Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack)
Summit conditions on Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack)
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 11° to 5°C, gusts to 63 mph, 10.1 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 →
Routes up Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack)
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Both Seathwaite Fell tops with Green Gable and Base Brown — four summits in 15.9 km and 960 m, rated hard for terrain, navigation and exposure and severe for steepness. About 4¾–6½ hours on properly rough ground.
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 Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack)?
The shortest way up we hold is Seathwaite, Green Gable, Base Brown — 15.85 km, 960 m of ascent, ~4¾–6½ h. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.
All axes: steepness: Severe · length: Hard · terrain: Hard · navigation: Hard · exposure: Hard.
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 631 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 Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack)
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
3 more places to park near Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack)
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 and 78 stop at Seatoller, at National Trust car park, an 820 m walk from the start of Seathwaite, Green Gable, Base Brown — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: steepness). The 77 runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season. As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Keswick (78): Tuesday to Sunday 20:00. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 September 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 Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack)
Notes from a planned route, not walked: Seathwaite, Green Gable, Base Brown
If you need to get off (the leg from Seathwaite Fell (Wainwright summit)): Do not bail east down the sheer crags into Grains Gill. If you need to exit, go back the way you came, or carry on to Sprinkling Tarn and the main path down to Sty Head.
Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: the note for the leg that reaches Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack - Seathwaite Fell).
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
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).
Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.
Birketts within 3 km of Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack)
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack)
Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked
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.
On the hill: terrain and water on Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack)
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Seathwaite, Green Gable, Base Brown route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
About Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack)
Classifications & hill data
Is Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack) a Wainwright?
Seathwaite Fell (Great Slack) is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Nuttall list and the Hewitt 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 →
Places to stay near this fell
- Seatoller House B&B (opens in new tab) guest houseabout 0.6 km
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).