Lonscale Fell
Lonscale Fell at 715m (2,346ft) is the eastern shoulder of Skiddaw above the River Glenderaterra, giving fine views of the Blencathra massif and east across the Northern Fells.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 715 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Sat 12 Sep): 13° to 6°C, gusts to 41 mph, 18.0 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 12 Sep 2026, 15:36 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 715 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
Lonscale Fell at a glance
Lonscale Fell
Routes up Lonscale Fell
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
My hikes over Lonscale Fell (Strava)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Lesser Man, Skiddaw and Bakestall in the sun! (opens in new tab) — 19.2 km · 980 m ascent · 4h 56m moving · 29 Jun 2025
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Parking & buses for Lonscale Fell
Best parking to hike Lonscale 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.
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 Lonscale Fell by bus
The 509 stops at Keswick, at Latrigg Close. From there it is 2.6 km and 330 m of ascent to the start of Up to Skiddaw Round Trip — a walk in before the walk. Last bus: Monday to Friday 21:15 towards Keswick (555); Saturday 21:15 towards Keswick (555); Sunday 19:06 towards Keswick (555). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 8 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
Hazards on Lonscale Fell
Hazard & Incident Information for Lonscale Fell
The eastern outpost of Skiddaw, mostly easy grass — but with one striking feature: its east face plunges in a mile-long scarp of crags to Glenderaterra Beck, with the sharp little east top (Lonscale Pike) perched above the drop. On the safe western side it's a gentle walk; the hazards are keeping clear of that eastern edge and navigating the broad ground in hill fog. Keswick Mountain Rescue Team covers this Skiddaw ground.
- The eastern crag scarp above Glenderaterra: The east face is a long line of crags falling steeply to Glenderaterra, and Lonscale Pike sits right on the edge. Keep well back from the eastern rim, especially in wind or cloud, and take care if visiting the airy east top.
- Navigation in hill fog: In clear weather the route is easy, but the broad grassy ground needs competent map-and-compass work in cloud to avoid drifting toward the eastern edge or onto the wrong line. Take a bearing before moving.
- The Cumbria Way's craggy east flank: The Cumbria Way traverses the steep, craggy eastern flank above Glenderaterra — narrow and exposed in places. Take care with footing there, particularly when wet or windy.
Most common causes: Walkers straying toward the eastern crag edge or the exposed east top in cloud · Navigation errors on the broad grassy ground in hill fog · Slips on the exposed traverse of the eastern flank · Winter ice on the eastern edge and steep flank
Local Mountain Rescue: Keswick Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab) · Reviewed 14 Jun 2026
Safety: Hazard guidance compiled from published Mountain Rescue reports and well-documented accident history - editorial background, not a live feed of callouts. Always check current conditions, carry proper navigation equipment, and seek qualified instruction before heading onto the fells. In an emergency, call 999, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.
Navigating Lonscale 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 Lonscale 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
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: Latrigg car park, about 1.8 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Lonscale 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 Lonscale Fell
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this 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 Lonscale Fell
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Lesser Man, Skiddaw and Bakestall in the sun! route:
On the Up to Skiddaw Round Trip route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
The view from Lonscale Fell
The 360° skyline from Lonscale 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 Lonscale Fell, by direction
- East: Knowe Crags (3 km), Blencathra (4 km), Atkinson Pike (4 km)
- South-east: Great Dodd (9 km), Stybarrow Dodd (10 km), Raise (11 km), White Side (12 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (13 km), Catstye Cam (13 km), Helvellyn (13 km), High Raise (21 km), High Street (22 km)
- South: Great End (20 km), Esk Pike (20 km), Lingmell (20 km), Broad Crag (21 km), Ill Crag (21 km), Scafell Pike (21 km), Bowfell (21 km), Scafell (22 km), Shelter Crags (22 km), Crinkle Crags (22 km), Crinkle Crags (22 km), Crinkle Crags (22 km), Crinkle Crags (23 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (23 km)
- South-west: Crag Hill (12 km), Eel Crag (12 km), Grasmoor (13 km), High Stile (17 km), High Stile (17 km), Great Gable (18 km), Pillar (19 km), Steeple (20 km), Scoat Fell (20 km)
- North-west: Skiddaw South Top (3 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (3 km), Skiddaw (3 km), Skiddaw North Top (3 km), Broad End (4 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Slieve Donard (190 km, Ireland), The Cheviot (112 km, England), Windlestraw Law (116 km, Scotland), Tinto (112 km, Scotland), Slieve Croob (188 km, Ireland), Green Lowther (93 km, Scotland), Divis (188 km, Ireland), White Coomb (89 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 Lonscale Fell
Lonscale Fell sits close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its longest wait of the modelled year (on 1 April) first light is only 15 minutes after almanac sunrise, so the published sunrise time is a fair guide here.
| First light | Almanac sunrise | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 04:30 BST ±5.0 min | 04:36 | -6 min |
| Equinox | 06:29 GMT ±5.0 min | 06:15 | +14 min |
| Midwinter | 08:34 GMT ±5.0 min | 08:34 | — |
A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean -0.23°).
