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.
A rock climb, not a walk. There is no walking route to the top of Pillar Rock, and nothing on this page is a way up it on foot.
Summit conditions on Pillar Rock
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 4°C, gusts to 64 mph, 11.4 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.
The forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →
Parking & buses
Routes near Pillar Rock
No route guide for this fell yet. The nearest route starts we publish, in a straight line from the summit:
- Fleetwith Edge and Haystacks — starts 3.5 km away
- Extended Mosedale Horseshoe — starts 4.1 km away
- Round Kirk Fell from Wasdale Head — starts 4.2 km away
Conditions and 7-day summit forecast
Modelled for the 780 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Full 7-day forecast
Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)
Parking & buses for Pillar Rock
Parking
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 77 stops at Gatesgarth, at Mountain Rescue Point, a 40 m walk from the nearest parking for this fell. We haven’t mapped a route up it, so we can’t tell you the walk from there to the start. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. It returns on 22 March 2027. Confirmed with the operator: its last day on 29 August 2026, its return on 16 October 2026. The last bus is 18:26 towards Keswick (77), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November 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.
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Hazards on Pillar Rock
A rock climb, not a walk. There is no walking route to the top of Pillar Rock, and nothing on this page is a way up it on foot.
Hazard & Incident Information for Pillar Rock
Checked by Lee McCoy, . Draws on published material from Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team. Editorial background, not a live callout feed.
Pillar Rock is a climbers' crag, not a walkers' summit. Every way to its top is a rock climb, and so is every way down: climbers reverse one of the easier climbs or abseil. It stands on the Ennerdale side of Pillar, a long way from any road.
- The summit block: There is no walking route to the top. The easiest ways up are graded rock climbs that need a rope, the skills to use it, and a partner who has them too.
- Getting down: Reaching the top does not end the climb. The descent is a down-climb of an easier route or an abseil, so plan it before you start up.
- Wet rock on the north side: Parts of the Rock face north and stay wet for days after rain.
- Remoteness: The walk in from Wasdale is a long one, and help is far away. Allow for a long day before any climbing starts.
- Nesting-season restrictions: Climbing can be restricted in the bird breeding season. The British Mountaineering Council's access record holds the current position; check it before you go.
Local Mountain Rescue: Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab)
Safety: Always check current conditions, carry proper navigation equipment, and seek qualified instruction before heading onto the fells. In an emergency, call 999, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.
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 & nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).
Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.
Birketts within 3 km of Pillar Rock
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
On the hill: terrain and water on Pillar Rock
Terrain & access
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 v18.4 (CC BY 4.0); Copernicus GLO-30. CRoW access layer: © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. See the terrain & access report for how this is worked out across all 144 fells.
About Pillar Rock
Classifications & hill data
Is Pillar Rock a Wainwright?
Pillar Rock is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Nuttall list.
Selected lists
This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.
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 →