A stony path leading to a small summit cairn, with sun rays breaking through cloud over the fells beyond

High Tove

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Summited August 2025

Home › Fells › High Tove

515 mWainwright — Central Fells+8 bonus Birketts within 3 km Severe in cloud

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.

Summit conditions on High Tove

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 56 mph, 12.5 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

50 mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 47 mph times our exposure factor of 1.08. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 56 mph, before any exposure factor.

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

12.5 mm 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 checked cold: feels like 3 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 32 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

Full 7-day summit forecast ↓

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 →

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Routes up High Tove

Choose the way up before the car park: these four routes start from two places, and the last two rows give the parking and bus at each route’s own start. Full maps further down.

Compared	Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, High Tove and Armboth Fell	Standing Crag, High Tove, Armboth	Brown Rigg & Blea Tarn	Birketts West of Thirlmere
Starts from	Ashness Gate Car Park	Dob Gill, Thirlmere	Dob Gill, Thirlmere	Dob Gill, Thirlmere
Distance and climb	17.02 km, 812 m of climb	14.26 km, 601 m of climb	13.49 km, 509 m of climb	23.11 km, 1,241 m of climb
Time, fast to steady	~4¾–6½ h	~3¾–5¼ h	~3½–4¾ h	~6½–9 h
Scrambling	Not mentioned in the route’s notes	Not mentioned in the route’s notes	Not mentioned in the route’s notes	Not mentioned in the route’s notes
Exposure	Easy	Moderate	Not assessed	Not assessed
Navigation	Moderate	Hard	Hard	Moderate
Steepest stretch	Descent of about 26% at 11.7 km (Hard)	Descent of about 24% at 9.5 km (Moderate)	Descent of about 25% at 8.9 km (Moderate)	Climb of about 29% at 0.8 km (Hard)
After the summit	No further tops	Over Armboth Fell (Birkett) and Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)	No further tops	Over Fisher Crag
Walked or planned	Walked by Lee, August 2025	Not yet personally walked	Planned: drawn, not yet walked	Planned: drawn, not yet walked
Car park at the start	Walla Crag car park (free)	Dob Gill, Thirlmere (closed); nearest: Steel End, Thirlmere (paid), about 1.3 km on foot	Dob Gill, Thirlmere (closed); nearest: Steel End, Thirlmere (paid), about 1.3 km on foot	Dob Gill, Thirlmere (closed); nearest: Steel End, Thirlmere (paid), about 1.3 km on foot
Bus to the start	78 at the start	555, 1.7 km walk from Thirlmere, at Armboth turn	555, 1.8 km walk from Thirlmere, at Armboth turn	555, 1.8 km walk from Thirlmere, at Armboth turn

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 →

Is High Tove a hard walk?

Only in the way that wading is hard. High Tove itself is a small climb, but our round over it with Standing Crag and Armboth Fell is 14.3 km with 601 m of ascent, a full day. The ground is the main 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.

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 515 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast

Tue 27 Oct

12° / 6°

56 mph

12.5 mm (100%)

Wed 28 Oct

10° / 7°

40 mph

8.9 mm (100%)

Thu 29 Oct

10° / 8°

21 mph

0.9 mm (75%)

Fri 30 Oct

9° / 6°

25 mph

0.3 mm (8%)

Sat 31 Oct

8° / 4°

6 mph

4.2 mm (6%)

Sun 1 Nov

8° / 1°

13 mph

0.6 mm (2%)

Mon 2 Nov

6° / -2°

7 mph

0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for High Tove

Parking

Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.

Walla Crag car park (free) — at the start of Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, High Tove and Armboth Fell

Walking base for Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat and Armboth Fell (Birkett) — the 'Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, High Tove and Armboth Fell' route starts 4 m away. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Watendlath (NT, paid) — 1.3 km from summit (straight line)

End of the narrow Watendlath road — Grange Fell, Great Crag, Armboth fells. Fees: pay and display (LDNP directory, checked August 2026). £7 up to 2 hours; £8 up to 4 hours; £9.50 all day. Free for NT members (checked August 2026). Charges apply at all times. Cash at machine; JustPark app at some car parks; card/phone payment not available in all car parks (NT, checked August 2026).

Directions Something changed here?

Armboth, Thirlmere (United Utilities, paid) — 1.8 km from summit (straight line)

West shore of Thirlmere - Armboth Fell and High Tove. Fees: pay and display (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked August 2026). Pay and display (visitlakedistrict.com, which names United Utilities as operator) (United Utilities, checked August 2026). Toilets beside the car park, including disabled; seasonal (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, read 12 September 2026).

Directions Something changed here?

3 more places to park near High Tove

Fisher Crag (verge) — 2.0 km from summit (straight line)

0.4 km from Fisher Crag.

Directions Something changed here?

Fisher Crag (layby, north) — 2.1 km from summit (straight line)

0.6 km from Fisher Crag.

Directions Something changed here?

Fisher Crag (layby, south) — 2.2 km from summit (straight line)

0.7 km from Fisher Crag.

Directions Something changed here?

