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807 m · Wainwright — Southern Fells · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Wainwright — Southern FellsAlso a Birkett

Lingmell

Lingmell at 807m (2,648ft) stands sentinel above Wasdale Head, a broad grassy dome that Wainwright described as providing one of the finest close-up views of Scafell Pike — the great crags of Pikes Crag and the Corridor Route are seen to dramatic effect from its summit.

807 m
Height
~4.5–5.5 h
Typical time
+6
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

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807 mWainwright — Southern Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+6 bonus Birketts within 3 km Straightforward in cloud

Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast

Modelled guidance for the 807 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 14° to 12°C, gusts to 39 mph, 11.9 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌧️
14° / 12°
💨 39 mph
🌧 11.9 mm (99%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
12° / 10°
💨 33 mph
🌧 11.9 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌧️
11° / 5°
💨 29 mph
🌧 2.9 mm (87%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
13° / 1°
💨 23 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (86%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
12° / 3°
💨 15 mph
🌧 4.5 mm (82%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
14° / 5°
💨 19 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (35%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
14° / 5°
💨 16 mph
🌧 0.2 mm (23%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 807 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

About the walk

Key information

Lingmell

Lingmell, a Lake District fell
Photo: Doug Sim, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Lingmell at 807m (2,648ft) stands sentinel above Wasdale Head, a broad grassy dome that Wainwright described as providing one of the finest close-up views of Scafell Pike — the great crags of Pikes Crag and the Corridor Route are seen to dramatic effect from its summit. Most walkers pass it by in their hurry to reach the Pike, but it deserves a visit for its own sake: the views down Wasdale to the lake, and across to Great Gable and Kirk Fell, are excellent. The usual ascent is from Wasdale Head via Lingmell Beck, returning via Brown Tongue for a satisfying half-day round.

Routes up Lingmell

Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.

Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route
15.8 km · ~4.7 hr · Difficult
A grander, more interesting way up England's highest mountain than the Wasdale tourist path — the Corridor Route threads beneath the crags from Seathwaite in Borrowdale, with Lingmell a worthwhile detour for the finest view of the Scafell face. I haven't walked this exact line myself, and there are plenty of accounts of people struggling on certain sections, so read up or watch a route video first. Whatever you do, never be tempted onto Broad Stand. It's a long, rough and serious day on the highest ground in England.
Classifications & hill data
Wainwright
Southern
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
Nuttall
807 m
Height
2,648 ft
In feet
NY 2093 0817
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.

Nearest parking: Wasdale Head (NT car park), about 3.0 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Lingmell (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.

1.1 km ESEBroad Crag935 m · Southern
1.6 km ESEIll Crag931 m · Southern
1.9 km SEPen762 m · Southern
2.4 km NESeathwaite Fell (Great Slack - Seathwaite Fell)631 m · Southern
2.7 km NNWKirk Fell East Top (Kirk Fell North Top)787 m · Western
3.0 km ESEPike de Bield810 m · Southern

Routes over Lingmell

Scafell Pike via the Corridor RoutePlanned
15.84 km · ~937 m ascent · loop · ~4.5–6.5 h · Clockwise · Difficult
Summits: LingmellScafell PikeBroad Crag

⬇️ Download GPX

Best season: Late spring to autumn in clear weather; the summit is hard to navigate and the ground is serious in winter.

⚠️ Warnings: Never attempt Broad Stand (the direct link to Scafell) — it's a graded rock climb and a notorious accident spot.; Rough, rocky ground and a boulder-field summit that is very hard to navigate in cloud — carry map, compass and GPS.; A long, committing mountain day; start early and watch the time.; Piers Gill: go round it, not into it — and there is no phone signal here. Where the Corridor Route reaches the head of the gill, the safe line is to go right round the corner of the crossing and slightly uphill, well away from Piers Gill, following the path down to Sty Head. Do not drop toward the gill or try to walk down the bed of the stream — it is a canyon of waterfall pitches (Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team: “do not attempt to walk down the bed of the stream”). The bank paths are worse than they look: the west (river-left) bank has no path at all, and WMRT report fatalities there in recent years; the path on the other bank has steep sections above big drops and a record of serious accidents — if you get onto it and into difficulty, turn around and retrace to the Corridor Route rather than press on. There is no mobile phone coverage around the gill, so do not sit and wait for a call to connect — get back up to where you have signal, or make yourself seen and heard. See phone & satellite SOS. Guidance from Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team, shared at their request.; Greta Gill — and the false track that isn’t the route. Lower down, the Corridor Route crosses Greta Gill after a rock step that Wasdale MRT warn “can be hazardous or impossible if the weather is wet.” Do not follow what looks like a track down the north (river-right) bank of Greta Gill: it is unconsolidated, has steep drops into the gill, and is not the continuation of the Corridor Route. Stay on the made path.

