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315 m · Outlying Fell — West Cumbria · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Outlying Fell — West CumbriaAlso a Birkett

Ponsonby Fell

Ponsonby Fell rises to 315m (1,033ft) in the quiet west of the Lake District, above Gosforth and the wooded valley of the River Bleng (Blengdale).

315 m
Height
+2
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →
315 mOutlying Fell — West Cumbria✓ summit is also a Birkett+2 bonus Birketts within 3 km

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

Modelled guidance for the 315 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 16° to 15°C, gusts to 29 mph, 0.8 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌦️
16° / 15°
💨 29 mph
🌧 0.8 mm (90%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
15° / 13°
💨 24 mph
🌧 7.7 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
14° / 9°
💨 28 mph
🌧 3.7 mm (75%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
16° / 5°
💨 21 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (76%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
15° / 8°
💨 14 mph
🌧 2.7 mm (73%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
17° / 10°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (27%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
17° / 8°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.4 mm (22%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 315 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

About the walk

Key information

Ponsonby Fell

Ponsonby Fell rises to 315m (1,033ft) in the quiet west of the Lake District, above Gosforth and the wooded valley of the River Bleng (Blengdale). One of Wainwright's Outlying Fells, the usual approach is an anticlockwise horseshoe from Gosforth through Blengdale Forest. On a clear day the summit gives a wide view west across the Irish Sea to the Isle of Man, and inland to Scafell, Seatallan and the western fells. Remote, lightly walked, and a fine viewpoint.

Classifications & hill data
Outlying Fell
West Cumbria
Birkett
Synge
315 m
Height
1,033 ft
In feet
NY 0819 0703
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Cold Fell road (verge), about 3.8 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Ponsonby 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.

0.9 km NNWStone Pike322 m · Western
1.3 km NNWSwainson Knott345 m · Western

Terrain & access

A pathless top (about 315 m) — the nearest mapped path is about 370 m away, the open ground you’d cross to the summit (about 52 m of ascent, up to ~23°). 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 Ponsonby Fell

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

Cold Fell road (verge) — 3.8 km from summit (straight line)
Verge parking on the Calder Bridge–Ennerdale road for Lank Rigg and Ponsonby Fell.
Directions (opens in new tab)
Greendale, Nether Wasdale (roadside, free) — 6.4 km from summit (straight line)
Free verge parking for Middle Fell, Seatallan and Buckbarrow.
Directions (opens in new tab)

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 Ponsonby Fell from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

No regular bus serves the start points for this fell — this is one for the car (or a long approach from the nearest served valley). The nearest hubs are Penrith (X4/X5 & 508), Ambleside and Windermere (555, 505, 516).

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Maps & guidebooks for Ponsonby Fell

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