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807 mWainwright — Southern Fells+6 bonus Birketts within 3 km Fewer traps in Clag

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.

Summit conditions on Lingmell

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 4°C, gusts to 68 mph, 10.6 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

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

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 58 mph times our exposure factor of 1.27. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 68 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 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

9 out 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

10.6 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 −2 °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

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

Routes up Lingmell

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

Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route Planned, not yet walked
15.84 km · ~949 m ascent · ~4¾–6½ h · loop · 2 summits
Hard effort Severe: exposure
Park: Seathwaite Farm, Borrowdale (farm field, paid) · Bus: 78, 2.2 km walk from Seatoller, at National Trust car park

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.

Distance and climb are measured from the route’s GPX track, and the time from them by Naismith’s rule; the route page says what each grade rests on. How we check →

Is Lingmell a hard climb?

The walking is not the problem; the edge is. Lingmell is thrust out from Scafell Pike above Wasdale, and its northern and eastern faces drop straight from close to the summit as Lingmell Crag. There is no gradual slope to warn you on that side.

We usually take it as part of the Corridor Route day, 15.8 km with 949 m of ascent, which we rate Severe overall for its exposure. Treat the summit plateau with the respect the drop deserves, keep well back from the northern rim in poor visibility, and the fell itself asks nothing technical of you.

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 807 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast
Tue 27 Oct
10° / 4°
68 mph
10.6 mm (100%)
Wed 28 Oct
8° / 4°
50 mph
11.9 mm (100%)
Thu 29 Oct
8° / 6°
29 mph
1.8 mm (26%)
Fri 30 Oct
7° / 5°
27 mph
0.1 mm (31%)
Sat 31 Oct
9° / 0°
9 mph
0.0 mm (25%)
Sun 1 Nov
7° / -1°
7 mph
0.0 mm (12%)
Mon 2 Nov
6° / 0°
19 mph
0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 08:13 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for Lingmell

Parking

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

Seathwaite Farm, Borrowdale (farm field, paid) — 0.2 km from the start of Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route (straight line)
The farm’s own field, signed off the lane — £5 all day, £10 overnight, no booking needed (the farm’s own page, read 21 September 2026; its notice is still headed 2025). A different place from the free verge on the same lane, and the reason not to race for a verge space. The farm opened it to ease the parking problems in the busy period.
Directions Something changed here?
Wasdale Head village green car park (free) — 2.3 km from summit (straight line)
At Wasdale Head, about 0.3 km south of the Wasdale Head Inn; the National Trust's Pillar trail starts here and calls it the Wasdale Head Village Green car park (grid ref NY 1868 0852, read 17 October 2026). The 'Round Kirk Fell from Wasdale Head' and 'Extended Mosedale Horseshoe' routes start here; the Great Gable and Scafell Pike routes start at Lake Head, 1.3 km on foot. Added from the 5 August 2026 OSM candidate review.
Directions Something changed here?
Lake Head, Wasdale (NT, paid) — 2.8 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Great Gable, Kirk Fell and Scafell Pike — the 'Great Gable & Kirk Fell' route starts 10 m away. Also serves 'Scafell Pike from Wasdale, by Lingmell Col'. National Trust's access statement records a pay-and-display machine here (National Trust, January 2024) but does not say which payment methods it takes; the same document notes mobile reception is poor across Wasdale, so carry coins as well as a card. Compacted surface (OSM-tagged). Toilets on site. National Trust, pay & display (free for members). The classic base for Scafell Pike, Great Gable, Kirk Fell, Yewbarrow. Fills very early. Fees: £7 up to 2 hours; £8.50 up to 4 hours; £10 all day. Charges apply at all times (NT, checked August 2026). Free for NT members (checked August 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: Overbeck Bridge, Wastwater (NT, paid) (1.8 km, 110 m up); Greendale, Nether Wasdale (roadside, free) (4.9 km, 197 m up)
Wasdale Head Inn

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 77 and 78 stop at Seatoller, at National Trust car park. From there it is 2.2 km and 79 m of ascent to the start of Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: exposure) — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 20.2 km in all, with the walk. The 77 runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season. As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Keswick (78): Tuesday to Sunday 20:00. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 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 or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

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

Hazards on Lingmell

Hazard & Incident Information for Lingmell

Checked by Lee McCoy, . Draws on published material from Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team. Editorial background, not a live callout feed.

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, do not wait for a call to connect: move only if you can do so safely, and otherwise stay put and attract attention.
  • 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.

What to watch for: 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

Safety: 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 in cloud

Fewer traps in cloud

Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of walkable ground near the summit that lies close to steep ground or crag. This top is in the lowest of the index’s four bands, and a low band never means “safe”: 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 Lingmell 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 (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 Lingmell

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

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)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 Route
15.84 km · ~949 m ascent · loop · ~4¾–6½ h · Anticlockwise
Hard effort Severe: exposure
Summits: LingmellScafell Pike

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

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 — move only if you can do so safely, and otherwise make yourself seen and heard. See phone & satellite SOS. Guidance drawn from Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team’s published page on Piers Gill. 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. 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.

Route guide →

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 Lingmell

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route route:

Seathwaite Farm Campsite (174 m from the start, straight line)

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

About Lingmell

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

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, returning via Brown Tongue for a satisfying half-day round.

Classifications & hill data

Is Lingmell a Wainwright?

Lingmell is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Nuttall list, the Fellranger list and the Hewitt list.

Selected lists

Wainwright
Southern
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
Nuttall
Hewitt
807 m
Height
2,648 ft
In feet
NY 2093 0817
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 Lingmell

The 360° skyline 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
The skyline as a list, 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 Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills v18.4 (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on Lingmell

Lingmell waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls at midwinter, when the sun is up for 97 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 10:10 against an almanac sunrise of 08:33. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the south-south-east from here (152.2°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 8.21°.

0°30°40°50°60°04:33
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 lightAlmanac sunriseDifference
Midsummer04:33 BST ±5.0 min04:38-5 min
Equinox06:30 GMT ±5.0 min06:16+14 min
Midwinter10:10 GMT ±5.0 min08:33+97 min

A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean -0.1°).

Last light — when the sun leaves Lingmell

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 5 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on Lingmell.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
Last lightAlmanac sunsetDifference
Midsummer21:48 BST ±5.0 min21:53-5 min
Equinox18:33 GMT ±5.0 min18:27+6 min
Midwinter15:58 GMT ±5.0 min15:50+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 Lingmell

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
53Wainwrights in view+9 marginal
183 kmFurthest sightlineSlieve Binnian · possible under favourable refraction
1Sea in viewIrish Sea

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

Far horizons
  • Slieve Binnian Northern IrelandW · 183 km clear
  • Slieve Donard Northern IrelandW · 178 km clear
  • 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 the view from Lingmell 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 Lingmell. 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

Also nearby, but not independent

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.

Frequently asked questions about Lingmell

Is Lingmell a hard climb? Answered above.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction

Other fells near Lingmell

Places nearby: Ritson's Force · Wasdale