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

Little Mell Fell - a panorama from the trig point over the rough grassy summit, with Ullswater's end to the left and the Helvellyn range along the skyline under grey cloud
Wainwright — Eastern FellsAlso a Birkett

Little Mell Fell

Little Mell Fell at 505m (1,657ft) is the smaller companion of Great Mell Fell, standing above the Matterdale valley with views across to Ullswater and the Eastern Fells.

505 m
Height
~1.5–2 h
Typical time
+3
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →
505 mWainwright — Eastern Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+3 bonus Birketts within 3 km Straightforward in cloud

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

Modelled guidance for the 505 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 13° to 8°C, gusts to 22 mph, 1.3 mm of rain forecast.

Fri 11 Sep
🌦️
13° / 8°
💨 22 mph
🌧 1.3 mm (100%)
Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
16° / 8°
💨 41 mph
🌧 10.0 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
☁️
13° / 7°
💨 14 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (62%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌧️
15° / 9°
💨 32 mph
🌧 7.0 mm (100%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌦️
15° / 8°
💨 35 mph
🌧 4.4 mm (89%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
12° / 9°
💨 32 mph
🌧 1.0 mm (78%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌦️
11° / 9°
💨 37 mph
🌧 4.2 mm (92%)

Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 505 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Little Mell Fell at a glance

Little Mell Fell

Little Mell Fell - a panorama from the trig point over the rough grassy summit, with Ullswater's end to the left and the Helvellyn range along the skyline under grey cloud
© Lee McCoy

Little Mell Fell at 505m (1,657ft) is the smaller companion of Great Mell Fell, standing above the Matterdale valley with views across to Ullswater and the Eastern Fells. Wainwright noted its pleasant, easy character — the short ascent from the road near Thackthwaite is straightforward and gives wide views for relatively little effort. Often combined with Great Mell Fell as a gentle dual summit circuit. The views north-east across the Eden Valley are a distinctive bonus not available from the higher Eastern Fells.

Routes up Little Mell Fell

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

Classifications & hill data

Wainwright
Eastern
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
Marilyn
505 m
Height
1,657 ft
In feet
NY 4232 2401
Grid ref

The short answers

How hard is Little Mell Fell?

The shortest way up we hold is Gowbarrow Fell and Little Mell Fell — 15.1 km, 705 m of ascent, about 4.2 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Hard.

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

My hikes over Little Mell Fell (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.

Parking & buses for Little Mell Fell

Best parking to hike Little Mell Fell

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

The Hause, Little Mell Fell (verge) — 0.4 km from summit (straight line)
Verge parking at the high point of the Watermillock road.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Roadside parking for Watermillock Fell (free) — 0.5 km from summit (straight line)
0.2 km from Watermillock Fell. Added from the 5 Aug 2026 OSM candidate review.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Great Mell Fell layby — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
Small layby at the foot of Great Mell Fell.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Bracken How car park (free) — 3.2 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Bracken How (1.5 km), Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit) (1.5 km), Round How (1.8 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Great Mell Fell (verge) — 3.3 km from summit (straight line)
1.2 km from Great Mell Fell.
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 Mell Fell by bus

The 508 stops at Matterdale, opposite Aira Force, 470 m from the start of Gowbarrow Fell and Little Mell Fell. The last bus is 18:02 towards Penrith (508) and 17:15 towards Martindale (UB1) and 15:15 towards Lowther (UB2), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 508 “Ullswater Bus”
Penrith – Pooley Bridge – Aira Force – Glenridding – Patterdale (summer services continue over Kirkstone Pass to Troutbeck and Windermere)
Catch it from: Penrith · Windermere (summer only)
The key route from Penrith for the Eastern and Far Eastern fells: Helvellyn from Glenridding, Place Fell, the Hartsop fells. The summer Kirkstone extension drops you at the pass for Red Screes and Caudale Moor.

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

Hazards on Little Mell Fell

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.

Navigating Little Mell Fell in cloud

Straightforward

A broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. 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 Little Mell Fell compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: The Hause, Little Mell Fell (verge), about 0.4 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Little Mell Fell (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.

1.2 km SLittle Meldrum404 m · Eastern
1.9 km SSWGreat Meldrum437 m · Eastern

Routes over Little Mell Fell

15.11 km · ~705 m ascent · linear · ~4–5.5 h
Summits: Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit)Little Mell Fell

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

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 Mell Fell

Water & shelter on the way up

💧 Treat water from the fell before you drink it. A mapped point is usually a tap or public supply, but never drink untreated from a beck, stream or tarn — even clear-looking hill water can carry giardia or cryptosporidium from livestock or a carcass upstream and leave you seriously ill. Run it through a filter or purifier (a LifeStraw, Sawyer Squeeze or HydraPak) or bring it to a rolling boil first.