Full route 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.

The View from Lingmell

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
Computed 360-degree skyline from Lingmell27 labelled tops shown (12 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWHelvellyn · 15 kmSkiddaw · 22 kmGreat End · 2 kmPillar · 6 kmHigh Crag · 14 kmRaise · 16 kmBlencathra · 23 kmGreat Dodd · 18 kmGrasmoor · 13 kmScoat Fell · 6 kmCrag Hill · 12 kmBlack Crag · 6 kmHigh Stile · 8 kmHaycock · 7 kmKirk Fell East Top · 3 kmClough Head · 19 kmLonscale Fell · 20 kmSeatallan · 7 kmScafell Pike · 1 kmBroad Crag · 1 kmGreat Gable · 2 kmIllgill Head · 5 kmMiddle Fell · 6 kmWhite Pike · 14 kmBuckbarrow · 8 kmBoat How · 6 kmMuncaster Fell · 14 kmSkiddaw Little Man · 20 kmDollywaggon Pike · 14 kmStybarrow Dodd · 17 kmRed Pike · 5 kmGrisedale Pike · 14 kmWandope · 12 kmHigh Crag · 6 kmKnott · 26 kmMungrisdale Common · 23 kmSouther Fell · 26 kmGlaramara · 4 kmYewbarrow North Top · 4 kmHigh Seat · 13 kmCarling Knott · 15 kmHigh Tove · 12 kmSlieve Donard · 178 km · a handful of days a yearBroad Law · 116 km · a rare clear daySnaefell · 84 km · a rare clear dayCairnsmore of Carsphairn · 109 km · a rare clear dayMynydd Mawr · 168 km · a handful of days a yearSlieve Croob · 179 km · a handful of days a yearDivis · 182 km · a handful of days a yearCairn Table · 126 km · a handful of days a yearAgnew's Hill · 180 km · a handful of days a yearBogrie Hill · 88 km · a rare clear dayPeel Fell · 101 km · a rare clear dayMull Hill · 110 km · a rare clear day
What you can see from Lingmell, by direction
  • North: Green Gable (3 km), Kirk Fell East Top (3 km), Wandope (12 km), Sail (12 km), Crag Hill (12 km), Grasmoor (13 km), Hopegill Head (14 km), Grisedale Pike (14 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (20 km), Skiddaw Little Man (20 km), Skiddaw South Top (21 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (21 km), Skiddaw (22 km)
  • North-east: Nethermost Pike (15 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (15 km), Helvellyn (15 km), White Side (15 km), Raise (16 km), Watson's Dodd (17 km), Stybarrow Dodd (17 km), Little Dodd (18 km), Green Side (18 km), Great Dodd (18 km), Knowe Crags (22 km), Gategill Fell Top (22 km), Blencathra (23 km)
  • East: Great End (2 km), High Crag (14 km), Dollywaggon Pike (14 km)
  • West: Haycock (7 km)
  • North-west: Kirk Fell (3 km), Red Pike (5 km), Pillar (6 km), Black Crag (6 km), Scoat Fell (6 km), Steeple (6 km), High Crag (6 km), High Stile (8 km), High Stile (8 km), Red Pike (9 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Slieve Donard (178 km, Ireland), Broad Law (116 km, Scotland), Snaefell (84 km, Isle of Man), Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (109 km, Scotland), Mynydd Mawr (168 km, Wales), South Barrule (100 km, Isle of Man), Slieve Croob (179 km, Ireland), Yr Eifl (184 km, Wales).

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 (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

What you can see from Lingmell

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
53Wainwrights in view+9 marginal
84 kmFurthest sightlineSnaefell
1Sea in viewIrish Sea

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Scotland and the Isle of Man.

