High Seat
High Seat at 608m (1,995ft) is the highest summit of the Bleaberry Fell–Armboth plateau above Thirlmere and Derwent Water — a broad, boggy moorland that Wainwright regarded as something of an endurance test, given the extensive wet ground.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 609 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 12° to 9°C, gusts to 21 mph, 0.6 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 609 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
High Seat at a glance
High Seat
Routes up High Seat
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Is High Seat a Wainwright?
High Seat is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Fellranger list and the HuMP list.
Where do you park for High Seat?
The nearest car park we hold is Armboth, Thirlmere (United Utilities, paid), about 2.0 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Watendlath (NT, paid), 2.1 km out. 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.
My hikes over High Seat (Strava)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- Some Central Fells on my Todd (opens in new tab) — 17.2 km · 806 m ascent · 4h 04m moving · 24 Aug 2025
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Parking & buses for High Seat
Best parking to hike High Seat
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 Seat by bus
The 78 stops at Ashness, opposite Derwentwater Youth Hostel, 240 m and 38 m of ascent from the start of Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, High Tove and Armboth Fell. The last bus is 20:19 towards Keswick (78), every day. 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 Seat
Hazard & Incident Information for High Seat
A boggy central fell on the watershed between Borrowdale and Thirlmere, with grand views but notoriously sodden ground — the ridge to Bleaberry Fell is often called the wettest ridge walk in the Lake District. The path is indistinct over rough, knolly bog, so navigation is the main hazard, with a steep descent by Ashness Gill. Keswick Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.
- Boggy, indistinct ground & navigation: Rough, knolly and exceptionally wet, with a faint path and many 'wet places'. In mist it's easy to drift off line over featureless ground. Take a compass bearing, use the fence line where present, and don't rely on a trodden path.
- Deep bog (the wettest ridge in the Lakes): The traverse to Bleaberry Fell is among the boggiest ground anywhere — tiring and disorientating, and best saved for after a dry spell. Pick careful lines and allow plenty of time.
- Steep Ashness Gill descent: The descent toward Ashness Bridge by Ashness Gill is fairly steep and the rough ground gets slippery in the wet. Take care with footing, especially in rain.
Most common causes: Navigation errors on the featureless, boggy plateau in cloud · Floundering in deep bog on the Bleaberry Fell ridge · Slips on the steep Ashness Gill descent and on slippery wet ground · Disorientation in snow or rain on the open top
Local Mountain Rescue: Keswick Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab) · Reviewed 14 Jun 2026
Safety: Hazard guidance compiled from published Mountain Rescue reports and well-documented accident history - editorial background, not a live feed of callouts. Always check current conditions, carry proper navigation equipment, and seek qualified instruction before heading onto the fells. In an emergency, call 999, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.
Navigating High Seat 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 Seat 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: Armboth, Thirlmere (United Utilities, paid), about 2.0 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near High Seat (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 Seat
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 Seat
Water & shelter on the way up
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
The view from High Seat
The 360° skyline from High Seat
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 Seat, by direction
- North: Knowe Crags (9 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (10 km), Gategill Fell Top (10 km), Skiddaw Little Man (10 km), Blencathra (10 km), Skiddaw South Top (11 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (11 km), Skiddaw (11 km), Skiddaw North Top (12 km)
- North-east: Great Dodd (6 km)
- East: White Side (5 km), Raise (6 km), Stybarrow Dodd (6 km), Catstye Cam (6 km)
- South-east: Helvellyn Lower Man (6 km), Nethermost Pike (7 km), High Crag (7 km), Dollywaggon Pike (8 km)
- South: Bowfell (12 km), Shelter Crags (13 km), Crinkle Crags (13 km), Crinkle Crags (14 km), Crinkle Crags (14 km), Crinkle Crags (14 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (14 km)
- South-west: Great Gable (11 km), Great End (11 km), Esk Pike (12 km), Broad Crag (12 km), Ill Crag (12 km), Lingmell (13 km), Scafell Pike (13 km), Pillar (13 km), Scafell (14 km), Red Pike (14 km)
- West: Crag Hill (10 km), Eel Crag (10 km), Grasmoor (12 km), High Stile (12 km), High Stile (12 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Merrick (109 km, Scotland), Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (106 km, Scotland), The Cheviot (120 km, England), Corserine (105 km, Scotland), Lamachan Hill (104 km, Scotland), Cairn Table (120 km, Scotland), Cairnsmore [Black Craig of Dee] (91 km, Scotland), Millfore (99 km, Scotland).
