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343 m · Birkett — Eastern (not a Wainwright summit) · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Birkett — Eastern (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

High Rigg (High Rigg South Top)

High Rigg South Top at 343m (1,125ft) is a Birkett top on the High Rigg ridge above the St John's in the Vale valley between Thirlmere and Blencathra.

343 m
Height
+7
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › High Rigg (High Rigg South Top)

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

343 mBirkett — Eastern (not a Wainwright summit)+7 bonus Birketts within 3 km

Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast

Modelled guidance for the 343 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 17° to 16°C, gusts to 28 mph, 1.7 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌦️
17° / 16°
💨 28 mph
🌧 1.7 mm (100%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
18° / 13°
💨 27 mph
🌧 4.0 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
14° / 6°
💨 29 mph
🌧 2.1 mm (78%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
16° / 3°
💨 23 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (78%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
16° / 4°
💨 14 mph
🌧 5.4 mm (54%)
Sun 2 Aug
🌫️
17° / 5°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (24%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
17° / 6°
💨 15 mph
🌧 0.4 mm (23%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 343 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

About the walk

Key information

High Rigg (High Rigg South Top)

High Rigg South Top at 343m (1,125ft) is a Birkett top on the High Rigg ridge above the St John's in the Vale valley between Thirlmere and Blencathra. The ridge gives fine views of both Blencathra's southern face and the Helvellyn range across Thirlmere. A pleasant walking ridge above one of the Lake District's most classically beautiful valleys.

Routes up High Rigg (High Rigg South Top)

Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.

Birketts North of Thirlmere
13.8 km · ~4.3 hr
Classifications & hill data
Birkett
Synge
343 m
Height
1,125 ft
In feet
NY 3071 2147
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.

Nearest parking: Legburthwaite (United Utilities, small), about 2.7 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near High Rigg (High Rigg South Top) (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.

1.6 km SEWren Crag311 m · Eastern
2.2 km SSWThe Benn (Sippling Crag)446 m · Eastern
2.3 km SECastle Rock339 m · Eastern
2.4 km ECalfhow Pike660 m · Eastern
2.7 km SSWCastle Crag (Shoulthwalte)404 m · Eastern
2.8 km NEThrelkeld Knotts514 m · Eastern
2.8 km SSEGreat How (Thirlmere)333 m · Eastern

Routes over High Rigg (High Rigg South Top)

Birketts North of ThirlmerePlanned
13.83 km · ~910 m ascent · loop · ~4–5.5 h
Summits: Castle RockWren CragHigh Rigg (High Rigg South Top)The Benn (Sippling Crag)Castle Crag (Shoulthwalte)Great How (Thirlmere)

⬇️ Download GPX

⚠️ Warnings: Access: The summits of The Benn (Sippling Crag), Castle Crag (Shoulthwalte) and Great How (Thirlmere) lie outside mapped CRoW open-access land. That records no statutory right of access — it is not a statement that access is forbidden, and permissive access is not recorded in that layer. This ground is above Thirlmere, a working reservoir managed by United Utilities, whose car parks at Legburthwaite and Swirls we list under parking. This line is computed rather than walked, so treat the access as unchecked and look for the courteous way through — how we work this out.

Full route guide ↗

✎️ Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet.

A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass.

Best parking to hike High Rigg (High Rigg South Top)

Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).

Legburthwaite (United Utilities, small) — 2.7 km from summit (straight line)
St John's in the Vale — Sticks Pass side, High Rigg, Raven Crag.
Directions
🚺 Legburthwaite Car Park (155m) — Free
Great Wood, Keswick (NT, paid) — 3.5 km from summit (straight line)
Under Walla Crag on the Borrowdale road.
Directions
🚺 Theatre by the Lake (1048m) — Free · Accessible🚺 Lakeside Car Park (1054m) — Accessible · RADAR key

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.

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Birketts North of Thirlmere route:

🛖 map (14 m)🛖 map (111 m)🛖 map (134 m)🚌 Thirlmere Dam Road End (252 m)

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

Buses to High Rigg (High Rigg South Top) from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

Stagecoach 555
Kendal – Staveley – Windermere – Ambleside – Rydal – Grasmere – Thirlmere (Wythburn & Swirls) – Keswick
Catch it from: Windermere · Ambleside
Year-round, roughly hourly. The backbone bus of the A591 — ideal for Helvellyn (Wythburn/Swirls), Fairfield, the Central fells and anything around Grasmere/Rydal. From Penrith, take the X4/X5 to Keswick and change.
Stagecoach 78 “Borrowdale Rambler”
Keswick – Lodore – Grange – Rosthwaite – Seatoller
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 or X4/X5)
Year-round, frequent in season. Serves all the Borrowdale starts — Glaramara, the Scafells and Great Gable via Seathwaite (alight Seatoller, 20 min walk up the lane).

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

My hikes over High Rigg (High Rigg South Top) (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.

Other fells near High Rigg (High Rigg South Top)

Maps & guidebooks for High Rigg (High Rigg South Top)

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