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654 m · Wainwright — Eastern Fells · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Middle Dodd - a grassy top looking across to the broad green bulk of higher fells, low cloud brushing the tops
Wainwright — Eastern FellsAlso a Birkett

Middle Dodd

Middle Dodd at 654m (2,146ft) is the grassy ridge between Red Screes and Little Hart Crag above the Kirkstone Pass, its open summit giving fine views of the pass road and the Hartsop valley below.

654 m
Height
~3–4 h
Typical time
+3
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › Middle Dodd

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

654 mWainwright — Eastern Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+3 bonus Birketts within 3 km Straightforward in cloud

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

Modelled guidance for the 654 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 15° to 13°C, gusts to 41 mph, 14.2 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌧️
15° / 13°
💨 41 mph
🌧 14.2 mm (100%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
15° / 11°
💨 33 mph
🌧 3.9 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
13° / 4°
💨 27 mph
🌧 0.9 mm (78%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
14° / 2°
💨 24 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (78%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
14° / 3°
💨 15 mph
🌧 3.0 mm (54%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
16° / 4°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (24%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
16° / 5°
💨 12 mph
🌧 0.2 mm (23%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 654 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

About the walk

Key information

Middle Dodd

Middle Dodd - a grassy top looking across to the broad green bulk of higher fells, low cloud brushing the tops
© Lee McCoy

Middle Dodd at 654m (2,146ft) is the grassy ridge between Red Screes and Little Hart Crag above the Kirkstone Pass, its open summit giving fine views of the pass road and the Hartsop valley below. Wainwright included it as a separate fell, noting the pleasant ridge walking above the Kirkstone Pass. Most naturally reached from Hartsop as part of the circuit including Red Screes and Little Hart Crag. A quiet corner of the Eastern Fells above one of Lakeland's most dramatic road passes.

Routes up Middle Dodd

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

Middle Dodd Little Hart Crag and High Hartsop Dodd
10.4 km · ~3.4 hr
Classifications & hill data
Wainwright
Eastern
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
654 m
Height
2,146 ft
In feet
NY 3973 0957
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Kirkstone Pass (laybys / inn), about 1.6 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Middle Dodd (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.

1.5 km SESt Raven's Edge593 m · Far Eastern
1.6 km ENECaudale Moor - John Bell's Banner755 m · Far Eastern
2.9 km NGale Crag512 m · Eastern

Routes over Middle Dodd

Middle Dodd Little Hart Crag and High Hartsop DoddRevised
10.42 km · ~795 m ascent · loop · ~3–4.5 h
Summits: Middle DoddLittle Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top)High Hartsop Dodd

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

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

The View from Middle Dodd

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
Computed 360-degree skyline from Middle Dodd31 labelled tops shown (5 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWScafell Pike · 18 kmHelvellyn · 8 kmHigh Crag · 7 kmFairfield · 4 kmBlencathra · 20 kmCrinkle Crags · 16 kmStybarrow Dodd · 11 kmSt Sunday Crag · 5 kmHigh Raise · 6 kmThe Old Man of Coniston · 17 kmSwirl How · 15 kmDove Crag · 2 kmIll Bell · 4 kmCaudale Moor · 2 kmLittle Stand · 16 kmKentmere Pike · 7 kmRed Crag · 8 kmYoke · 5 kmLoadpot Hill · 10 kmTarn Crags Top · 22 kmPlace Fell · 7 kmHarter Fell · 20 kmCommon Fell · 11 kmGreat Mell Fell · 16 kmRed Screes · 1 kmIngleborough · 49 km · clear daysWard's Stone · 54 km · clear daysSt Raven's Edge · 2 kmAngletarn Pikes · 6 kmBrock Crags · 4 kmCapple Howe · 8 kmBowfell · 16 kmNethermost Pike · 7 kmGreat Dodd · 12 kmBirkett Fell · 11 kmRest Dodd · 5 kmLittle Carrs · 15 kmLittle Hart Crag · 1 kmHartsop Dodd · 3 kmBrown Hills · 10 kmWrynose Fell · 13 kmBonscale Pike · 12 kmBeda Fell · 8 kmHigh Dodd · 9 kmArnison Crag · 5 kmFair Snape Fell · 65 km · clear daysYarlside · 31 km · clear daysCunswick Scar · 18 kmPendle Hill · 79 km · a rare clear dayEttrick Pen · 100 km · a rare clear daySighty Crag · 74 km · a rare clear dayWisp Hill · 90 km · a rare clear dayCauldcleuch Head · 91 km · a rare clear day
What you can see from Middle Dodd, by direction
  • North: Birkett Fell (11 km), Hart Side (11 km), Blencathra (20 km), Atkinson Pike (20 km)
  • North-east: High Raise (6 km), Red Crag (8 km)
  • East: Caudale Moor (2 km), Froswick (4 km), Kentmere Pike (7 km)
  • South-east: Ill Bell (4 km)
  • South-west: Wetherlam (14 km), Great Carrs (15 km), Swirl How (15 km), Great How (16 km), Little Stand (16 km), Brim Fell (17 km), The Old Man of Coniston (17 km)
  • West: Dove Crag (2 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Crinkle Crags (15 km), Shelter Crags (15 km), Bowfell (16 km), Crinkle Crags (16 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (16 km), Ill Crag (18 km), Broad Crag (18 km), Scafell Pike (18 km), Scafell (19 km), Slight Side (19 km)
  • North-west: Hart Crag (3 km), Fairfield (4 km), Gavel Pike (5 km), St Sunday Crag (5 km), High Crag (7 km), Nethermost Pike (7 km), Helvellyn (8 km), Green Side (10 km), Stybarrow Dodd (11 km), Great Dodd (12 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Pendle Hill (79 km, England), Ettrick Pen (100 km, Scotland), Boulsworth Hill (91 km, England), Sighty Crag (74 km, England), Wisp Hill (90 km, Scotland), Cauldcleuch Head (91 km, Scotland), Roan Fell (84 km, Scotland), Dun Rig (123 km, Scotland).

