High Tove
High Tove at 515m (1,690ft) is a modest, boggy summit on the Armboth plateau between Thirlmere and Borrowdale, its open top giving views across to the Helvellyn range and north to Skiddaw.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 515 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 13° to 10°C, gusts to 20 mph, 0.9 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 515 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
High Tove at a glance
High Tove
Routes up High Tove
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Is High Tove a Wainwright?
High Tove is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.
Where do you park for High Tove?
The nearest car park we hold is Watendlath (NT, paid), about 1.3 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Armboth, Thirlmere (United Utilities, paid), 1.8 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 Tove (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 Tove
Best parking to hike High Tove
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 Tove 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 Tove
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 Tove in cloud
SevereA broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. 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 Tove 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: Watendlath (NT, paid), about 1.3 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near High Tove (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 Tove
✎️ 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. How to use this 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. How to use this guide.
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.
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 Tove
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Birketts West of Thirlmere route:
On the Brown Rigg & Blea Tarn route:
On the Standing Crag, High Tove, Armboth route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
The view from High Tove
The 360° skyline from High Tove
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 Tove, by direction
- North: Knowe Crags (11 km), Gategill Fell Top (11 km), Blencathra (12 km)
- North-east: Watson's Dodd (6 km), Stybarrow Dodd (6 km), Little Dodd (6 km), Great Dodd (7 km)
- East: Helvellyn Lower Man (5 km), White Side (5 km), Raise (5 km), Helvellyn (6 km), Catstye Cam (6 km)
- South-east: Nethermost Pike (6 km), High Crag (6 km), Dollywaggon Pike (7 km), Fairfield (8 km)
- South: Shelter Crags (12 km), Crinkle Crags (12 km), Crinkle Crags (12 km), Crinkle Crags (12 km), Crinkle Crags (12 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (13 km)
- South-west: Glaramara (7 km), Looking Steads (8 km), Great Gable (10 km), Great End (10 km), Esk Pike (10 km), Kirk Fell East Top (11 km), Bowfell (11 km), Kirk Fell (11 km), Ill Crag (11 km), Lingmell (12 km), Scafell Pike (12 km), Red Pike (14 km)
- West: Crag Hill (10 km), Wandope (11 km), Grasmoor (12 km), Pillar (13 km)
- North-west: Eel Crag (11 km), Grisedale Pike (11 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Bishop Forest Hill (77 km, Scotland), Killyleoch Hill (77 km, Scotland), See Morris Hill (73 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 Tove
High Tove waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 October, when the sun is up for 35 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 07:50 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 (101.6°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 4.63°.
| First light | Almanac sunrise | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 05:01 BST ±5.0 min | 04:37 | +24 min |
| Equinox | 06:40 GMT ±5.0 min | 06:15 | +25 min |
| Midwinter | 08:48 GMT ±5.0 min | 08:33 | +15 min |
The northern horizon stands at about 1.06° from here.
Last light — when the sun leaves High Tove
The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (at the September equinox) last light is only 12 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on High Tove.
| Last light | Almanac sunset | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 21:55 BST ±5.0 min | 21:53 | +2 min |
| Equinox | 18:15 GMT ±5.0 min | 18:26 | -11 min |
| Midwinter | 15:44 GMT ±5.0 min | 15:49 | -5 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 Tove. 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 Tove
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.On the clearest days the view reaches across to Scotland.
- Criffel Scotland
All 47 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top), High Seat, Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Raven Crag, Eagle Crag, White Side, Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, Raise, Sergeant's Crag, Helvellyn, Watson's Dodd, Cat Bells (Catbells), Nethermost Pike, Catstye Cam, Stybarrow Dodd, Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Great Dodd, Dollywaggon Pike, Dale Head, High Raise (High White Stones), Glaramara, Seat Sandal, Clough Head, Base Brown, Grey Knotts, Barrow, Fairfield, Seathwaite Fell (Wainwright summit), Brandreth, Stone Arthur, Green Gable, Rossett Pike, Great Gable, Great End, Esk Pike, Heron Pike (Rydal), Bowfell, Kirk Fell, Lingmell, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Scafell Pike, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Pillar, Barf, Broom Fell, Souther Fell
How High Tove’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 Tove
Is High Tove a hard walk?
Only in the way that wading is hard. High Tove is barely a climb — our round over it with Standing Crag and Armboth Fell is 14.3 km with 545 m of ascent, which is very little for the distance. The ground is the entire problem: this is some of the boggiest walking in the Lake District, and the crossing between Watendlath and Thirlmere is notorious for it.
We grade the navigation hard. There is nothing to aim at, the ground gives no clue which way it drains, and the paths that exist come and go. Go after a dry spell, in boots you do not mind writing off.
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 Tove
- 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 Seat
- 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