731 mWainwright — Far Eastern Fells+4 bonus Birketts within 3 km Care needed in cloud
Kentmere Pike at 731m (2,397ft) is the eastern anchor of the Kentmere Horseshoe, a broad, grassy summit giving outstanding views east across the Shap Fells and south down the Kentmere valley.
Summit conditions on Kentmere Pike
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 4°C, gusts to 59 mph, 11.9 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
56mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour
The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 46 mph times our exposure factor of 1.22. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 59 mph, before any exposure factor.
under 25
25–35
35–45
45–55
55+
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.
Cloud on the top
Past the line
12out of 100, the clear-top reading
Averaged over the daylight hours, from the forecast’s humidity and low cloud.
The line Our line: a clear-top reading under 20 out of 100, where our scorer says “summit likely clagged in”. There is no outside threshold to cite; it is our estimate. What cloud does to finding the way: navigating in cloud.
Not an observation: cloud lifts and drops within the hour.
Rain, and the becks
Past the line
11.9mm 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 checkedcold: feels like 0 °C, no ice or snow forecast. 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
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 →
Choose the way up before the car park: these three routes start from three places, and the last two rows give the parking and bus at each route’s own start. Full maps further down.
Hands for a few steps: the first drop off Ill Bell towards Froswick (km 6.2–6.6). The initial drop off Ill Bell toward Froswick is steep and rough — you may need hands; it eases quickly.
Exposure
Not assessed
Not assessed
Not assessed
Navigation
Hard
Hard
Hard
Steepest stretch
Climb of about 23% at 6.6 km (Moderate)
Descent of about 37% at 14.6 km (Severe)
Climb of about 23% at 11.8 km (Moderate)
After the summit
Over Harter Fell (Mardale), Little Harter Fell and Adam Seat
Over Harter Fell (Mardale), Little Harter Fell, Branstree, Tarn Crag (Sleddale), Grey Crag (Sleddale Fell) and Great Howe (Longsleddale)
Over Shipman Knotts
Walked or planned
Planned: drawn, not yet walked
Walked in part; km 0.0–1.3, km 16.6–17.9 from the map
Walked in part; km 0.0–2.2, km 7.6–10.0, km 17.5–20.2 from the map
Car park at the start
Sadgill, Longsleddale (free, limited)
Hollow Moor (layby) (free)
Kentmere Institute (donation, very limited)
Bus to the start
Nearest stop 8.5 km on foot
Nearest stop 6.5 km on foot
Nearest stop 5.4 km on foot
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 Kentmere Pike a hard walk?
Long rather than steep, and quieter than the fells across the valley. The summit is a grassy dome with a wall over it, and the walking on top is easy; the work is in getting up there from Kentmere or Longsleddale.
Our routes over it are full days: 17.7 km with 1043 m of ascent over Tarn Crag, Grey Crag and Shipman Knotts, with navigation graded hard. That grade is the warning here: the eastern side of this ridge is broad, boggy and short of landmarks.
Kentmere Institute (donation, very limited) — at the start of Kentmere Horseshoe
Tiny: about eight spaces, so arrive early, and do not assume the verges are allowed. Kentmere Horseshoe: Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick, Kentmere Pike. The box is a donation box, not a machine (OpenStreetMap, 2026-07-24 extract).
Mardale Head, Haweswater (free) — 3.0 km from summit (straight line)
Free but small and fills very early — High Street, Harter Fell, Kidsty Pike, Branstree. Five routes on this site start here, among them the 'Mardale Horseshoe' and the 'Mardale circuit'. Fees: Free parking; donation cairn with suggested £2 contribution (cash only - no mobile signal) plus a Mountain Rescue donation cairn (wildhaweswater.co.uk) (United Utilities, checked August 2026). Staying overnight in a vehicle or tent is banned here without the landowner's written consent (Westmorland and Furness Council, Public Spaces Protection Order 2026 No. 008, in force 18 March 2026). Open 24/7 (United Utilities, checked August 2026).
