Looking Stead (Pillar)
Short entry: no route or hazard notes for this fell yet.
Looking Stead at 628m (2,059ft) is the intermediate summit on the ridge between Black Sail Pass and Pillar, a broad top giving fine views of the Ennerdale valley and the Black Sail Youth Hostel below.
Summit conditions on Looking Stead (Pillar)
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 11° to 5°C, gusts to 64 mph, 11.1 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.
The forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →
Parking & buses
Routes near Looking Stead (Pillar)
No route guide for this fell yet. The nearest route starts we publish, in a straight line from the summit:
- Extended Mosedale Horseshoe — starts 3.3 km away
- Round Kirk Fell from Wasdale Head — starts 3.3 km away
- Fleetwith Edge and Haystacks — starts 3.3 km away
Conditions and 7-day summit forecast
Modelled for the 628 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Full 7-day forecast
Taken 27 October 2026, 08:13 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)
Parking & buses for Looking Stead (Pillar)
Parking
1 more place to park near Looking Stead (Pillar)
Positions are approximate.
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 77 stops at Gatesgarth, at Mountain Rescue Point, a 40 m walk from the nearest parking for this fell. We haven’t mapped a route up it, so we can’t tell you the walk from there to the start. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. It returns on 22 March 2027. Confirmed with the operator: its last day on 29 August 2026, its return on 16 October 2026. The last bus is 18:26 towards Keswick (77), 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.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Hazards on Looking Stead (Pillar)
We have not written a hazard card for this fell yet, and that is not a sign that it is low-hazard. 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.
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.
From Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s guidance on calling them out (opens in new tab) (read 26 October 2026).
Map & nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).
Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.
Birketts within 3 km of Looking Stead (Pillar)
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
About Looking Stead (Pillar)
Classifications & hill data
Is Looking Stead (Pillar) a Wainwright?
Looking Stead (Pillar) is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Nuttall list.
Selected lists
This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.
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 →