505 mWainwright — Eastern Fells+3 bonus Birketts within 3 km
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.
Summit conditions on Little Mell Fell
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 42 mph, 17.3 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
44mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour
The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 41 mph times our exposure factor of 1.07. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 42 mph, before any exposure factor.
under 25
25–35
35–45
45–55
55+
The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS (opens in new tab) 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.
Rain, and the becks
Past the line
17.3mm 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 checkedcold: feels like 4 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 52 out of 100, over our in-cloud line of 20. 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
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 →
Choose the way up before the car park: these two routes start from two places, and the last two rows give the parking and bus at each route’s own start. Full maps further down.
Over Great Mell Fell and Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit)
Walked or planned
Walked by Lee, August 2023
Planned: drawn, not yet walked
Car park at the start
Aira Force (NT, paid)
Roadside parking for Watermillock Fell (free)
Bus to the start
508, 470 m walk from Matterdale, opposite Aira Force. The UB1 and UB2 run until 1 November 2026, the last day of their season.
UB1, 1.0 km walk from Horrockwood, opposite The Quiet Site. The UB2 runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season.
Times run from fast to steady pace (Naismith’s rule). Scrambling quotes each route’s own notes; “not mentioned” means they do not say, not that the ground has none. Each route’s page has its map, stages and GPX.
Distance, climb and the steepest stretch are measured from each route’s GPX track; the other grades are set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap, and each route page says which. How we check →
How hard is Little Mell Fell?
The shortest way up we hold is Gowbarrow Fell and Little Mell Fell — 15.11 km, 713 m of ascent, ~4–5¾ h. On our scale its hardest axis is distance — Hard.
All axes: length: Hard · steepness: Moderate · navigation: Moderate · terrain: Easy · exposure: Easy.
These are the route page’s grades, set by the rules on how we grade: length and steepness measured from its GPX track, the others set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap. The route page says which. How we check →
Conditions and 7-day summit forecast
Modelled for the 505 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
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.
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
Aira Force (NT, paid) — 0.3 km from the start of Gowbarrow Fell and Little Mell Fell (straight line)
The main National Trust car park at Aira Force, beside the toilets. Fees: pay and display (LDNP directory, checked August 2026). Toilets open 10am-3pm; accessible toilet 24hrs (LDNP directory, checked August 2026).
Typically full before 09:00 on fine weekends, Apr-Oct — Lee McCoy, local observation, 9 August 2026.
If it is full: Park Brow (NT, paid) (0.8 km); Round How (layby) (0.9 km)a few spaces only; A592, Gowbarrow Park shore (verge, middle) (1.0 km, 59 m up)a few spaces only; A592, Gowbarrow Park shore (verge, east) (1.5 km, 78 m up)a few spaces only
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 508, 509, UB1 and UB2 stop at Matterdale, opposite Aira Force, a 470 m walk from the start of Gowbarrow Fell and Little Mell Fell — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: distance). The UB1 and UB2 run until 1 November 2026, the last day of their season. 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; that timetable runs to 1 November 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.
Notes from the Gowbarrow Fell and Little Mell Fell route
Aira Force plunges some 65 ft through a steep, narrow gorge with sheer sides, slippery rock and stone steps, and few natural viewing points or barriers. It's a busy honeypot — keep children and dogs close, stay behind railings and back from wet edges, and don't clamber for a better view of the falls.
If you need to get off (the leg from Gowbarrow Fell): If your legs are heavy, leave out the last climb: the way back (stage 4) starts from The Hause.
Quoted from the route page: its warnings and the note for the leg that reaches Little Mell Fell.
We have not written a hazard card for this fell yet, and that is not a sign that it is low-hazard. Read the warnings on the route pages that climb it, check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected. The National Park Authority’s What to pack page, AdventureSmart’s hill walking kit list and Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s safety page are linked from our what to carry guide.
Navigating in cloud
Not graded by the model
Our terrain model finds nothing to grade on this summit, so it gives no cloud grade here — that is not a sign of easy navigation. Read this fell’s hazard notes and the route pages before a day in cloud. 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 Little Mell Fell 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.
Warnings: Aira Force plunges some 65 ft through a steep, narrow gorge with sheer sides, slippery rock and stone steps, and few natural viewing points or barriers. It's a busy honeypot — keep children and dogs close, stay behind railings and back from wet edges, and don't clamber for a better view of the falls.
Treat water from the fell before you drink it. A mapped point is not proof the water is drinkable, so carry your own or use a supply you know is safe. Never drink untreated from a beck, stream or tarn — even clear-looking hill water can carry giardia or cryptosporidium from livestock upstream and leave you seriously ill. Use a treatment method suited to what might be in the water, and follow the device’s own instructions. Boiling and ordinary filters do not make water with dissolved metals or chemicals safe: where that is possible, choose another source.
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.
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 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
The skyline as a list, 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).
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.
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 light
Almanac sunrise
Difference
Midsummer
04:36 BST ±5.0 min
04:35
+1 min
Equinox
06:16 GMT ±5.0 min
06:15
+1 min
Midwinter
08:35 GMT ±5.0 min
08:33
+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 light
Almanac sunset
Difference
Midsummer
21:48 BST ±5.0 min
21:52
-4 min
Equinox
18:27 GMT ±5.0 min
18:26
+1 min
Midwinter
15:27 GMT ±5.0 min
15:48
-21 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 Little Mell Fell
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
How the view from Little Mell Fell 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 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.
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.
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 (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.
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 pairs Little Mell Fell with Gowbarrow Fell instead, a round of about 15 km above Ullswater; it does not include Great Mell Fell.