Far horizons
  • Snaefell Isle of ManWSW · 84 km clear
  • Criffel ScotlandNNW · 60 km clear
  • Irish Sea open waterWSW · 40 km in view
All 53 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Scafell Pike, Great End, Great Gable, Kirk Fell, Seathwaite Fell (Wainwright summit), Base Brown, Yewbarrow, Glaramara, Red Pike (Wasdale), Illgill Head, Pillar, Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), Middle Fell, Steeple, High Crag (Buttermere), Haycock, Seatallan, Buckbarrow, High Stile, High Spy, Robinson, Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Ullscarf, Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Whiteless Pike, High Tove, Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top), Wandope, Sail, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), High Seat, Grasmoor, Bleaberry Fell, Raven Crag, Grisedale Pike, Dollywaggon Pike, Nethermost Pike, Walla Crag, Helvellyn, White Side, Raise, Watson's Dodd, Stybarrow Dodd, Latrigg, Great Dodd, Clough Head, Skiddaw Little Man, Carl Side, Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Great Calva, Knott

How Lingmell’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.

Best parking to hike Lingmell

Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).

Wasdale Head (NT car park) — 3.0 km from summit (straight line)
National Trust, pay & display (free for members). The classic base for Scafell Pike, Great Gable, Kirk Fell, Yewbarrow. Fills very early.
Directions
🍺 Wasdale Head Inn
Overbeck Bridge, Wastwater (NT, free) — 4.6 km from summit (straight line)
Small free NT car park at the foot of Yewbarrow on the lakeshore road.
Directions

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.

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route route:

⛺ Seathwaite Farm Campsite (174 m)

On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.

Buses to Lingmell from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

No regular bus serves the start points for this fell — this is one for the car (or a long approach from the nearest served valley). The nearest hubs are Penrith (X4/X5 & 508), Ambleside and Windermere (555, 505, 516).

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Hazard & Incident Information for Lingmell

Hazard: High

A bold fell thrust out from Scafell Pike above Wasdale, whose northern and eastern faces fall straight from the summit as the great cliffs of Lingmell Crag — around 1,000 ft of crag with another 1,000 ft of scree below. Its eastern flank overlooks Piers Gill, a deep ravine and one of Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team's worst accident blackspots, and the popular Corridor Route to Scafell Pike skirts its head. Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.

  • Piers Gill (accident blackspot): The deep ravine of Piers Gill, below Lingmell's eastern crags, has a grim accident record: walkers descending the Corridor Route in poor visibility stray toward it and become cragfast or fall. Never try to descend the gill or its stream bed; keep well away and stay on the Corridor Route, which goes round and above the gill to Sty Head. There is no mobile phone signal at the gill, so if you are in difficulty, get back up to where you have coverage or attract attention rather than wait for a call to connect.
  • Lingmell Crag (northern & eastern faces): Crags drop directly from the summit — about 1,000 ft of cliff with 1,000 ft of scree beneath. Keep well back from the northern and eastern edges, especially in cloud or wind; the grassy top gives little warning.
  • Navigation at Lingmell col / Corridor Route: At the path junction above Lingmell col it is easy to miss the turn and carry on onto steep ground above Piers Gill. Know the junction, navigate carefully by compass in mist, and don't follow the gill downhill.
Who should attempt this fell: Lingmell is an easy grassy walk if you stay on its safe side, but it sits on seriously dangerous ground: never descend into Piers Gill, keep well back from Lingmell Crag, and take great care with the path junction at Lingmell col where people stray onto the gill's steep ground. Navigate by compass in cloud, allow for tired legs after Scafell Pike, and treat the edges as full winter terrain when iced.

Most common causes: Walkers straying off the Corridor Route into Piers Gill, especially tired and in poor visibility · Falls from or near the cliffs of Lingmell Crag · Missing the path junction at Lingmell col and ending up above the gill · Cornices and ice on the edges in winter

Local Mountain Rescue: Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team · Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team - Piers Gill, Scafell Pike · 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.

Report incorrect information

Navigating Lingmell in cloud

Straightforward

Walkable ground sits close to a lethal drop — in cloud it’s easy to walk straight onto steep ground. 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 Lingmell compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.

Other fells near Lingmell

Maps & guidebooks for Lingmell

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