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 Seat
High Seat waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 November, when the sun is up for 24 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 07:39 against an almanac sunrise of 07:15. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the east-south-east from here (119.2°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 2.8°.
| First light | Almanac sunrise | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 04:46 BST ±5.0 min | 04:37 | +9 min |
| Equinox | 06:29 GMT ±5.0 min | 06:15 | +14 min |
| Midwinter | 08:45 GMT ±5.0 min | 08:33 | +12 min |
A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean 0.18°).
Last light — when the sun leaves High Seat
The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (on 1 September) last light is only 10 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on High Seat.
| Last light | Almanac sunset | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 21:57 BST ±5.0 min | 21:53 | +4 min |
| Equinox | 18:30 GMT ±5.0 min | 18:26 | +4 min |
| Midwinter | 15:47 GMT ±5.0 min | 15:49 | -2 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 Seat. 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 Seat
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.On the clearest days the view reaches across to Scotland.
- Merrick Scotland
- Criffel Scotland
- Solway Firth bay/estuary
All 88 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Bleaberry Fell, High Tove, Raven Crag, Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top), Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Castle Crag, High Rigg (Naddle Fell), Cat Bells (Catbells), Maiden Moor, Watson's Dodd, White Side, Raise, High Spy, Stybarrow Dodd, Ullscarf, Great Dodd, Eagle Crag, Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, Catstye Cam, Clough Head, Nethermost Pike, Sergeant's Crag, Dale Head, Barrow, Hindscarth, Causey Pike, Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Dollywaggon Pike, Ard Crags, Scar Crags, Outerside, High Raise (High White Stones), Glaramara, Robinson, Seat Sandal, Grey Knotts, Base Brown, Knott Rigg, Lonscale Fell, Sail, Sergeant Man, Brandreth, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Seathwaite Fell (Wainwright summit), Grisedale Pike, Skiddaw Little Man, Wandope, Dodd (Skiddaw), Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Green Gable, Great Rigg, Carl Side, Whiteless Pike, Stone Arthur, Great Gable, Pike of Stickle, Hopegill Head, Long Side, Rossett Pike, Barf, Skiddaw, Great End, Grasmoor, Ullock Pike, Esk Pike, Kirk Fell, Heron Pike (Rydal), Lord's Seat, Whinlatter (Brown How - Whinlatter), Bowfell, Whiteside (Whiteside West Top), High Stile, Lingmell, Broom Fell, Scafell Pike, Pillar, Great Calva, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Mellbreak (Mellbreak South Top), Scafell, Red Pike (Wasdale), Cold Pike, Knott, Gavel Fell, High Pike (Caldbeck), Grey Friar, Dow Crag
How High Seat’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 Ashness Bridge: 8 places in Keswick
Frequently asked questions about High Seat
Is High Seat a hard walk?
Not to climb, and thoroughly hard work anyway — the difficulty here is water. High Seat sits on the watershed between Borrowdale and Thirlmere, the ground is notoriously sodden, and the ridge on to Bleaberry Fell has a reputation as some of the boggiest walking in the district.
The views are grand and out of proportion to the height. Our round taking it in with Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell, High Tove and Armboth Fell is 17.0 km with 792 m of ascent — note how modest that climb is for the distance. Choose a dry spell.
Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)
Other fells near High Seat
- Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)
- Blea Rigg
- Bleaberry Fell
- Calf Crag
- Eagle Crag
- Gibson Knott
- Grange Fell (Brund Fell)
- Great Crag (Stonethwaite)
- Harrison Stickle
- Helm Crag
- High Raise (High White Stones)
- High Rigg (Naddle Fell)
- High Tove
- Loft Crag
- Loughrigg Fell
- Pavey Ark
- Pike of Stickle
- Raven Crag
- Sergeant Man
- Sergeant's Crag
- Silver How
- Steel Fell (Dead Pike)
- Tarn Crag (Easedale)
- Thunacar Knott
- Ullscarf
- Walla Crag