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Randerside

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729 mBirkett — Eastern (not a Wainwright summit)+7 bonus Birketts within 3 km

Randerside at 729m (2,392ft) is a Birkett top on the broad moorland above the Matterdale valley between Helvellyn and the eastern fells, giving views across the Ullswater area and towards the Pennines.

Summit conditions on Randerside

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 11° to 4°C, gusts to 62 mph, 20.0 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 Randerside

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

Birketts above Ullswater Planned, not yet walked
16.45 km · ~766 m ascent · ~4½–6¼ h · loop · 10 summits
Hard effort Hard: distance and navigation
Park: High Cascades (NT, paid) · Bus: 509, 750 m walk from Dockray, outside The Royal Hotel

Ten Birkett tops strung along the Dodds above Ullswater, from Low How and Randerside over Great Dodd and Stybarrow Dodd — 16.5 km and 766 m across eleven stages. Rated hard to navigate; about 4½–6¼ 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 Randerside?

The shortest way up we hold is Birketts above Ullswater — 16.45 km, 766 m of ascent, ~4½–6¼ h. On our scale its hardest axes are distance and navigation — Hard.

All axes: length: Hard · navigation: Hard · steepness: Moderate · 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 729 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast
Tue 27 Oct
11° / 4°
62 mph
20.0 mm (100%)
Wed 28 Oct
8° / 5°
49 mph
8.4 mm (100%)
Thu 29 Oct
8° / 6°
27 mph
0.7 mm (75%)
Fri 30 Oct
7° / 5°
24 mph
0.0 mm (8%)
Sat 31 Oct
6° / 2°
8 mph
0.0 mm (6%)
Sun 1 Nov
7° / 2°
12 mph
1.2 mm (2%)
Mon 2 Nov
5° / -2°
8 mph
0.0 mm (0%)

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 Randerside

Parking

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

High Cascades (NT, paid) — at the start of Birketts above Ullswater
Walking base for Low How, High Brow, Randerside and Great Dodd — the 'Birketts above Ullswater' route starts 21 m away. Fees: £6 for 2 hours; £8 for 4 hours; £9.50 all day. Compacted surface (OSM-tagged). Free for NT members (checked August 2026).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Low How, north-east (layby) — 3.2 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Hart Side, Green Side (White Stones - Green Side), Stybarrow Dodd and Raise — the 'Hart Side, Stybarrow Dodd, Raise, Watson's Dodd and more' route starts 32 m away. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Low How (layby) — 3.2 km from summit (straight line)
0.7 km from Low How. Seen full by about 08:00 on a Saturday - Lee's own visit; a single sighting rather than a pattern.
Gravel parking area at Low How on an August afternoon, full of cars, with woodland behind
Gravel parking area at Low How on an August afternoon, full of cars, with woodland behind Taken August 2023
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
3 more places to park near Randerside
Legburthwaite (United Utilities, small) — 3.4 km from summit (straight line)
St John's in the Vale — Sticks Pass side, High Rigg, Raven Crag. Fees: pay and display; coins and cards (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked August 2026). Pay and display (visitlakedistrict.com) (United Utilities, checked August 2026).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
If it is full: Roadside parking for Great How (free) (0.7 km) a few spaces only; Dam Triangle, Thirlmere (paid) (1.4 km, 70 m up); Roadside parking for Raven Crag (free) (1.5 km, 70 m up) a few spaces only
Legburthwaite Car Park (opens in new tab) (~8 m straight line) — Free
Castle Rock (layby) — 3.6 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Brown Crag, White Side, Raise and Stybarrow Dodd — the 'Brown Crag and Raise' route starts 213 m away. Also serves 'Three Dodds and Calfhow Pike'. Free (OSM-tagged). Ground surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
High Bridge End, St John's in the Vale (lane, free) — 3.6 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Brown Crag, White Side, Raise and Stybarrow Dodd — the 'Brown Crag and Raise' route starts 212 m away. Also serves 'Three Dodds and Calfhow Pike'. Free (OSM-tagged). Ground surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?

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 509, 559 and UB1 stop at Dockray, outside The Royal Hotel, a 750 m walk from the start of Birketts above Ullswater — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: distance and navigation). The UB1 runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season. The last bus is 19:09 towards Troutbeck (UB1) and 18:02 towards Grasmere (559) and 16:12 towards Keswick (509), 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.

Stagecoach 509
Penrith ↔ Keswick around Ullswater — calls at Pooley Bridge, Watermillock, Glenridding, Patterdale, Hartsop, Dockray, Matterdale, Mungrisdale and Threlkeld
Catch it from: Penrith · Keswick
The Ullswater side of the Penrith–Keswick corridor, and a second option where we previously showed only the 508. Reaches Helvellyn and Catstye Cam from Glenridding, Place Fell and Angletarn Pikes from Patterdale, the Hartsop fells, and Gowbarrow from Dockray. Frequency and season for the whole service are not listed here; where a stop's times have been checked, they are given above with the date. Note the Troutbeck on this route is the one on the A66 near Penrith, not the Troutbeck near Windermere.

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 Randerside

Notes from a planned route, not walked: Birketts above Ullswater

  • Almost all grass with few features, the Dodds are a notorious place to go wrong in mist or whiteout — easy to drift off a vague bearing into the wrong valley. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the summit; don't navigate by the feel of the slope.

If you need to get off (the leg from High Brow): If weather conditions deteriorate on the exposed moor, retrace the route east the way you came; no other way off this ridge has been checked for this guide.

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 Randerside.

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 Randerside

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

1.3 km WSWLittle Dodd (St John's Common)785 m · Eastern
1.8 km WCalfhow Pike660 m · Eastern
1.9 km EHigh Brow575 m · Eastern
2.0 km SEBirkett Fell725 m · Eastern
2.3 km SGreen Side (White Stones)794 m · Eastern
2.6 km ELow How497 m · Eastern
2.7 km NWThrelkeld Knotts514 m · Eastern

Routes over Randerside

16.45 km · ~766 m ascent · loop · ~4½–6¼ h
Hard effort Hard: distance and navigation

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Picked for its light in: May

Warnings: Great Dodd: The wide grassy dome has almost nothing to fix on, and in thick cloud you may not see the cairn until you're on it. This is a notorious place to wander off line. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the top; don't navigate by the lie of the slope. Almost all grass with few features, the Dodds are a notorious place to go wrong in mist or whiteout — easy to drift off a vague bearing into the wrong valley. Take and trust a compass bearing before leaving the summit; don't navigate by the feel of the slope.

From the hazard notes for Great Dodd, each with its sources.

Route guide: Birketts above Ullswater →

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.

About Randerside

Part of the high ground on the eastern edge of the main Helvellyn massif.

Classifications & hill data

Is Randerside a Wainwright?

Randerside is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.

Selected lists

729 m
Height
2,392 ft
In feet
NY 3486 2106
Grid ref

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 →

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 Randerside