is the narrow, craggy crest along this edge. Keep well back from the lip in wind or mist; the ground that looks like a continuation of the plateau ends abruptly in cliffs. High Street: Broad, flat and almost featureless, with few landmarks to fix on. In cloud it is very easy to walk off on the wrong bearing and end up above crags or descending into the wrong valley. Take a compass bearing before you leave the summit and trust it — don't navigate by the vague feel of the slope. Kidsty Pike: The southern edge falls over crag and scree about 1,500 ft into Riggindale, and the summit crest steepens through a turret of rock and broken ground. Keep back from the southern edge, take the rocky steps carefully, and don't drift toward the drop in cloud or wind. Mardale Ill Bell: The eastern side falls to the Mardale Waters — Blea Water and Small Water sit in crater coves ringed by crags. Keep back from the edges above them, especially in cloud or wind where the broad ground gives little warning before the drop.
Wainwright noted its commanding position at the head of Rampsgill, with outstanding views east to the Pennines and west to the Helvellyn range. The summit plateau is expansive and can be confusing in mist. Most naturally reached from Howtown along the Loadpot Hill ridge, or from Mardale Head via the eastern ridges. A key waypoint for the High Street traverse from Pooley Bridge to Windermere.
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 Raise (High Street)
The 360° skyline from High Raise (High Street)
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: High Street (2 km)
South-west: Crinkle Crags (22 km), Crinkle Crags (22 km), Crinkle Crags (22 km), Crinkle Crags (22 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (22 km)
West: St Sunday Crag (8 km), Fairfield (9 km), Cofa Pike (9 km), Dollywaggon Pike (10 km), Catstye Cam (10 km), Nethermost Pike (10 km), High Crag (10 km), Helvellyn (11 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (11 km), Raise (11 km), White Side (12 km), Bowfell (22 km), Esk Pike (22 km), Great End (23 km), Ill Crag (23 km), Broad Crag (24 km), Great Gable (24 km), Scafell Pike (24 km), Scafell (25 km), Grasmoor (28 km), Red Pike (28 km), Scoat Fell (29 km)
North-west: Stybarrow Dodd (12 km), Great Dodd (13 km), Blencathra (19 km), Gategill Fell Top (19 km), Atkinson Pike (19 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (23 km), Skiddaw Little Man (23 km), Skiddaw South Top (24 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (24 km), Skiddaw (24 km), Skiddaw North Top (24 km), Broad End (25 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Broad Law (114 km, Scotland), The Cheviot (116 km, England), Tinto (131 km, Scotland), Yr Eifl (200 km, Wales), Green Lowther (113 km, Scotland), Craig Cwm Silyn (188 km, Wales), Pendle Hill (80 km, England), Gyrn Ddu (197 km, Wales).
High Raise (High Street) 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 3 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
04:33 BST ±5.0 min
04:36
-3 min
Equinox
06:10 GMT ±5.0 min
06:14
-4 min
Midwinter
08:27 GMT ±5.0 min
08:32
-5 min
A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean -0.45°).
Last light — when the sun leaves High Raise (High Street)
The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (on 1 April) last light is only 5 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on High Raise (High Street).
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
21:53 BST ±5.0 min
21:52
+1 min
Equinox
18:23 GMT ±5.0 min
18:25
-2 min
Midwinter
15:49 GMT ±5.0 min
15:48
+1 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 Raise (High Street)
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
How the view from High Raise (High Street) 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 Raise (High Street). 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).