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

The view from Little Mell Fell

The 360° skyline from Little Mell Fell

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 Little Mell Fell36 labelled tops shown (8 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWHelvellyn · 12 kmRaise · 10 kmFairfield · 14 kmBlencathra · 11 kmSkiddaw Little Man · 16 kmDollywaggon Pike · 13 kmGreat Dodd · 9 kmStybarrow Dodd · 10 kmHigh Street · 13 kmHigh Raise · 11 kmDove Crag · 14 kmGrisedale Pike · 22 kmRed Screes · 16 kmStony Cove Pike · 14 kmClough Head · 9 kmBowscale Fell · 11 kmBannerdale Crags · 10 kmLoadpot Hill · 7 kmCarrock Fell · 13 kmCalfhow Pike · 10 kmCross Fell · 28 kmHare Stones · 15 kmLord's Seat · 22 kmArthur's Pike · 5 kmSwarth Fell · 5 kmSighty Crag · 60 km · clear daysRoan Fell · 69 km · clear daysHeughscar Hill · 6 kmEycott Hill · 7 kmCalkin Rig · 65 km · clear daysKnipescar Common · 11 kmMickle Fell · 38 km · clear daysHoove · 60 km · clear daysCold Fell · 36 km · clear daysDunmallet · 4 kmLarriston Fells · 70 km · clear daysHelvellyn Lower Man · 12 kmNethermost Pike · 13 kmGategill Fell Top · 11 kmAtkinson Pike · 11 kmHart Crag · 14 kmBrim Fell · 30 kmGreen Side · 9 kmWatson's Dodd · 10 kmThornthwaite Crag · 14 kmLow Raise · 11 kmWether Hill · 8 kmTarn Crags Top · 11 kmHigh Pike · 15 kmPlace Fell · 7 kmWhinlatter Top · 23 kmHartsop Dodd · 12 kmGreat Mell Fell · 3 kmWild Boar Fell · 42 km · clear daysBonscale Pike · 5 kmGrange Fell · 61 km · clear daysBroad Law · 103 km · a rare clear dayTinto · 120 km · a rare clear dayGreen Lowther · 102 km · a rare clear dayWisp Hill · 75 km · a rare clear dayCauldcleuch Head · 77 km · a rare clear dayDun Rig · 109 km · a rare clear dayPeel Fell · 78 km · a rare clear dayBlackwood Hill · 73 km · a rare clear day
What you can see from Little Mell Fell, by direction
  • South: Low Raise (11 km), High Raise (11 km), Rampsgill Head (11 km), Kidsty Pike (12 km), High Street (13 km), Thornthwaite Crag (14 km), Stony Cove Pike (14 km), Caudale Moor (14 km), Dove Crag (14 km), Red Screes (16 km)
  • South-west: Hart Side (8 km), Great Dodd (9 km), Green Side (9 km), Stybarrow Dodd (10 km), Watson's Dodd (10 km), Raise (10 km), Catstye Cam (11 km), White Side (11 km), Gavel Pike (12 km), St Sunday Crag (12 km), Helvellyn (12 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (12 km), Nethermost Pike (13 km), High Crag (13 km), Dollywaggon Pike (13 km), Cofa Pike (14 km), Fairfield (14 km), Hart Crag (14 km), Black Sails (27 km), Brim Fell (30 km)
  • West: Blencathra (11 km), Gategill Fell Top (11 km), Knowe Crags (12 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (16 km), Skiddaw Little Man (16 km), Grisedale Pike (22 km), Hobcarton Crag (23 km), Sand Hill (24 km), Hopegill Head (24 km)
  • North-west: Atkinson Pike (11 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Broad Law (103 km, Scotland), Tinto (120 km, Scotland), Green Lowther (102 km, Scotland), White Coomb (95 km, Scotland), Queensberry (87 km, Scotland), Ettrick Pen (87 km, Scotland), Cairn Table (122 km, Scotland), Wisp Hill (75 km, Scotland).

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

Sunrise and sunset on Little Mell Fell

Little Mell Fell sits close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its longest wait of the modelled year (on 1 September) first light is only 3 minutes after almanac sunrise, so the published sunrise time is a fair guide here.

