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.
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 (Tue 28 Jul): 17° to 14°C, gusts to 32 mph, 0.9 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 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.
About the walk
Little Mell Fell
Routes up Little Mell Fell
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Map & nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: The Hause, Little Mell Fell (verge), about 0.6 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.
Routes over Little Mell Fell
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass.
The View 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.
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.
What you can see from Little Mell Fell
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.- Great Dun Fell North Pennines
- Cross Fell North Pennines
All 61 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit), Great Mell Fell, Hallin Fell, Arthur's Pike, Bonscale Pike, Steel Knotts (Pikeawassa - Steel Knotts), Loadpot Hill, Beda Fell (Beda Head), Place Fell, Hart Side, Glenridding Dodd, Sheffield Pike, Wether Hill, Souther Fell, Great Dodd, The Nab, Clough Head, Angletarn Pikes (Angletarn Pikes North Top), Stybarrow Dodd, Watson's Dodd, Birkhouse Moor, Bannerdale Crags, Raise, Rest Dodd, Brock Crags (Wainwright), Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Birks, High Raise (High Street), Catstye Cam, Bowscale Fell, White Side, Rampsgill Head, The Knott (High Street), Kidsty Pike, St Sunday Crag, Helvellyn, Hartsop Dodd, Gray Crag, Nethermost Pike, Carrock Fell, Hartsop Above How (Gill Crag - Hartsop Above How), High Street, Dollywaggon Pike, Fairfield, Hart Crag, Thornthwaite Crag, Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), Lonscale Fell, Dove Crag, Latrigg, Seat Sandal, High Pike (Caldbeck), Red Screes, Skiddaw Little Man, Barf, Lord's Seat, Grisedale Pike, Broom Fell, Whinlatter (Brown How - Whinlatter), Hopegill Head, Brim Fell
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.
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).
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 Gowbarrow Fell and️ Little Mell Fell route:
💧 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.
Buses to Little Mell Fell 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 (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
My hikes over Little Mell Fell (Strava)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- A couple more Wainwrights with the kids. (opens in new tab) — 14.5 km · 666 m ascent · 4h 02m moving · 28 Aug 2023
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Navigating Little Mell Fell in cloud
StraightforwardA 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.
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
- Arnison Crag
- Birkhouse Moor
- Birks
- Catstye Cam
- Clough Head
- Dollywaggon Pike
- Dove Crag
- Fairfield
- Glenridding Dodd
- Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit)
- Great Dodd
- Great Mell Fell
- Great Rigg
- Hart Crag
- Hart Side
- Hartsop Above How (Gill Crag - Hartsop Above How)
- Helvellyn
- Heron Pike (Rydal)
- High Hartsop Dodd
- High Pike (Scandale)
- Little Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top)
- Low Pike
- Middle Dodd
- Nab Scar
- Nethermost Pike
- Raise
- Red Screes
- Seat Sandal
- Sheffield Pike
- St Sunday Crag
- Stone Arthur
- Stybarrow Dodd
- Watson's Dodd
- White Side
Maps & guidebooks for Little Mell Fell
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