423 mWainwright — Western Fells+6 bonus Birketts within 3 km Fewer traps in Clag
Low Fell at 423m (1,386ft) above Loweswater is a delightful, craggy little fell giving outstanding views of Loweswater lake and the Grasmoor group above.
Summit conditions on Low Fell
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 13° to 7°C, gusts to 53 mph, 3.3 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
47mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour
The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 45 mph times our exposure factor of 1.05. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 53 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.
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; rain: 3.3 mm in the day, under our 6 mm line. 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 Sourfoot Fell, Smithy Fell and Fellbarrow - Mosser Fell
Over Sourfoot Fell, Smithy Fell, Fellbarrow - Mosser Fell and Hatteringill Head - Whin Fell
Walked or planned
Planned: drawn, not yet walked
Planned: drawn, not yet walked
Car park at the start
Maggie's Bridge, Loweswater (NT, paid)
unnamed layby west of Darling Fell
Bus to the start
77, 3.2 km walk from Lanthwaite Green Farm (opposite). Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day.
77, 4.8 km walk from Lanthwaite Green Farm (opposite). Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day.
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 Low Fell?
The shortest way up we hold is Birketts North of Loweswater — 10.58 km, 655 m of ascent, ~3–4½ h. On our scale its hardest axes are steepness, terrain and navigation — Hard.
All axes: steepness: Hard · terrain: Hard · navigation: Hard · length: Moderate · exposure: Not assessed.
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 423 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
If it is full: Car park for Loweswater Fell (free) (1.0 km, 38 m up); Lanthwaite Wood, Crummock Water (NT, paid) (1.7 km, 61 m up); Darling Fell (layby) (2.9 km, 141 m up)
Darling Fell, west (layby) — 0.1 km from the start of Birketts North of Loweswater (straight line)
Beside the road on the north side of Loweswater. The nearest route start is 'Birketts North of Loweswater', 0.1 km on foot. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Darling Fell, south-west (layby) — 1.3 km from summit (straight line)
By the north shore of Loweswater, off the lane along it. The nearest route start is 'Birketts North of Loweswater', 0.7 km on foot. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Car park for Loweswater Fell (free) — 1.6 km from summit (straight line)
In Loweswater village, beside the road through it. The nearest route starts are at Maggie's Bridge, among them 'Loweswater circuit', 1.0 km on foot. Added from the 5 August 2026 OSM candidate review.
Lanthwaite Wood, Crummock Water (NT, paid) — 1.6 km from summit (straight line)
By Crummock Water, distinct from Lanthwaite Green further up the valley. Fees: pay and display (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked August 2026).
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 Lanthwaite Green Farm (opposite). From there it is 3.2 km and 121 m of ascent to the start of Around Loweswater to Fellbarrow and Low Fell — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: steepness) — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 17.3 km in all, with the walk.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. As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Keswick (77): Tuesday to Sunday 18:03. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 from Windermere/Ambleside or X4/X5 from Penrith)
Seasonal (Summer 2026 timetable: 23 March to 1 November 2026). Brilliant for the North Western fells: Catbells, Dale Head from Honister, the Buttermere fells and Whinlatter.
Notes from a planned route, not walked: Around Loweswater to Fellbarrow and Low Fell
If you need to get off (the leg from the start): If the ascent proves too much, the retreat is to carefully retrace your steps straight back down the grassy eastern slope to the valley; never attempt to bail out to the west, as the ground plummets over formidable, hidden crags towards the lake.
Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: the note for the leg that reaches Low 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
Fewer traps in cloud
Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of walkable ground near the summit that lies close to steep ground or crag. This top is in the lowest of the index’s four bands, and a low band never means “safe”: 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 Low 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.
A planned line, drawn from the map; not yet walked. Its heights come from a terrain model, not a GPS recording, because the drawn line carried none. It shares the ridge from Low Fell to Fellbarrow with our walk round Loweswater to Fellbarrow and Low Fell, but starts on the north side of the lake and adds Darling Fell, Low Fell’s south top and Hatteringill Head.
Warnings: OpenStreetMap maps the edge of Raven Crag within about 6 m of the line for about 100 m north of Low Fell’s top, near 3.9 km. This line crosses Crabtree Beck (about 2.85 km) and Mosser Beck (about 8.25 km) where OpenStreetMap marks fords, and Whittern Gill (about 8.85 km); none has been checked on the ground. River crossings in spate: Crossing water in spate.
Every line here is a guide, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate for yourself and carry a map and compass. How to use this guide.
About Low Fell
Photo: Michael Graham, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Wainwright included it in his Western Fells guide, and the view of Loweswater from the summit crags is the reason to come. The ascent from Loweswater village is short and rewarding.
Classifications & hill data
Is Low Fell a Wainwright?
Low Fell is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Fellranger list and the Marilyn list.
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 Low Fell
The 360° skyline from Low 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
North-east: Skiddaw South Top (14 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (14 km), Skiddaw (14 km), Skiddaw North Top (14 km), Broad End (14 km), Great Sca Fell (19 km)
East: Whiteside (3 km), Ladyside Pike (5 km), Hopegill Head (5 km), Eel Crag (6 km), Grisedale Pike (6 km), Skiddaw Little Man (14 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (14 km), Jenkin Hill (14 km), Blencathra (19 km), Atkinson Pike (20 km)
South-east: Grasmoor (4 km), Whiteless Pike (6 km), High Stile (8 km), Robinson (9 km), High Crag (10 km), Grey Knotts (13 km), Brandreth (13 km), Green Gable (14 km), Great Gable (14 km), Combe Head (16 km), Glaramara (16 km), Looking Steads (16 km), Great End (17 km), Broad Crag (17 km), Ill Crag (18 km), Bowfell (19 km)
South: Red Pike (8 km), High Stile (8 km), Steeple (11 km), Black Crag (11 km), Scoat Fell (11 km), Little Gowder Crag (12 km), Caw Fell (12 km), Haycock (12 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Slieve Donard (174 km, Ireland), Merrick (95 km, Scotland), Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (93 km, Scotland), Cairnsmore of Fleet (78 km, Scotland), Corserine (91 km, Scotland), Lamachan Hill (89 km, Scotland), Slieve Croob (173 km, Ireland), White Coomb (92 km, Scotland).
Low Fell waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 November, when the sun is up for 44 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 08:00 against an almanac sunrise of 07:16. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the east-south-east from here (123.4°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 5.1°.
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
04:39 BST ±5.0 min
04:37
+2 min
Equinox
06:44 GMT ±5.0 min
06:16
+28 min
Midwinter
08:50 GMT ±5.0 min
08:34
+16 min
A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean -0.22°).
Last light — when the sun leaves Low Fell
Low Fell loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls at midwinter, when last light is 20 minutes before almanac sunset — 15:30 against 15:50. The sun goes down to the south-west from here (224.4°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 1.77°.
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
21:55 BST ±5.0 min
21:54
+1 min
Equinox
18:32 GMT ±5.0 min
18:27
+5 min
Midwinter
15:30 GMT ±5.0 min
15:50
-20 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 Low Fell
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
42Wainwrights in view+7 marginal
179 kmFurthest sightlineSlieve Binnian · possible under favourable refraction
2Sea in viewIrish Sea, Solway Firth
On the clearest days the view reaches across to Scotland and Northern Ireland.
How the view from Low 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 Low 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).