If it is full: Branstree (layby) (0.2 km)a few spaces only; Branstree, north (layby) (0.8 km)a few spaces only
Branstree (layby) — 3.0 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Rough Crag (Riggindale), High Street, Mardale Ill Bell and Harter Fell (Mardale) — the 'Mardale circuit' route starts 166 m away. Also serves 'Mardale Ill Bell, High Street, The Knott, Rampsgill Head, High Raise and Kidsty Pike'. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
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 nearest bus stop we hold is the 508 at Troutbeck, opposite Limefitt Park, 5.4 km of walking from the start — no bus route we hold serves it.
Notes from the Longsleddale Round (Kentmere Pike, Tarn Crag, Grey Crag & Shipman Knotts) route
Boggy ground: the Sleddale moors (Tarn Crag, Grey Crag and the Mosedale–Longsleddale pass) are peat-hagged and frequently very wet — expect bog and use the wall/fence lines as handrails.
Faint paths + serious navigation: trods are indistinct across Cocklaw Fell and the Sleddale plateau. Best saved for good visibility — avoid the Tarn Crag/Grey Crag moors in thick hill fog.
A long day: roughly 10–12 miles and over 3,000 ft of ascent — be self-reliant.
If you need to get off (the leg from Shipman Knotts): Emergency only: at about 2.6 km a steep descent to the left, slightly behind you, drops off the ridge to Hallow Bank, and at about 3.1 km, half-way up Kentmere Pike, a sharp left doubles back below Goat Scar down to Hallow Bank. Both are steep, and both put you on the Kentmere side rather than back at Sadgill, with a valley walk round to the car.
Quoted from the route page: its warnings and the note for the leg that reaches Kentmere Pike.
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
Care needed
Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of near-level ground around the summit. Take care in poor visibility — carry map and compass, and know how to use them.
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 Kentmere Pike 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.
Walked and described first-hand by Lee — a big mountain day (≈12½ miles / ~3,500 ft, 5¾–7¾ hours of walking). Start early, carry OS Explorer OL7 and a compass (the eastern ridge walls and fences are vital handrails in mist), and know the escape options.
Download GPXWalked in part, May 2026 · km 0.0–2.2, km 7.6–10.0, km 17.5–20.2 from the map
Warnings: The left-hand ladder stile between Kentmere Pike and Shipman Knotts has a big, almost-vertical drop on the far side — take care, and lift or handle dogs, which often refuse it. Wray Crag on the final descent has a grooved sloping slab: an easy step in the dry, slippery when wet. The initial drop off Ill Bell toward Froswick is steep and rough — you may need hands; it eases quickly. Keep clear of Ill Bell's craggy eastern edge above Kentmere Reservoir — stay on the broad ridge by the cairns. Parking at Kentmere (village hall / St Cuthbert's church) is very limited — only a handful of spaces — so arrive early. Harter Fell (Mardale): The ridge from Nan Bield Pass to the top is narrow, with steep drops on both sides, particularly along the lip of Black John Hole. Take it steadily, keep to the path, and it is best avoided in strong wind or when iced. The eastern and western slopes are both too steep to be used by walkers, and the Kentmere side falls in fans of scree to the River Kent. Don't be tempted to drop off the ridge in either direction; keep to the crest, and leave it only by an established path such as Scot Rake from the col north of Froswick, which our Troutbeck route uses. Harter Fell (Mardale): Crags ring the fell and overlook Small Water and Mardale; they block any direct ascent for good reason. Keep back from the edges near the summit, especially in cloud or wind where the broad top hides the drop. Mardale Ill Bell: The eastern side falls to the Mardale Waters — Blea Water and Small Water sit in crater coves ringed by crags. Keep back from the edges above them, especially in cloud or wind where the broad ground gives little warning before the drop. Ill Bell: The ridge turns north-west at the summit, so it is not safe to simply head north off the top — that leads toward steep ground. Among the several tall cairns it's easy to take the wrong line in mist. Take a compass bearing and follow the correct ridge.
