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Low Kop

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572 mBirkett — Far Eastern (not a Wainwright summit)+5 bonus Birketts within 3 km

Low Kop at 572m (1,877ft) is a Birkett top on Bampton Common north of Haweswater in the Far Eastern Fells, its grassy summit giving wide views across the moorland. Part of the remote moorland 1.6 km east-north-east of High Kop.

Summit conditions on Low Kop

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 11° to 5°C, gusts to 55 mph, 11.9 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.

Full 7-day summit forecast ↓

The forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Routes up Low Kop

Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.

Birketts West of Haweswater Planned, not yet walked
23.83 km · ~1336 m ascent · ~7–9½ h · loop · 8 summits
Severe effort Severe: distance
Park: Mardale Head, Haweswater (free)

High Street, Rampsgill Head, High Raise and Low Raise on the far-eastern tops — eight summits in 23.8 km with 1,336 m of climbing. Severe for length, hard for steepness and to navigate: about 7–9½ hours.

Distance and climb are measured from the route’s GPX track, and the time from them by Naismith’s rule; the route page says what each grade rests on. How we check →

How hard is Low Kop?

The shortest way up we hold is Birketts West of Haweswater — 23.83 km, 1336 m of ascent, ~7–9½ h. On our scale its hardest axis is distance — Severe.

All axes: length: Severe · steepness: Hard · navigation: Hard · terrain: Not assessed · 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 572 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast
Tue 27 Oct
11° / 5°
55 mph
11.9 mm (100%)
Wed 28 Oct
10° / 6°
38 mph
8.2 mm (100%)
Thu 29 Oct
9° / 7°
21 mph
0.5 mm (15%)
Fri 30 Oct
9° / 6°
23 mph
0.0 mm (15%)
Sat 31 Oct
11° / 0°
10 mph
0.0 mm (18%)
Sun 1 Nov
6° / 0°
7 mph
0.0 mm (12%)
Mon 2 Nov
8° / 2°
14 mph
0.0 mm (0%)

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 Low Kop

Parking

Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.

Mardale Head, Haweswater (free) — 0.1 km from the start of Birketts West of Haweswater (straight line)
Free but small and fills very early — High Street, Harter Fell, Kidsty Pike, Branstree. Five routes on this site start here, among them the 'Mardale Horseshoe' and the 'Mardale circuit'. Fees: Free parking; donation cairn with suggested £2 contribution (cash only - no mobile signal) plus a Mountain Rescue donation cairn (wildhaweswater.co.uk) (United Utilities, checked August 2026). Staying overnight in a vehicle or tent is banned here without the landowner's written consent (Westmorland and Furness Council, Public Spaces Protection Order 2026 No. 008, in force 18 March 2026). Open 24/7 (United Utilities, checked August 2026).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
If it is full: Branstree (layby) (0.2 km) a few spaces only; Branstree, north (layby) (0.8 km) a few spaces only
Burnbanks (car park) — 3.4 km from summit (straight line)
In Burnbanks, at the dam end of the Haweswater lane. The routes from the dam end start at the verge by the dam, 0.8 km away in a straight line. Fee not verified — check signage on arrival.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Gowk Hill (layby) — 3.6 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Gowk Hill (0.8 km), The Nab (1.1 km), Brownthwaite Crag (1.2 km). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged). Fee not verified — check signage on arrival.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?

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 nearest bus stop we hold is the 508 and 509 stop at Hartsop, adjacent to road end, 8.6 km of walking from the start — no bus route we hold serves it.

Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat

Hazards on Low Kop

Notes from a planned route, not walked: Birketts West of Haweswater

  • Beyond Red Crag the round is largely pathless — Gowk Hill, Low Kop and the Bampton Common crossing are trackless grass moor. A clear-weather round; bearings needed in mist.

If you need to get off (the leg from Gowk Hill): Retreat: No way down to the shore from this stage has been checked for this guide.

Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: its warnings and the note for the leg that reaches Low Kop.

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.

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, GPX and nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).

Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.

Birketts within 3 km of Low Kop

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.

1.3 km EBampton Fell (Bampton Common)489 m · Far Eastern
1.7 km EFour Stones Hill415 m · Far Eastern
2.3 km EPinnacle Howe383 m · Far Eastern
2.7 km WSWRed Crag711 m · Far Eastern
3.0 km WGowk Hill471 m · Far Eastern

Routes over Low Kop

23.83 km · ~1336 m ascent · loop · ~7–9½ h
Severe effort Severe: distance

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Warnings: Beyond Red Crag the round is largely pathless — Gowk Hill, Low Kop and the Bampton Common crossing are trackless grass moor. A clear-weather round; bearings needed in mist. High Street: Broad, flat and almost featureless, with few landmarks to fix on. In cloud it is very easy to walk off on the wrong bearing and end up above crags or descending into the wrong valley. Take a compass bearing before you leave the summit and trust it — don't navigate by the vague feel of the slope. Rampsgill Head: Ridges to The Knott/Rest Dodd, High Raise, High Street and the Straits of Riggindale all meet here over pathless, boggy ground. In mist it is easy to take the wrong arm. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the summit. High Street: The eastern rim drops in steep crags to Blea Water, the deepest tarn in the Lakes. The Long Stile ridge is the narrow, craggy crest along this edge. Keep well back from the lip in wind or mist; the ground that looks like a continuation of the plateau ends abruptly in cliffs. High Street: In winter the plateau holds snow and offers no shelter or reference points, and cornices and ice form along the crag edges above Blea Water. Whiteout navigation here is genuinely serious — full winter skills, ice axe and crampons needed, and extra margin kept from the corniced edge.

From the hazard notes for High Street · Rampsgill Head, each with its sources.

Route guide: Birketts West of Haweswater →

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 Kop

Classifications & hill data

Is Low Kop a Wainwright?

Low Kop is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.

Selected lists

572 m
Height
1,877 ft
In feet
NY 4744 1647
Grid ref

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 →

Places to stay near this fell

Also nearby, but not independent

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).

Other fells near Low Kop