655 mWainwright — Far Eastern Fells+6 bonus Birketts within 3 km Care needed in cloud
Selside Pike is a grassy Wainwright on the high watershed between Haweswater and Swindale, in the Far Eastern Fells. Its broad summit carries a large, well-built wind shelter and looks out over Haweswater to the High Street range.
Summit conditions on Selside Pike
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 11° to 5°C, gusts to 57 mph, 14.4 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.
Against our lines, Tuesday 27 October: wind, cold and cloud from the Met Office UKV 2 km model (daylight hours, as in the verdict above); rain from the summit line’s forecast (the whole day). A tile is large when this top is past its line.
Wind on the top
Past the line
52mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour
The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 44 mph times our exposure factor of 1.17. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 57 mph, before any exposure factor.
under 25
25–35
35–45
45–55
55+
The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS (opens in new tab) describes what wind does to a walker across a range rather than at a line: from about 20–25 mph it starts to affect your balance.
Estimated: it is not calibrated against summit readings, and the two forecasts can disagree by more than a band.
Cloud on the top
Past the line
15out of 100, the clear-top reading
Averaged over the daylight hours, from the forecast’s humidity and low cloud.
The line Our line: a clear-top reading under 20 out of 100, where our scorer says “summit likely clagged in”. There is no outside threshold to cite; it is our estimate. What cloud does to finding the way: navigating in cloud.
Not an observation: cloud lifts and drops within the hour.
Rain, and the becks
Past the line
14.4mm of rain over the whole day, midnight to midnight
The same figure as the summit line above and the 7-day forecast.
The line Our line: 6 mm in the day, where our scorer counts a day as soaking. We read rainfall, never river levels: becks in spate.
Open-Meteo’s forecast. It says nothing about rain already in the ground.
Also checkedcold: feels like 1 °C, no ice or snow forecast. Under a line is not the same as fine: it means only that these figures are under the lines we use.
Not in these tiles Lightning, river levels, snow or ice already lying, and the ground under your feet. A tile cannot see them, so an empty space here never means they are absent.
Snow figures with a second opinion: Powered by Met Office data
Wainwrights are scored for walking conditions each morning from the Met Office’s UK forecast model, read for each summit through Open-Meteo; the forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →
Choose the way up before the car park: these three routes start from two places, and the last two rows give the parking and bus at each route’s own start. Full maps further down.
Hands for a few steps: Rough Crag and the Riggindale ridge (km 1.6–3.1).
Not mentioned in the route’s notes
Not mentioned in the route’s notes
Exposure
Hard
Not assessed
Not assessed
Navigation
Moderate
Hard
Moderate
Steepest stretch
Climb of about 36% at 4.2 km (Severe)
Descent of about 27% at 7.5 km (Hard)
Climb of about 31% at 7.8 km (Hard)
After the summit
No further tops
Over Brown Howe (Mardale)
Over Hare Shaw, Powleys Hill, Harper Hills, Scalebarrow Knott and Glede Howe
Walked or planned
Walked by Lee, February 2025
Walked in part; km 0.0–1.8, km 3.3–4.1 from the map
Planned: drawn, not yet walked
Car park at the start
Mardale Head, Haweswater (free)
Mardale Head, Haweswater (free)
Wet Sleddale Reservoir Car Park
Bus to the start
Nearest stop 8.7 km on foot
Nearest stop 8.6 km on foot
Nearest stop 14.9 km on foot
Times run from fast to steady pace (Naismith’s rule). Scrambling quotes each route’s own notes; “not mentioned” means they do not say, not that the ground has none. Each route’s page has its map, stages and GPX.
Distance, climb and the steepest stretch are measured from each route’s GPX track; the other grades are set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap, and each route page says which. How we check →
Is Selside Pike a hard walk?
The climbing is gentle on the tops — it is a broad grassy top on the quiet eastern rim above Haweswater — though our short round from Mardale Head, 9.6 km with 550 m of ascent, ends with a steep descent (about 30%) from Brown Howe.
We grade that round’s navigation hard. This is featureless boggy moorland with few paths, and the old corpse road that crosses it is easier to find on a map than on the ground. Not a fell to be uncertain on in cloud.
