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642 m · Birkett — Northern (not a Wainwright summit) · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Birkett — Northern (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Little Calva

Little Calva (642 m / 2,106 ft) is a Birkett (one of the 541 tops in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells), one of the lesser-known Northern tops.

642 m
Height
+8
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

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642 mBirkett — Northern (not a Wainwright summit)+8 bonus Birketts within 3 km

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

Modelled guidance for the 642 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 15° to 13°C, gusts to 34 mph, 5.8 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌧️
15° / 13°
💨 34 mph
🌧 5.8 mm (61%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
14° / 11°
💨 26 mph
🌧 14.3 mm (71%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌧️
13° / 5°
💨 31 mph
🌧 1.9 mm (76%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
14° / 2°
💨 24 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (76%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
14° / 3°
💨 15 mph
🌧 2.7 mm (55%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
15° / 2°
💨 17 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (28%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
14° / 5°
💨 15 mph
🌧 0.4 mm (22%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 642 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

Little Calva

Little Calva (642 m / 2,106 ft) is a Birkett (one of the 541 tops in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells), one of the lesser-known Northern tops. The name comes from little (Old English lytel, little or smaller). It also features on the Synge list. Its nearest tops are Great Calva (0.9 km E); Burn Tod (1.4 km N); White Hause (1.4 km NW) — it's usually taken in on a round of these neighbours. It's a worthwhile objective for anyone working through the Birkett list, or as a short extension to a bigger day on the higher neighbouring fells.

Routes up Little Calva

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

Birketts North of Skiddaw
23 km · ~7 hr
Cockup at the White Hause and other Birketts
23.9 km · ~6.7 hr
Classifications & hill data
Birkett
Synge
642 m
Height
2,106 ft
In feet
NY 2822 3148
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Peter House Farm, Bassenthwaite (roadside), about 3.5 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Little Calva (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.

1.4 km NBurn Tod595 m · Northern
1.4 km NWWhite Hause464 m · Northern
1.7 km SSWHare Crag538 m · Northern
1.8 km NNEFrozen Fell625 m · Northern
2.3 km WCockup505 m · Northern
2.7 km SWBroad End832 m · Northern
2.8 km NNELittle Sca Fell633 m · Northern
2.9 km SSale How666 m · Northern

Routes over Little Calva

Birketts North of SkiddawPlanned
23.02 km · ~1434 m ascent · loop · ~7–9.5 h
Summits: BakestallSkiddawSkiddaw Middle TopSkiddaw South TopSale HowHare CragGreat CalvaFrozen FellLittle Calva

⬇️ Download GPX

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.

Cockup at the White Hause and other BirkettsPlanned
23.91 km · ~1160 m ascent · loop · ~6.5–9 h
Summits: Little CockupGreat CockupGreat Sca FellKnottBurn TodLittle CalvaWhite HauseCockupWatches

⬇️ Download GPX

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.

Best parking to hike Little Calva

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

Peter House Farm, Bassenthwaite (roadside) — 3.5 km from summit (straight line)
Dash Falls track — Bakestall, Great Calva, Skiddaw the quiet way.
Directions
Gale Road / Latrigg top (free) — 6.3 km from summit (straight line)
Free car park at the road end behind Latrigg — shortest way up Skiddaw via Jenkin Hill.
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 Birketts North of Skiddaw route:

🛖 map (4 m)

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

Buses to Little Calva 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.

Other fells near Little Calva

Maps & guidebooks for Little Calva

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