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509 m · Birkett — Northern (not a Wainwright summit) · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Birkett — Northern (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Lowthwaite Fell

Lowthwaite Fell at 509m (1,670ft) is a Birkett top in the remote Back o' Skiddaw country north of the main Lakeland fells, its open moorland summit giving wide views across the Caldbeck Fells and north towards the Solway.

509 m
Height
+6
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →

Home › Fells › Lowthwaite Fell

Written and walked by Lee McCoy

509 mBirkett — Northern (not a Wainwright summit)+6 bonus Birketts within 3 km

Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast

Modelled guidance for the 509 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 12° to 10°C, gusts to 31 mph, 1.9 mm of rain forecast.

Fri 11 Sep
🌦️
12° / 10°
💨 31 mph
🌧 1.9 mm (90%)
Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
15° / 9°
💨 48 mph
🌧 20.3 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
🌦️
13° / 8°
💨 19 mph
🌧 0.1 mm (48%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌧️
15° / 7°
💨 32 mph
🌧 8.1 mm (84%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌦️
14° / 8°
💨 34 mph
🌧 7.8 mm (75%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
11° / 9°
💨 33 mph
🌧 2.3 mm (57%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌦️
11° / 9°
💨 38 mph
🌧 6.2 mm (74%)

Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 509 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Lowthwaite Fell at a glance

Lowthwaite Fell

Lowthwaite Fell at 509m (1,670ft) is a Birkett top in the remote Back o' Skiddaw country north of the main Lakeland fells, its open moorland summit giving wide views across the Caldbeck Fells and north towards the Solway. Part of the broad, rolling fell country typical of this little-visited northern area.

Routes up Lowthwaite Fell

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

A quiet Birkett
13 km · ~3.6 hr
Three low tops on the empty northern edge of the fells — Green How, Lowthwaite Fell and Longlands Fell — in a 13 km round with 587 m of climbing. No stage averages steeper than about 6%, and it is easy for exposure: about 3.6 hours of quiet walking.
North of Skiddaw
13.2 km · ~3.8 hr
Eight tops in the quiet grassy country north of Skiddaw — Longlands Fell, Brae Fell, the two Sca Fells, Meal Fell and Great Cockup among them. Gentle underfoot and rarely busy, but nearly a fifth of the line is featureless ground where a compass earns its keep.

Classifications & hill data

Birkett
Synge
509 m
Height
1,670 ft
In feet
NY 2783 3474
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Lowthwaite Fell a Wainwright?

Lowthwaite Fell is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.

Where do you park for Lowthwaite Fell?

The nearest car park we hold is Longlands Fell car park, about 1.7 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Roadside parking for Longlands Fell (free), 1.7 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.

How hard is Lowthwaite Fell?

The shortest way up we hold is A quiet Birkett — 13 km, 587 m of ascent, about 3.6 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Hard.

All axes: steepness: Hard · navigation: Moderate · terrain: Moderate · length: Moderate · exposure: Easy.

My hikes over Lowthwaite Fell (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.

Parking & buses for Lowthwaite Fell

Best parking to hike Lowthwaite Fell

Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).

Longlands Fell car park — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Longlands Fell, Lowthwaite Fell, Brae Fell and Little Sca Fell — the 'North of Skiddaw' route starts 1 m away. Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged). Fee not verified — check signage on arrival.
Directions Something changed here?
Roadside parking for Longlands Fell (free) — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
1.1 km from Longlands Fell. Added from the 5 Aug 2026 OSM candidate review.
Directions Something changed here?
Little Cockup car park — 2.4 km from summit (straight line)
1.8 km from Little Cockup.
Directions Something changed here?
Green How (layby) — 3.1 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Green How - Aughertree Fell (0.5 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Orthwaite Bank (layby) — 3.2 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Orthwaite Bank (0.7 km), Little Cockup (1.2 km), Cockup (1.8 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?

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 Lowthwaite Fell by bus

The nearest bus stop we hold is the X4 at Castle Inn (stop 6), 5.3 km of walking from the start — not realistically reachable without a car.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Hazards on Lowthwaite Fell

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.

Map & nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.

