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

Birkett — North Western (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Seat How (Thornthwaite)

At 495 m (1,624 ft), Seat How (Thornthwaite) is a Birkett (one of the 541 tops in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells) in the North Western Fells — an overlooked summit away from the crowds.

495 m
Height
+5
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › Seat How (Thornthwaite)

495 mBirkett — North Western (not a Wainwright summit)+5 bonus Birketts within 3 km

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

Modelled guidance for the 495 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 16° to 14°C, gusts to 35 mph, 3.6 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌧️
16° / 14°
💨 35 mph
🌧 3.6 mm (99%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
16° / 12°
💨 31 mph
🌧 11.9 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌧️
14° / 5°
💨 30 mph
🌧 2.3 mm (87%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
15° / 3°
💨 23 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (86%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
15° / 4°
💨 15 mph
🌧 1.5 mm (82%)
Sun 2 Aug
🌤️
16° / 3°
💨 16 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (35%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
16° / 7°
💨 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 495 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

Seat How (Thornthwaite)

At 495 m (1,624 ft), Seat How (Thornthwaite) is a Birkett (one of the 541 tops in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells) in the North Western Fells — an overlooked summit away from the crowds. The name combines seat (Old Norse sætr, a hill shieling or summer pasture), and how (Old Norse haugr, a hill or rounded mound). It also features on the Synge list. Its nearest tops are Ullister Hill (0.5 km NW); Tarbarrel Moss (0.7 km SW); Barf (1.1 km N) — 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 Seat How (Thornthwaite)

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

Whinlatter Forest: Tarbarrel Moss, Ullister Hill & Seat How
7.3 km · ~1.9 hr · Easy
A sheltered forest loop above Whinlatter — England's highest mountain forest — climbing on good tracks through the plantation to a trio of low, easily-missed tops. Tarbarrel Moss, Ullister Hill and rocky little Seat How give sudden, outsized views to Skiddaw, Grisedale Pike and the north-western fells for barely 250 m of climbing. A fine foul-weather or family day when the high tops are in cloud.
Classifications & hill data
Birkett
Synge
495 m
Height
1,624 ft
In feet
NY 2132 2563
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Whinlatter Visitor Centre (paid), about 1.6 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Seat How (Thornthwaite) (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.

0.5 km NWUllister Hill525 m · North Western
0.7 km WSWTarbarrel Moss493 m · North Western
1.8 km WSWWhinlatter Top525 m · North Western
2.4 km SSEKinn374 m · North Western
2.8 km SWHobcarton End634 m · North Western

Routes over Seat How (Thornthwaite)

Whinlatter Forest: Tarbarrel Moss, Ullister Hill & Seat HowPlanned
7.32 km · ~243 m ascent · loop · ~1.5–2.5 h · Easy
Summits: Tarbarrel MossUllister HillSeat How (Thornthwaite)

✎️ A rare sheltered option in the Lakes: mostly under trees, on solid tracks, with big views appearing at the tops. It starts from the Whinlatter visitor centre (café, parking and facilities). The three summits are Outlying/Birkett tops rather than Wainwrights.

⬇️ Download GPX

Best season: Year-round, and one of the better bad-weather choices — the trees take the sting out of wind and rain. Tracks can be muddy, and forest operations occasionally divert paths, so check signage at the visitor centre.

⚠️ Warnings: Whinlatter is a working forest laced with forestry roads that branch and re-cross — follow the waymarks and carry a map; junctions look alike, especially in mist.; Shared with mountain-bike trails in places (including the Altura trail) — stay alert and give way to riders where paths cross.; Occasional path diversions or machinery during active forestry operations.; Tracks get muddy and slippery after rain.

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 Seat How (Thornthwaite)

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

Whinlatter Visitor Centre (paid) — 1.6 km from summit (straight line)
Forest centre — Lord's Seat, Barf, Whinlatter fells, Grisedale Pike's back route.
Directions
🚺 Whinlatter Forest Park Centre (120m) — Free☕ The Cottage in the Wood☕ Cafe Ambio
Braithwaite village (roadside/small areas) — 2.4 km from summit (straight line)
Start of the Coledale Horseshoe: Grisedale Pike, Causey Pike round.
Directions
🚺 Braithwaite, Keswick (229m) — Free☕ Middle Ruddings☕ Ivy House☕ Jasper's🍺 Royal Oak🍺 Coledale Inn

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.

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Whinlatter Forest: Tarbarrel Moss, Ullister Hill & Seat How route:

💧 possible water source (2 m)🚌 Visitors Centre (93 m)

💧 Treat water from the fell before you drink it. A mapped point is usually a tap or public supply, but never drink untreated from a beck, stream or tarn — even clear-looking hill water can carry giardia or cryptosporidium from livestock or a carcass upstream and leave you seriously ill. Run it through a filter or purifier (a LifeStraw, Sawyer Squeeze or HydraPak) or bring it to a rolling boil first.

On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.

Buses to Seat How (Thornthwaite) 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.
Stagecoach X4 / X5
Penrith – Rheged – Threlkeld – Keswick – Braithwaite – Cockermouth – Workington
Catch it from: Penrith
Year-round, frequent. From Penrith this is your way into Keswick and the Northern fells — Threlkeld/Scales stops serve Blencathra directly, Braithwaite serves the Coledale fells.

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

Other fells near Seat How (Thornthwaite)

Maps & guidebooks for Seat How (Thornthwaite)

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