435 m · Birkett — Western (not a Wainwright summit) · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.
At 435 m (1,427 ft), Low Pen is a Birkett (one of the 541 tops in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells) in the North Western Fells — an overlooked summit away from the crowds.
Modelled guidance for the 435 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Sat 12 Sep): 15° to 9°C, gusts to 48 mph, 27.2 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 12 Sep 2026, 18:50 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 435 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Low Pen is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list.
The nearest car park we hold is Kelton Fell, west (layby), about 1.9 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Kelton Fell (layby), 1.9 km out. We only look within 2.5 km, measured straight-line: over longer distances a road may cross a pass and the drive bears no relation to the line.
The shortest way up we hold is Birketts by Loweswater — 18.7 km, 995 m of ascent, about 5.4 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is navigation — Hard.
All axes: navigation: Hard · steepness: Hard · length: Hard · exposure: Moderate · terrain: Moderate.
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.
The 77 stops at Lanthwaite Green Farm (opp). From there it is 3.3 km and 118 m of ascent to the start of Birketts by Loweswater — a walk in before the walk. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day, and it is not daily before then — a bus on 31 of the 56 days from 7 September. We don’t know when it returns. Confirmed with the operator, 29 August 2026. The last bus is 18:03 towards Keswick (77), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 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.
No hazard card for this fell. The usual open-fell rules apply: check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected.
Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: Kelton Fell, west (layby), about 1.9 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
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.
✎️ Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet.
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.
about 0.9 km from the start, in a straight line
Foulsyke was a 16th-century manor house; the three cottages are its former barn and stables, and you reach the courtyard through an arched carriage entrance dated 1797.
What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).