30°40°50°60°04:36
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
Midsummer04:36 BST ±5.0 min04:35+1 min
Equinox06:16 GMT ±5.0 min06:15+1 min
Midwinter08:35 GMT ±5.0 min08:33+2 min

A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean -0.18°).

Last light — when the sun leaves Little Mell Fell

Little Mell Fell loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls at midwinter, when last light is 21 minutes before almanac sunset — 15:27 against 15:48. The sun goes down to the south-west from here (224.1°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 1.91°.

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 min21:52-4 min
Equinox18:27 GMT ±5.0 min18:26+1 min
Midwinter15:27 GMT ±5.0 min15:48-21 min

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 Little Mell Fell. 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. 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 Little Mell Fell

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
61Wainwrights in view+1 marginal
30 kmFurthest sightlineGreat Dun Fell
Sea in viewnone from here
Far horizons
  • Great Dun Fell North PenninesENE · 30 km clear
  • Cross Fell North PenninesENE · 28 km clear
All 61 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

How Little Mell Fell’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.

Places to stay near this fell

Lowthwaite Bed and Breakfast (opens in new tab) guest house

about 3.9 km from the start, in a straight line

The only property in the cluster that answers the whole arrival sequence for a family: a drying room in the all-rooms facilities list, a cot and a high chair, children of all ages accepted, and an honest note that its ground-floor room is still reached by steps. It is also the only page in the radius that describes this exact walk from its own door - Gowbarrow Fell to Aira Force and back through Matterdale - and Little Mell Fell, the second summit of one of the routes this start serves, is the fell behind the house.

Most of the furniture in the rooms was made by hand in Tanzania, where the owners used to run a business organising Kilimanjaro climbs.

  • Drying room “The following are available for all rooms: Television,DVD player, Hairdryer, Tea/Coffee making facilities, Use of garden and patio, Use of guidebooks and other books, Maps (for planning and laminated for walks), Drying room, and Fridge (in the Dining Room).”
  • Family rooms “We have a cot, high chair(s) and special cutlery for small children.”
  • Parking “Another alternative is to use what3words where our car park is primed.lavished.amounting”
  • Children “Children Welcome We are very happy to welcome children of all ages.”

Low Gale (opens in new tab) self-catering

about 4.4 km from the start, in a straight line

The best answer in the cluster for a party with a dog, a small child and tired knees at once: single storey, sleeps seven, cot available, off-road parking, drying facilities and a coin laundry, with hot food available from the hotel kitchen so nobody has to drive at seven in the evening. The price of all that is a three-night minimum with fixed Friday and Monday changeover, which is why the minimum-stay line matters more here than anywhere else in this list.

The Ullswater Steamer jetty at Howtown is reached from the cottage by footpath, so the lake boat can be walked to rather than driven to.

  • Drying room “Ample storage and drying facilites Very spacious, comfortable lounge Fully fitted dining kitchen”
  • Dogs “Low Gale Ullswater is an elevated single storey, dog friendly holiday cottage located just beside Fusedale Beck and can easily accomodate 7 people.”
  • Family rooms “Cot available Dishwasher *Washing Machine 2 bathrooms 1 double bedroom 2 twin rooms 1 single room”
  • Evening meal “visitors can cook local fayre or alternatively take advantage of the dine at home meals available from the Hotel kitchen.”
  • Parking “Facilities Free Superfast Broadband Dog friendly Off road parking Smoke-free Garden / Patios Cot available Dishwasher *Washing Machine”

Worth knowing before you book

These places state on their own site that they do not take children.

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).

Frequently asked questions about Little Mell Fell

Can you walk up Little Mell Fell?

Yes — it's open access land, and the usual way is short and direct: from the Hause, the little pass on its south-west side, it's a steep 20–30 minute pull up grass to the 505 m (1,657 ft) summit. No difficulties, just a puff.

Where do you park for Little Mell Fell?

Small verge pull-offs at the Hause on the Watermillock lane — room for a handful of cars, so park considerately. There's no car park; if the verges are full, start from the Great Mell side and take both fells in one outing.

Is Little Mell Fell a Wainwright, and should you do it with Great Mell Fell?

Yes, an Eastern Fells Wainwright — and yes, pairing it with Great Mell Fell is the standard baggers' plan: two isolated grassy domes either side of the same lanes, easily done together in a half day. Our walked route links them with Gowbarrow Fell for a fuller Ullswater round.

How long does Little Mell Fell take?

Under an hour up and down from the Hause. It's grazed pasture end to end — dogs on leads — and the summit view over Ullswater's foot repays the short effort many times over.

Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-07-20 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

Other fells near Little Mell Fell