Download GPXWalked in part, May 2026 · km 0.0–1.3, km 16.6–17.9 from the map
Warnings: Boggy ground: the Sleddale moors (Tarn Crag, Grey Crag and the Mosedale–Longsleddale pass) are peat-hagged and frequently very wet — expect bog and use the wall/fence lines as handrails. Faint paths + serious navigation: trods are indistinct across Cocklaw Fell and the Sleddale plateau. Best saved for good visibility — avoid the Tarn Crag/Grey Crag moors in thick hill fog. A long day: roughly 10–12 miles and over 3,000 ft of ascent — be self-reliant.
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.
About Kentmere Pike
Photo: Mick Melvin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Combined with Shipman Knotts and the Ill Bell ridge on the full Kentmere Horseshoe: our round goes up over Yoke and the Ill Bell ridge first and comes back over Harter Fell, Kentmere Pike and Shipman Knotts.
Field notes
The trig point for Kentmere Pike is just on the other side of the stone wall, with a stile beside it, and at that stage of the walk I felt obliged to cross and bag it properly. While I was there I wandered a touch more east to have a look over the less-popular version of Raven Crag and to Buckbarrow Crag. It is a good spot to rest off away from the high-footfall route and grab some peace and quiet.
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 Kentmere Pike
The 360° skyline from Kentmere Pike
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: Harter Fell (2 km)
North-east: Branstree (2 km)
South-west: Brim Fell (22 km), The Old Man of Coniston (22 km), Dow Crag (23 km)
West: Ill Bell (3 km), Red Screes (7 km), Dove Crag (10 km), Hart Crag (10 km), Great Rigg (11 km), Fairfield (11 km), Cofa Pike (12 km), Sergeant Man (18 km), Wetherlam (19 km), Swirl How (21 km), Great Carrs (21 km), Great How (21 km), Crinkle Crags (22 km), Crinkle Crags (22 km), Shelter Crags (22 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (22 km), Crinkle Crags (22 km), Grey Friar (22 km), Crinkle Crags (22 km), Little Stand (22 km), Bowfell (22 km), Great End (24 km), Ill Crag (24 km), Broad Crag (25 km), Scafell Pike (25 km), Great Gable (26 km), Scafell (26 km)
North-west: High Street (4 km), Thornthwaite Crag (4 km), Stony Cove Pike (5 km), Dollywaggon Pike (13 km), High Crag (14 km), Nethermost Pike (14 km), Helvellyn (14 km), Raise (16 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (176 km, Wales), Carnedd Llewelyn (163 km, Wales), Aran Fawddwy (195 km, Wales), Moel Siabod (171 km, Wales), Arenig Fawr (182 km, Wales), South Barrule (125 km, Isle of Man), Yr Eifl (197 km, Wales), Craig Cwm Silyn (183 km, Wales).
Kentmere Pike catches the sun before the valley does. On not one of the sixteen dates modelled does this summit wait for first light — the eastern horizon falls away rather than standing over you.
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
04:36 BST ±5.0 min
04:36
—
Equinox
06:11 GMT ±5.0 min
06:14
-3 min
Midwinter
08:29 GMT ±5.0 min
08:32
-3 min
A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean 0.41°).
Last light — when the sun leaves Kentmere Pike
The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (at midsummer) last light is only 7 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on Kentmere Pike.
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
21:44 BST ±5.0 min
21:51
-7 min
Equinox
18:23 GMT ±5.0 min
18:25
-2 min
Midwinter
15:56 GMT ±5.0 min
15:48
+8 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 Kentmere Pike
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
37Wainwrights in view+11 marginal
176 kmFurthest sightlineSnowdon (Yr Wyddfa) · possible under favourable refraction
2Sea in viewIrish Sea, Morecambe Bay
On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales.
How the view from Kentmere Pike 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 Kentmere Pike. 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.
We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).
