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

Birkett — Western (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Pillar Rock

Pillar Rock at 780m (2,559ft) is a dramatic Birkett top on the face of Pillar in the Western Fells, distinct from the main Pillar summit — it is the famous freestanding rock tower that is one of the great rock climbing venues in England.

780 m
Height
+4
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

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780 mBirkett — Western (not a Wainwright summit)+4 bonus Birketts within 3 km

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

Modelled guidance for the 780 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 14° to 12°C, gusts to 38 mph, 4.8 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌦️
14° / 12°
💨 38 mph
🌧 4.8 mm (99%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
13° / 10°
💨 32 mph
🌧 12.0 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
11° / 5°
💨 29 mph
🌧 2.8 mm (87%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
13° / 1°
💨 23 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (86%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
13° / 4°
💨 15 mph
🌧 4.5 mm (82%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
14° / 5°
💨 19 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (35%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
14° / 5°
💨 16 mph
🌧 0.4 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 780 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

Pillar Rock

Pillar Rock at 780m (2,559ft) is a dramatic Birkett top on the face of Pillar in the Western Fells, distinct from the main Pillar summit — it is the famous freestanding rock tower that is one of the great rock climbing venues in England. The position above the High Level Route gives extraordinary views across Ennerdale. Not a walking summit; reached only by scrambling or climbing routes.

Classifications & hill data
Birkett
Synge
Nuttall
780 m
Height
2,559 ft
In feet
NY 1715 1237
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Gatesgarth Farm, Buttermere (paid), about 3.5 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Pillar Rock (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.

0.9 km SWBlack Crag828 m · Western
1.6 km ESELooking Stead (Pillar)628 m · Western
1.8 km NESeat561 m · Western
2.4 km NHigh Stile (Grey Crag - High Stile)806 m · Western

Terrain & access

A 780 m top with a mapped path to within about 46 m of the summit. There is steep ground (over 30°) on the direct line — pick your line with care. The summit is on CRoW open access land.

Computed from open data, not walked — pathless ground needs confident navigation, and mapped paths, barriers and access boundaries can be incomplete. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass); Natural England CRoW Access Land; DoBIH; Copernicus GLO-30. See the terrain & access report for how this is worked out across all 145 fells.

Best parking to hike Pillar Rock

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

Gatesgarth Farm, Buttermere (paid) — 3.5 km from summit (straight line)
Farm car park at the foot of Haystacks, Fleetwith Pike and the High Stile ridge.
Directions
Buttermere village (NT, paid) — 4.7 km from summit (straight line)
For Red Pike, High Stile, Robinson, Rannerdale Knotts.
Directions
🚺 Buttermere village (132m) — Accessible☕ Syke Farm Tea Room☕ Croft House Farm Café🍺 The Buttermere Court Hotel

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.

Buses to Pillar Rock from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

Stagecoach 77 / 77A “Honister Rambler”
Keswick – Portinscale – Hawse End (Catbells) – Grange – Seatoller – Honister Pass – Buttermere – Lorton – Whinlatter – Keswick (circular)
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 from Windermere/Ambleside or X4/X5 from Penrith)
Seasonal (roughly Easter–October). Brilliant for the North Western fells: Catbells, Dale Head from Honister, the Buttermere fells and Whinlatter.

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

Other fells near Pillar Rock

Maps & guidebooks for Pillar Rock

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