Computed from terrain in perfect clarity, not photographed · distances are straight-line.

Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

What you can see from Middle Dodd

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
52Wainwrights in view+11 marginal
50 kmFurthest sightlineIngleborough
—Sea in viewnone from here
Far horizons
  • Ingleborough Yorkshire DalesSE · 50 km clear
All 52 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Red Screes, Little Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top), High Hartsop Dodd, Dove Crag, High Pike (Scandale), Hartsop Dodd, Hartsop Above How (Gill Crag - Hartsop Above How), Hart Crag, Froswick, Ill Bell, Fairfield, Brock Crags (Wainwright), St Sunday Crag, Nab Scar, Yoke, Birks, Rest Dodd, Arnison Crag, Angletarn Pikes (Angletarn Pikes North Top), High Raise (High Street), The Nab, Sour Howes, Nethermost Pike, Birkhouse Moor, Place Fell, Helvellyn, Beda Fell (Beda Head), Glenridding Dodd, Sheffield Pike, Loadpot Hill, Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), Stybarrow Dodd, Hart Side, Harrison Stickle, Great Dodd, Pike of Blisco, Wetherlam, Cold Pike, Great Carrs, Swirl How, Bowfell, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Great Mell Fell, Esk Pike, Brim Fell, Scafell Pike, Scafell, Slight Side, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Souther Fell, Harter Fell (Eskdale), Carrock Fell

How Middle Dodd’s view compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

Sightlines from a bare-earth terrain model (forests and buildings not included), 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.

Best parking to hike Middle Dodd

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

Kirkstone Pass (laybys / inn) — 1.6 km from summit (straight line)
High start for Red Screes (30 min!), Caudale Moor and Middle Dodd.
Directions
Hartsop village (free, donation) — 3.7 km from summit (straight line)
For Hartsop Dodd, Gray Crag, High Street via Hayeswater, Brock Crags.
Directions

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.

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Middle Dodd Little Hart Crag and High Hartsop Dodd route:

🚌 Cow Bridge (53 m)🚌 Cow Bridge car park (54 m)🚌 Road End (329 m)

On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.

Buses to Middle Dodd from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

Stagecoach 508 “Ullswater Bus”
Penrith – Pooley Bridge – Aira Force – Glenridding – Patterdale (summer services continue over Kirkstone Pass to Troutbeck and Windermere)
Catch it from: Penrith · Windermere (summer only)
The key route from Penrith for the Eastern and Far Eastern fells: Helvellyn from Glenridding, Place Fell, the Hartsop fells. The summer Kirkstone extension drops you at the pass for Red Screes and Caudale Moor.

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

My hikes over Middle Dodd (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

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

Navigating Middle Dodd in cloud

Straightforward

A broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. Navigation here is relatively straightforward even in cloud — but carry map and compass and know how to use them; a low score never means “safe”.

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 Middle Dodd compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.

Other fells near Middle Dodd

Maps & guidebooks for Middle Dodd

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