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399 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 Cockup

Little Cockup at 399m (1,309ft) is a Birkett top in the Back o' Skiddaw country north of the main Lakeland fells, part of the broad moorland ridge between the Caldbeck Fells and Skiddaw Forest.

399 m
Height
+6
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →
399 mBirkett — Northern (not a Wainwright summit)+6 bonus Birketts within 3 km

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

Modelled guidance for the 399 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 14° to 9°C, gusts to 23 mph, 0.1 mm of rain forecast.

Fri 11 Sep
🌦️
14° / 9°
💨 23 mph
🌧 0.1 mm (84%)
Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
16° / 10°
💨 40 mph
🌧 18.3 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
☁️
14° / 8°
💨 13 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (44%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌧️
16° / 8°
💨 32 mph
🌧 8.1 mm (88%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌦️
14° / 9°
💨 34 mph
🌧 7.8 mm (72%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
12° / 10°
💨 33 mph
🌧 2.3 mm (63%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌦️
12° / 9°
💨 38 mph
🌧 6.2 mm (82%)

Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 399 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Little Cockup at a glance

Little Cockup

Little Cockup at 399m (1,309ft) is a Birkett top in the Back o' Skiddaw country north of the main Lakeland fells, part of the broad moorland ridge between the Caldbeck Fells and Skiddaw Forest. A quiet, remote summit giving wide views across the northern fell country.

Routes up Little Cockup

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

Classifications & hill data

Birkett
399 m
Height
1,309 ft
In feet
NY 2617 3371
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Little Cockup a Wainwright?

Little Cockup is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list.

Where do you park for Little Cockup?

The nearest car park we hold is Orthwaite Bank (layby), about 1.2 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Little Cockup car park, 1.8 km out. We only look within 2.5 km, measured straight-line: over longer distances a road may cross a pass and the drive bears no relation to the line.

How hard is Little Cockup?

The shortest way up we hold is Cockup at the White Hause and other Birketts — 23.9 km, 1160 m of ascent, about 6.7 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is length — Severe.

All axes: length: Severe · steepness: Hard · exposure: Moderate · navigation: Moderate · terrain: Moderate.

Parking & buses for Little Cockup

Best parking to hike Little Cockup

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

Orthwaite Bank (layby) — 1.2 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Orthwaite Bank (0.7 km), Little Cockup (1.2 km), Cockup (1.8 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Little Cockup car park — 1.8 km from summit (straight line)
1.8 km from Little Cockup.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Peter House Farm, Bassenthwaite (roadside) — 1.9 km from summit (straight line)
Dash Falls track — Bakestall, Great Calva, Skiddaw the quiet way.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Roadside parking for Longlands Fell (free) — 2.2 km from summit (straight line)
1.1 km from Longlands Fell. Added from the 5 Aug 2026 OSM candidate review.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Longlands Fell car park — 2.2 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Longlands Fell, Lowthwaite Fell, Brae Fell and Little Sca Fell — the 'North of Skiddaw' route starts 1 m away. Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged). Fee not verified — check signage on arrival.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?

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.

Vehicles are left entirely at their owner’s risk. We list places people park; we cannot vouch for any of them. Judge it on the day: take valuables with you, leave nothing on show, and if a spot feels wrong when you get there, park somewhere else.

Getting to Little Cockup by bus

The X4 stops at Bassenthwaite, opposite High Side Farm. From there it is 2.5 km and 142 m of ascent to the start of Cockup at the White Hause and other Birketts — a walk in before the walk. Last bus: Monday to Friday 20:28 towards Workington (X4) and 18:13 towards Wigton (554) and 09:09 towards Carlisle (553); Saturday 20:43 towards Wigton (554) and 20:28 towards Workington (X4) and 18:24 towards Carlisle (553); Sunday 18:24 towards Carlisle (553) and 16:23 towards Wigton (554). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach X4 / X5
Penrith – Rheged – Threlkeld – Keswick – Braithwaite – Cockermouth – Workington
Catch it from: Penrith
Year-round, every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday between Penrith and Keswick and hourly on Sundays, from outside Penrith station. One ticket from any station on the West Coast Main Line to Keswick includes this bus: search for ‘Keswick Bus (KWK)’ when you book the train. From Penrith this is your way into Keswick and the Northern fells — Threlkeld/Scales stops serve Blencathra directly, Braithwaite serves the Coledale fells.

