High Spy
High Spy at 653m (2,142ft) is the high point of the Newlands Horseshoe ridge above Maiden Moor, its summit giving excellent views of Derwent Water to the north and the Dale Head group to the south.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 653 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, 0.8 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 653 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
High Spy at a glance
High Spy
Routes up High Spy
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Where do you park for High Spy?
The nearest car park we hold is Quay Foot Quarry, Borrowdale (NT, paid), about 2.0 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Castle Crag (layby), 2.2 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 Spy (Strava)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- Was supposed to be grim so did a tourist route. It wasn't. (opens in new tab) — 21.4 km · 866 m ascent · 4h 53m moving · 9 May 2026
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Parking & buses for High Spy
Best parking to hike High Spy
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 Spy by bus
The 77 stops at Hawes End, outside Cattle Grid, 80 m from the start of Catbells, Maiden Moor & High Spy — a route we rate Easy. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day, and it is not daily before then — a bus on 31 of the 56 days from 7 September. We don’t know when it returns. Confirmed with the operator, 29 August 2026. The last bus is 19:00 towards Keswick (77), 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 Spy
Hazard & Incident Information for High Spy
A fell on the long ridge dividing Newlands from Borrowdale, with an easy grassy crest but precipitous crags falling away on both sides — Eel Crags and Blea Crag to the Borrowdale east, steep ground to the Newlands west. The danger is drifting off the broad ridge toward those edges in cloud; disused quarry workings lie on the Borrowdale approach. Keswick Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.
- Precipitous crags on both flanks: High Spy is defended by steep crags east (Eel Crags / Blea Crag above Borrowdale) and west (toward Newlands). Keep to the crest and well back from both edges, especially in wind or cloud — the gentle grass gives little warning before the drop.
- Broad ridge navigation in cloud: The summit and the ridge to Maiden Moor and Dale Head are broad and grassy with few features. In mist take a compass bearing so you stay on the crest and don't drift toward the crag edges or the wrong valley.
- Disused Rigg Head Quarries: The Borrowdale approach passes the disused Rigg Head Quarries; keep clear of spoil, openings and steep quarry edges, particularly in poor light.
Most common causes: Walkers drifting toward the crag edges on either side in poor visibility · Navigation errors on the broad grassy ridge in cloud · Mishaps around the disused Rigg Head Quarries · Winter ice on the crag edges and steep ground
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 Spy in cloud
SevereWalkable ground sits close to a lethal drop — in cloud it’s easy to walk straight onto steep ground. A serious place to be caught in cloud: carry map and compass (or GPS) and know how to use them, or save it for a clear day.
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 Spy 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: Quay Foot Quarry, Borrowdale (NT, paid), about 2.0 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near High Spy (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 Spy
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 Spy
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Catbells, Maiden Moor & High Spy route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
The view from High Spy
The 360° skyline from High Spy
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 Spy, by direction
- North: Skiddaw Lesser Man (12 km), Skiddaw Little Man (12 km), Skiddaw South Top (13 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (13 km), Skiddaw (13 km)
- North-east: Knowe Crags (13 km), Gategill Fell Top (14 km), Blencathra (14 km)
- East: Helvellyn Lower Man (10 km), White Side (10 km), Watson's Dodd (11 km), Helvellyn (11 km), Raise (11 km), Nethermost Pike (11 km), High Crag (11 km), Stybarrow Dodd (11 km), Catstye Cam (11 km), Great Dodd (12 km), Dollywaggon Pike (12 km), Cofa Pike (13 km), Fairfield (13 km)
- South-east: Red Screes (18 km)
- South: Green Gable (6 km), Glaramara (6 km), Great Gable (6 km), Great End (8 km), Lingmell (8 km), Esk Pike (9 km), Broad Crag (9 km), Ill Crag (9 km), Scafell Pike (9 km), Bowfell (10 km), Scafell (10 km)
- South-west: Kirk Fell East Top (6 km), Kirk Fell (7 km)
- West: High Stile (7 km), High Stile (7 km)
- North-west: Crag Hill (6 km), Grasmoor (7 km), Grisedale Pike (7 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Tinto (121 km, Scotland), Green Lowther (101 km, Scotland), White Coomb (99 km, Scotland), Queensberry (87 km, Scotland), Ettrick Pen (92 km, Scotland), Culter Fell (114 km, Scotland), Dun Rig (115 km, Scotland), Winter Hill (110 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 Spy
High Spy sits close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its longest wait of the modelled year (on 1 October) first light is only 11 minutes after almanac sunrise, so the published sunrise time is a fair guide here.
| First light | Almanac sunrise | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 04:34 BST ±5.0 min | 04:37 | -3 min |
| Equinox | 06:21 GMT ±5.0 min | 06:16 | +5 min |
| Midwinter | 08:32 GMT ±5.0 min | 08:33 | -1 min |
A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean 0.12°).
