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Naddle High Forest

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435 mOutlying Fell — Around Penrith8 more Birketts within 3 km (straight line)

Naddle High Forest at 435m (1,427ft) is an Outlying Fell forming the first top of the Naddle Horseshoe above the Naddle valley near Shap, giving views towards the Haweswater fells. Wainwright included the Naddle Horseshoe in his Outlying Fells guide.

Summit conditions on Naddle High Forest

On the summit on Monday 2 November: 8° to 4°C, gusts to 23 mph, 0.1 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 Naddle High Forest

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

Birketts South of Burnbanks Planned, not yet walked
7.64 km · ~303 m ascent · ~2–2¾ h · loop · 4 summits
Moderate effort Hard: navigation
Park: Haweswater, by the dam (verge) (free)

Four low tops in the woods and crags above Haweswater — Naddle Low Forest, Hugh's Laithes Pike, Wallow Crag and Naddle High Forest. Just 7.6 km and 303 m, easy for length but rated hard to navigate. About 2–2¾ 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 Naddle High Forest?

The shortest way up we hold is Birketts South of Burnbanks — 7.64 km, 303 m of ascent, ~2–2¾ h. On our scale its hardest axis is navigation — Hard.

All axes: navigation: Hard · steepness: Moderate · length: Easy · 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 435 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast
Mon 2 Nov
8° / 4°
23 mph
0.1 mm (0%)
Tue 3 Nov
8° / 5°
21 mph
0.4 mm (2%)
Wed 4 Nov
8° / -2°
13 mph
0.0 mm (2%)
Thu 5 Nov
8° / -2°
17 mph
0.3 mm (2%)
Fri 6 Nov
7° / 0°
9 mph
0.6 mm (8%)
Sat 7 Nov
5° / 2°
6 mph
0.0 mm (14%)
Sun 8 Nov
6° / 0°
13 mph
0.0 mm (4%)

Taken 2 November 2026, 02:25 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Parking & buses for Naddle High Forest

Parking

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

Haweswater, by the dam (verge) — at the start of Birketts South of Burnbanks
The routes 'Bampton Fell', 'Birketts South of Burnbanks' and 'Pinnacle Howe and Four Stones Hill' start here. Gravel lane parking at the road side; Lee added the OSM feature himself.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Brown Howe, north-west (layby) — 2.1 km from summit (straight line)
A lay-by on the Haweswater lane, on the south-east shore. The Mardale Head routes start 2.2 km away in a straight line, 2.5 km along the lane. Free (OSM-tagged). Ground surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Burnbanks (car park) — 2.4 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?
2 more places to park near Naddle High Forest
Brown Howe (layby) — 2.7 km from summit (straight line)
A lay-by on the Haweswater lane, on the south-east shore. The Mardale Head routes start 1.6 km away in a straight line, 1.7 km along the lane. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Langhowe Pike North Top (layby) — 2.9 km from summit (straight line)
1.0 km from Langhowe Pike North Top.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
If it is full: Scalebarrow Knott (layby) (1.6 km, 28 m up)

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 UB2 at Askham, outside Stores, 9.5 km of walking from the start — no bus route we hold serves it. It is a seasonal service too, and it stopped for the winter on 1 November 2026; it returns on 22 March 2027. Confirmed with the operator: its last day on 9 October 2026, its return on 16 October 2026.

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

Hazards on Naddle High Forest

Notes from a planned route, not walked: Birketts South of Burnbanks

  • The Naddle ridge carries a 1 km+ stretch with no clear path through rough forest-edge ground — faint trods come and go; keep the map handy.

If you need to get off (the leg from Wallow Crag): Retreat: You are now midway along the ridge. No way down into Swindale has been checked for this guide. If conditions are poor, judge going on or retracing the ridge from where you are.

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 Naddle High Forest.

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 Naddle High Forest

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

1.2 km NENaddle Low Forest426 m · Far Eastern
1.5 km ESEPowleys Hill465 m · Far Eastern
1.9 km NFour Stones Hill415 m · Far Eastern
2.2 km SSWBrown Howe (Mardale)529 m · Far Eastern
2.2 km NNWBampton Fell (Bampton Common)489 m · Far Eastern
2.4 km NPinnacle Howe383 m · Far Eastern
2.8 km SWCastle Crag (Mardale)395 m · Far Eastern
2.8 km NWLow Kop572 m · Far Eastern

One of The Haweswater Birketts (31 tops, and which of our routes reach each one).

Routes over Naddle High Forest

7.64 km · ~303 m ascent · ~2–2¾ h · loop
Moderate effort Hard: navigation

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Warnings: The Naddle ridge carries a 1 km+ stretch with no clear path through rough forest-edge ground — faint trods come and go; keep the map handy.

Route guide: Birketts South of Burnbanks →

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.

On the hill: terrain and water on Naddle High Forest

Water & shelter on the way up

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

About Naddle High Forest

A walk through farmland and open fell.

Classifications & hill data

Is Naddle High Forest a Wainwright?

Naddle High Forest is one of Wainwright's Outlying Fells, not one of the 214 in the Pictorial Guides. It is also on the Birkett list and the Synge list.

Selected lists

435 m
Height
1,427 ft
In feet
NY 4924 1431
Grid ref

This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.

The summit is also a Birkett.

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

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 Naddle High Forest