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

Hazards on Little Cockup

No hazard card for this fell. The usual open-fell rules apply: check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected.

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Orthwaite Bank (layby), about 1.2 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Little Cockup (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.

0.6 km WSWOrthwaite Bank348 m · Northern
1.9 km ENELowthwaite Fell509 m · Northern
2.3 km ESEBurn Tod595 m · Northern
2.3 km SCockup505 m · Northern
2.6 km EFrozen Fell625 m · Northern
2.8 km ELittle Sca Fell633 m · Northern

Routes over Little Cockup

23.91 km · ~1160 m ascent · loop · ~6.5–9 h

⬇️ Download GPX

⚠️ Warnings: The Cockup–White Hause–Little Cockup ground is pathless rough grazing and heather edge — expect fences and gates to dictate the line low down, and no trail underfoot higher up.

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. How to use this guide.

On the hill: terrain and water on Little Cockup

Terrain & access

A near-path top (about 399 m): a mapped path comes within about 234 m of the summit, with a last stretch of open ground (about 2 m of ascent, up to ~27°). The summit is on CRoW open access land.

Computed from open data, not walked — pathless ground needs confident navigation, and mapped paths, barriers and access boundaries can be incomplete. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass); Natural England CRoW Access Land; DoBIH; Copernicus GLO-30. See the terrain & access report for how this is worked out across all 144 fells.

Places to stay near this fell

Bassenfell Manor Christian Centre (opens in new tab) hostel

about 3.1 km from the start, in a straight line

Both routes off this start are ~23 km loops of 6.7-7 hours whose own warnings say the middle is trackless deep heather and pathless rough grazing. That makes wet boots the certainty, and Bassenfell is the ONLY property in the whole 4.83 km radius whose page names a drying room. It also parks 21 cars, has a ground-floor en-suite bedroom, and runs its own walking weeks - the September Walking Week 2026 blocks 14-19 September on its own availability calendar.

It is an outdoor-activity centre run by a charity, and its dining room seats seventy-five people looking straight out over Bassenthwaite Lake.

  • Drying room “Drying Room and Laundry Space to dry wet coats and shoes.”
  • Family rooms “Accommodation 68 Bed spaces in 19 Bedrooms on 3 floors. Rooms range from twin/double up to 6 people each with en-suite or a private bathroom.”
  • Evening meal “Friendly relaxed atmosphere, comfy accommodation, great food, and quality leadership are the hallmarks of our holiday weeks.”
  • Parking “Parking Car park space for up to 21 cars.”
  • Children “A wonderful venue for residential groups whether adults, children, youth or mixed ages.”

Puddleduck Cottages (opens in new tab) guest house

about 1.9 km from the start, in a straight line

The check-in window runs to ten at night, which is the single most useful arrival fact in this cluster: both routes off this start are seven-hour days over trackless heather and finishing late is the norm, not the exception. Free cots and high chairs, and a note that early arrivals can dump the car and wander, cover the other end of the day.

Worth knowing: “One dog is allowed provided all doggy rules are followed. All dog hairs should be removed before the cottage is vacated. Dogs are not allowed in bedrooms or on furniture and must not be left unattended in the cottage. Dogs MUST be on a lead in the communal courtyard”

Guests are invited to let the ducks out of their shed in the morning and keep the eggs, and the cottages were called Loft Holiday Cottages before they were named after the ducks.

  • Dogs “One dog is allowed provided all doggy rules are followed. All dog hairs should be removed before the cottage is vacated. Dogs are not allowed in bedrooms or on furniture and must not be left unattended in the cottage. Dogs MUST be on a lead in the communal courtyard”
  • Family rooms “Jemima's Cottage sleeps up to 5 in 2 bedrooms and Rebecca's Cottage sleeps up to 2 in 1 bedroom.”
  • Parking “Early arrivals can always leave their car and go for a wander or take their car and go and explore the local area.”
  • Children “Cots and high chairs are available free of charge but must be requested in advance of arrival.”

What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).

Other fells near Little Cockup