Last light — when the sun leaves Lonscale Fell
Lonscale Fell loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when last light is 37 minutes before almanac sunset — 21:16 against 21:53. The sun goes down to the north-west from here (307.6°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 3.72°.
| Last light | Almanac sunset | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 21:16 BST ±5.0 min | 21:53 | -37 min |
| Equinox | 18:32 GMT ±5.0 min | 18:26 | +6 min |
| Midwinter | 15:52 GMT ±5.0 min | 15:48 | +4 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 Lonscale 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 Lonscale Fell
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.- Solway Firth bay/estuary
- Irish Sea open water
All 101 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Skiddaw Little Man, Latrigg, Skiddaw, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Great Calva, Bakestall, High Rigg (Naddle Fell), Knott, Bowscale Fell, Walla Crag, Clough Head, Barf, Bleaberry Fell, Barrow, Lord's Seat, Cat Bells (Catbells), High Pike (Caldbeck), Carrock Fell, Raven Crag, Great Dodd, Broom Fell, Watson's Dodd, High Seat, Causey Pike, Outerside, Whinlatter (Brown How - Whinlatter), Grisedale Pike, Stybarrow Dodd, Scar Crags, Maiden Moor, Hart Side, Sail, Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Hopegill Head, Raise, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top), White Side, Castle Crag, High Spy, Wandope, Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Hindscarth, Catstye Cam, Grasmoor, Robinson, Helvellyn, Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit), Dale Head, Little Mell Fell, Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, Ullscarf, Eagle Crag, Fellbarrow - Mosser Fell, Place Fell, Sergeant's Crag, Grey Knotts, Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), High Crag (Buttermere), Base Brown, High Stile, Glaramara, Red Pike (Buttermere), Beda Fell (Beda Head), High Raise (High White Stones), Green Gable, Seathwaite Fell (Wainwright summit), Steel Knotts (Pikeawassa - Steel Knotts), Bonscale Pike, Sergeant Man, Great Gable, Burnbank Fell, Arthur's Pike, Pillar, Kirk Fell, Allen Crags, Great End, Pike of Stickle, Rossett Pike, Wether Hill, Steeple, Esk Pike, Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), Lingmell, Scafell Pike, Bowfell, High Raise (High Street), Rampsgill Head, Haycock, Scafell, High Street, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Loughrigg Fell, Pike of Blisco, Cold Pike, Wetherlam, Great Carrs, Swirl How, Grey Friar, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Dow Crag
How Lonscale 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
From Underscar: 10 places in Keswick
Frequently asked questions about Lonscale Fell
How hard is Lonscale Fell?
Easy for its height, if you take the standard line. At 715 m it is a substantial fell, but the usual approach from the Gale Road car park above Keswick starts you high — you are already most of the way up before you begin — and the walking is on grass and clear tracks. Lonscale Pike, the eastern top, is the exception: it is a genuinely airy little edge above the Glenderaterra, and worth respecting in wind or poor visibility, though it is easily avoided.
What is the easiest route up Lonscale Fell?
From the Gale Road / Latrigg top car park, which sits about 1.8 km away and high on the hillside already. From there the broad path towards Skiddaw contours below the fell and a short pull left gains the summit — the shortest honest way up. Our walked round takes it in with Skiddaw and Bakestall over 19.3 km and 1,116 m of ascent (about 5 hours 40), which is a full day; Lonscale Fell alone is a fraction of that.
Where do you park for Lonscale Fell?
Gale Road (Latrigg top) is much the closest and the reason this fell is so accessible — free, and already high. It is small and fills early. The roadside parking below Latrigg and the paid car parks in Keswick are the fallbacks, at the cost of extra climbing. Full details are in the parking panel on this page.
Is Lonscale Fell a Wainwright, and how high is it?
Yes — Lonscale Fell is one of the Northern Fells in Wainwright's book, and it stands at 715 m. It is also a Birkett and a Nuttall. Despite that respectable height it is one of the quieter tops in the area, because almost everyone walking from Gale Road is heading for Skiddaw instead.
Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-08-08 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)