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 78 stops at Ashness, opposite Derwentwater Youth Hostel, a 240 m walk and 38 m of ascent from the start of Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, High Tove and Armboth Fell — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: distance and steepness). As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Keswick (78): Tuesday to Sunday 20:19. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

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, about 2 km up the lane).

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat

Hazards on High Tove

Notes from the Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, High Tove and Armboth Fell route

If you need to get off (the leg from Armboth Fell): From High Tove, the steep descent path down to Watendlath provides an immediate and highly welcome exit route.

Quoted from the route page: the note for the leg that reaches High Tove.

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

Severe

Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of near-level ground around the summit. 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 (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.

From Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s guidance on calling them out (opens in new tab) (read 26 October 2026).

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).

Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.

Birketts within 3 km of High Tove

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.

0.7 km SMiddle Crag484 m · Central

0.9 km SEArmboth Fell (Birkett)479 m · Central

1.2 km SShivery Knott491 m · Central

1.6 km EFisher Crag421 m · Central

1.6 km SWatendlath Fell (Long Moss)515 m · Central

2.4 km SSEBell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)559 m · Central

2.5 km SEBrown Rigg462 m · Central

2.6 km NNECastle Crag (Shoulthwaite)404 m · Central

Routes over High Tove

Birketts West of Thirlmere

Summits: Wythburn Fell Standing Crag Coldbarrow Fell - High Saddle Low Saddle Bell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)Watendlath Fell (Long Moss)Shivery Knott Middle CragHigh ToveFisher Crag

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Warnings: Access: The summit of Fisher Crag lies outside mapped CRoW open-access land. That layer records no CRoW right of access; public rights of way were not checked — it is not a statement that access is forbidden, and permissive access is not recorded in that layer. This line is computed rather than walked, so treat the access on it as unchecked — how we work this out.

Route guide: Birketts West of Thirlmere →

Brown Rigg & Blea Tarn

Summits: Brown Rigg Shivery Knott Middle CragHigh Tove

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Route guide: Brown Rigg & Blea Tarn →

Standing Crag, High Tove, Armboth

Summits: Standing Crag Shivery Knott Middle CragHigh ToveArmboth Fell (Birkett)Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)

Download GPX Not yet personally walked

Route guide: Standing Crag, High Tove, Armboth →

Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, High Tove and Armboth Fell

Summits: Walla Crag Bleaberry Fell High Seat Armboth Fell (Birkett)High Tove

Download GPX Walked by Lee, August 2025

Warnings: High Seat: 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. Walla Crag: The summit edge is a steep, unfenced drop to Derwentwater — easy to get too close for a photo, and dangerous with children, dogs or in wind. Keep back from the lip; if you'd rather stay away from it, keep to the side of the wall away from the lake (the east side), which is a useful handrail in mist.

From the hazard notes for Walla Crag · High Seat, each with its sources.

Route guide: Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, High Tove and Armboth Fell →

Every line here is a guide, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate for yourself and carry a map and 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:

toilets (29 m off the line)

On the Brown Rigg & Blea Tarn route:

toilets (52 m off the line)

On the Standing Crag, High Tove, Armboth route:

toilets (29 m off the line)

On the Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, High Tove and Armboth Fell route:

shelter (weather shelter, mapped, not checked; 2 m off the line) toilets (18 m off the line) Barrow Bay jetty (64 m from the start, straight line) Derwentwater Youth Hostel (S bound) (99 m from the start, straight line) Derwentwater Youth Hostel (N bound) (104 m from the start, straight line) Derwentwater Independent Hostel (316 m from the start, straight line)

About High Tove

Wainwright included it as part of the Central Fells group, noting its somewhat featureless character is offset by the fine views on clear days. The ascent from Watendlath is straightforward across moorland. A good viewpoint fell for the Helvellyn range and Thirlmere.

My Strava hikes over High Tove

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 August 2025

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is High Tove a Wainwright?

High Tove is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.

Selected lists

515 m

Height

1,690 ft

In feet

NY 2891 1651

Grid ref

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 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.

drag to pan · arrow keys

The skyline as a list, 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 Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills v18.4 (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°.

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	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.

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	21:55 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

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.

47Wainwrights in view+20 marginal

57 kmFurthest sightlineCriffel

—Sea in viewnone from here

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Scotland.

Far horizons

Criffel ScotlandNW · 57 km distant

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 the view from High Tove 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 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.

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.

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? Answered above.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

High Tove

Summit conditions on High Tove

Wind on the top

Rain, and the becks

Routes up High Tove

Is High Tove a hard walk?

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Parking & buses for High Tove

Parking

Buses

Hazards on High Tove

Notes from the Walla Crag, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, High Tove and Armboth Fell route

Navigating in cloud

If you need Mountain Rescue

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Birketts within 3 km of High Tove

Routes over High Tove

On the hill: terrain and water on High Tove

Water & shelter on the way up

About High Tove

My Strava hikes over High Tove

Classifications & hill data

Is High Tove a Wainwright?

Selected lists

The view from High Tove

The 360° skyline from High Tove

Sunrise and sunset on High Tove

Last light — when the sun leaves High Tove

What you can see from High Tove

Places to stay near this fell

Frequently asked questions about High Tove

Other fells near High Tove