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

Birkett — Eastern (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Round How

Round How is a Birkett (one of the 541 tops in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells), a quiet Eastern top reached by few walkers.

387 m
Height
+11
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

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387 mBirkett — Eastern (not a Wainwright summit)+11 bonus Birketts within 3 km

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

Modelled guidance for the 387 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 18° to 15°C, gusts to 34 mph, 2.3 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌦️
18° / 15°
💨 34 mph
🌧 2.3 mm (100%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
18° / 13°
💨 26 mph
🌧 2.4 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
15° / 7°
💨 29 mph
🌧 0.8 mm (78%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
16° / 5°
💨 24 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (78%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
16° / 8°
💨 12 mph
🌧 5.1 mm (54%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
17° / 6°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (24%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
17° / 7°
💨 15 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 387 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

Round How

Round How is a Birkett (one of the 541 tops in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells), a quiet Eastern top reached by few walkers. It rises the Matterdale. The name comes from how (Old Norse haugr, a hill or rounded mound). It also features on the Synge list. Its nearest tops are Bracken How (0.3 km NE); Common Fell (1.0 km W); Swineside Knott (1.7 km SW) — it's usually taken in on a round of these neighbours. It's a worthwhile objective for anyone working through the Birkett list, or as a short extension to a bigger day on the higher neighbouring fells.

Routes up Round How

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

Birketts above Ullswater
16.5 km · ~4.4 hr
Classifications & hill data
Birkett
Synge
387 m
Height
1,270 ft
In feet
NY 3918 2082
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Aira Force (NT, paid), about 0.7 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Round How (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.

0.3 km NNEBracken How373 m · Eastern
1.0 km WSWCommon Fell552 m · Eastern
1.7 km SWSwineside Knott553 m · Eastern
1.7 km EGreen Hill - Gowbarrow Park439 m · Eastern
1.9 km WNWLow How497 m · Eastern
2.0 km SWBrown Hills551 m · Eastern
2.5 km WNWHigh Brow575 m · Eastern
2.6 km SELow Birk Fell373 m · Far Eastern
2.7 km NEGreat Meldrum437 m · Eastern
2.8 km SSEBirk Fell (Bleaberry Knott - Birk Fell)512 m · Far Eastern
2.9 km WSWBirkett Fell725 m · Eastern

Routes over Round How

Birketts above UllswaterPlanned
16.45 km · ~694 m ascent · loop · ~4–6 h
Summits: Low HowHigh BrowRandersideGreat DoddStybarrow DoddHart SideBirkett FellBrown HillsRound HowBracken How

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

✎️ Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet.

A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass.

Best parking to hike Round How

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

Aira Force (NT, paid) — 0.7 km from summit (straight line)
For Gowbarrow Fell and the path toward Great Dodd via Dockray.
Directions
🚺 Aira Force Car Park (130m) — Free · Accessible☕ Aira Force Tearooms
Dockray (roadside) — 0.8 km from summit (straight line)
Verge parking for the Dodds and Matterdale Common.
Directions

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 Round How from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

Stagecoach 508 “Ullswater Bus”
Penrith – Pooley Bridge – Aira Force – Glenridding – Patterdale (summer services continue over Kirkstone Pass to Troutbeck and Windermere)
Catch it from: Penrith · Windermere (summer only)
The key route from Penrith for the Eastern and Far Eastern fells: Helvellyn from Glenridding, Place Fell, the Hartsop fells. The summer Kirkstone extension drops you at the pass for Red Screes and Caudale Moor.

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

Other fells near Round How

Maps & guidebooks for Round How

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