Last light — when the sun leaves High Spy
High Spy loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls on 1 December, when last light is 30 minutes before almanac sunset — 15:23 against 15:53. The sun goes down to the south-west from here (225.6°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 2.92°.
| Last light | Almanac sunset | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 21:40 BST ±5.0 min | 21:53 | -13 min |
| Equinox | 18:17 GMT ±5.0 min | 18:27 | -10 min |
| Midwinter | 15:25 GMT ±5.0 min | 15:49 | -24 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 Spy. 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 Spy
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.- Solway Firth bay/estuary
All 73 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Dale Head, Hindscarth, Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Grey Knotts, Ard Crags, Knott Rigg, Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, Brandreth, Base Brown, Causey Pike, Scar Crags, Sail, High Seat, Barrow, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Wandope, Eagle Crag, Green Gable, Glaramara, Whiteless Pike, Seathwaite Fell (Wainwright summit), Bleaberry Fell, Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top), Sergeant's Crag, Great Gable, Walla Crag, Kirk Fell, Ullscarf, Grasmoor, Grisedale Pike, Allen Crags, Great End, High Raise (High White Stones), Lingmell, Esk Pike, Scafell Pike, Thunacar Knott, Latrigg, Pike of Stickle, Pavey Ark, Bowfell, Harrison Stickle, Scafell, Loft Crag, White Side, Watson's Dodd, Lord's Seat, Barf, Helvellyn, Raise, Nethermost Pike, Stybarrow Dodd, Dodd (Skiddaw), Catstye Cam, Great Dodd, Dollywaggon Pike, Clough Head, Skiddaw Little Man, Carl Side, Seat Sandal, Lonscale Fell, Long Side, Ullock Pike, Skiddaw, Fairfield, Great Rigg, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, High Pike (Scandale), Wetherlam, Red Screes, Binsey, Carrock Fell
How High Spy’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 Hawes End: 6 places in Keswick
Frequently asked questions about High Spy
Where is High Spy, and is it a Wainwright?
Yes — a 653 m (2,142 ft) Wainwright in the North Western Fells, on the long ridge between Borrowdale and the Newlands valley. It's the high point of the ridge that begins at Catbells and runs south over Maiden Moor, with the Eel Crags face dropping dramatically towards Newlands.
What is the best walk up High Spy?
The classic is the ridge from Catbells over Maiden Moor — our mapped circuit is about 13.8 km (roughly 4–4.5 hours), one of the finest ridge promenades in the district: easy walking, huge views over Derwentwater one side and Newlands the other, and the summits arrive in a natural crescendo.
Keep to the path along the Newlands edge — the Eel Crags face below the ridge is steep, broken ground.
How hard is High Spy?
Moderate — there's no scrambling on the ridge route and the paths are clear, but it's a genuine 2,000-footer and the round from the Newlands or Borrowdale side is a proper half-day-plus. The usual descent to Dalehead Tarn and back down Newlands is rough underfoot in places.
Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-07-20 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)
Other fells near High Spy
- Ard Crags
- Barf
- Barrow
- Broom Fell
- Castle Crag
- Cat Bells (Catbells)
- Causey Pike
- Crag Hill (Eel Crag)
- Dale Head
- Grasmoor
- Graystones (Graystones North Top)
- Grisedale Pike
- Hindscarth
- Hopegill Head
- Knott Rigg
- Ling Fell
- Lord's Seat
- Maiden Moor
- Outerside
- Rannerdale Knotts
- Robinson
- Sail
- Sale Fell
- Scar Crags
- Wandope
- Whinlatter (Brown How)
- Whiteless Pike
- Whiteside (Whiteside West Top)