Nearest parking: Longlands Fell car park, about 1.7 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Lowthwaite 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.

1.2 km ESELittle Sca Fell633 m · Northern
1.8 km SSEFrozen Fell625 m · Northern
1.9 km SSEBurn Tod595 m · Northern
1.9 km WSWLittle Cockup399 m · Northern
2.5 km WSWOrthwaite Bank348 m · Northern
2.7 km ESEMiller Moss (Little Lingy Hill)610 m · Northern

Routes over Lowthwaite Fell

A quiet BirkettPlanned
12.99 km · ~587 m ascent · loop · ~3.5–5 h
Summits: Green How - Aughertree FellLowthwaite FellLonglands Fell

⬇️ Download GPX

⚠️ Warnings: The Longlands and Lowthwaite section is faint-trod heather and grass — about a third of the route follows drawn lines where no clear track exists. Bearings country in poor visibility.

Full route guide ↗

✎️ 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.

North of SkiddawRevised
13.22 km · ~707 m ascent · loop · ~3.5–5 h
Summits: Longlands FellLowthwaite FellBrae FellLittle Sca FellGreat Sca FellMeal FellGreat CockupOrthwaite Bank

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.

Places to stay near this fell

Woodlands Country House & Cottage guest house

about 4.3 km from the start, in a straight line

Ranked first on usefulness rather than distance. It is the only property in the whole 3-mile radius that serves both a cooked breakfast and an evening meal on site - everything else here is self-catering, a closing hotel, or a group centre. For a party where one person walks the Uldale fells and the rest do not, that combination plus a dedicated Family Friendly page and a dog-welcoming cottage answers more questions than any nearer option. Its own outlook quote names Binsey and Caldbeck, i.e. it faces this walk.

A former Victorian rectory in Ireby, now a licensed B&B with its own restaurant, looking out over Skiddaw, Binsey and the Caldbeck pastures - the same block of fells this route crosses.

  • Family rooms “Woodlands Cottage sleeps 3 in a double and single”
  • Evening meal “Our restaurant, lounge, bar and gardens are open to non-residents too; please see our Dine page for more details.”
  • Children “The House The Cottage Dine Family Friendly Greener Tourism Celebrations”

Bassenfell Manor Christian Centre hostel

about 4.6 km from the start, in a straight line

The only property in the entire radius with a drying room, and it says exactly what it is for: space to dry wet coats and shoes. It is also the only one publishing a hard parking number (21 cars), the only one with a stated accessible ground-floor en-suite bedroom, and the only one that organises fell walking itself. For a soaked party coming off Longlands and Lowthwaite in November this is the practical answer, and a family of five can have one room.

They run their own guided walking weeks from the house - a Bassenfell Walking Week runs 14-19 September 2026, and the site keeps a Past Walking Routes page. The dining room seats 75 looking straight out over Bassenthwaite Lake.

  • Drying room “Drying Room and Laundry Space to dry wet coats and shoes.”
  • Family rooms “68 Bed spaces in 19 Bedrooms on 3 floors. Rooms range from twin/double up to 6 people each with en-suite or a private bathroom.”
  • Evening meal “Kitchen Fully equipped to cater for 75”
  • Parking “Parking Car park space for up to 21 cars.”
  • Children “A wonderful venue for residential groups whether adults, children, youth or mixed ages.”

Puddle Duck Cottages guest house

about 4.0 km from the start, in a straight line

The strongest evidenced option in this radius for a family with small children: free cots and high chairs, a stream and swings and a village green named as the things children actually do here, and the only property that tells you to pack wellingtons. Tumble dryers on site matter after a wet day on Longlands. Ranked below Bassenfell only because the laundry is not a drying room and there is no evening meal on site.

The cottages were formerly called Loft Holiday Cottages, and guests are invited to let the resident puddle ducks out of their shed each morning and collect the eggs.

  • Dogs “One dog is allowed provided all doggy rules are followed.”
  • Family rooms “Cots and high chairs are available free of charge but must be requested in advance of arrival.”
  • Children “Children often enjoy playing in the stream, the small open wood or on the swings by the cottages and on the village green”

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.

Other fells near Lowthwaite Fell