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
Mardale Head, Haweswater (free) — at the start of Mardale circuit and Two Birketts from Mardale Head
Free but small and fills very early — High Street, Harter Fell, Kidsty Pike, Branstree. Five routes on this site start here, among them the 'Mardale Horseshoe' and the 'Mardale circuit'. Fees: Free parking; donation cairn with suggested £2 contribution (cash only - no mobile signal) plus a Mountain Rescue donation cairn (wildhaweswater.co.uk) (United Utilities, checked August 2026). Staying overnight in a vehicle or tent is banned here without the landowner's written consent (Westmorland and Furness Council, Public Spaces Protection Order 2026 No. 008, in force 18 March 2026). Open 24/7 (United Utilities, checked August 2026).
Brown Howe (layby) — 1.4 km from summit (straight line)
A lay-by on the Haweswater lane, on the south-east shore. The Mardale Head routes start 1.6 km away in a straight line, 1.7 km along the lane. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Branstree, north (layby) — 1.5 km from summit (straight line)
A lay-by on the Haweswater lane, on the south-east shore. The Mardale Head routes start 0.8 km away in a straight line, 0.8 km along the lane. Free (OSM-tagged). Ground surface (OSM-tagged).
Brown Howe, north-west (layby) — 1.9 km from summit (straight line)
A lay-by on the Haweswater lane, on the south-east shore. The Mardale Head routes start 2.2 km away in a straight line, 2.5 km along the lane. Free (OSM-tagged). Ground surface (OSM-tagged).
Branstree (layby) — 2.0 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Rough Crag (Riggindale), High Street, Mardale Ill Bell and Harter Fell (Mardale) — the 'Mardale circuit' route starts 166 m away. Also serves 'Mardale Ill Bell, High Street, The Knott, Rampsgill Head, High Raise and Kidsty Pike'. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
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 nearest bus stop we hold is the 508 and 509 stop at Hartsop, adjacent to road end, 8.6 km of walking from the start — no bus route we hold serves it.
If you need to get off (the leg from Branstree): Retrace your steps to Gatescarth Pass to use the main valley track.
Quoted from the route page: the note for the leg that reaches Selside Pike.
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.
Navigating in cloud
Care needed
Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of near-level ground around the summit. Take care in poor visibility — carry map and compass, and know how to use them.
In winter — snow, whiteout, cornices, buried features — every top demands full winter navigation skills whatever its band, and a broad, gentle summit can be the worst place of all. See walking in bad weather and the navigation guide.
How Selside Pike compares with all 214: the Clag Index (experimental).
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.
Warnings:High Street: In winter the plateau holds snow and offers no shelter or reference points, and cornices and ice form along the crag edges above Blea Water. Whiteout navigation here is genuinely serious — full winter skills, ice axe and crampons needed, and extra margin kept from the corniced edge. Harter Fell (Mardale): Crags ring the fell and overlook Small Water and Mardale; they block any direct ascent for good reason. Keep back from the edges near the summit, especially in cloud or wind where the broad top hides the drop. Mardale Ill Bell: The eastern side falls to the Mardale Waters — Blea Water and Small Water sit in crater coves ringed by crags. Keep back from the edges above them, especially in cloud or wind where the broad ground gives little warning before the drop. High Street: Broad, flat and almost featureless, with few landmarks to fix on. In cloud it is very easy to walk off on the wrong bearing and end up above crags or descending into the wrong valley. Take a compass bearing before you leave the summit and trust it — don't navigate by the vague feel of the slope. High Street: The eastern rim drops in steep crags to Blea Water, the deepest tarn in the Lakes. The Long Stile ridge is the narrow, craggy crest along this edge. Keep well back from the lip in wind or mist; the ground that looks like a continuation of the plateau ends abruptly in cliffs. Harter Fell (Mardale): The ridge from Nan Bield Pass to the top is narrow, with steep drops on both sides, particularly along the lip of Black John Hole. Take it steadily, keep to the path, and it is best avoided in strong wind or when iced.
Download GPXWalked in part, February 2025 · km 0.0–1.8, km 3.3–4.1 from the map
Warnings: The link over Brown Howe and the Selside slopes is faint-trod grass with stretches of no path — straightforward in clear weather, compass work in cloud.
Warnings: Classic Shap-fells going: faint trods, tussock and peat with long pathless stretches. The straight sections of the plotted line are bearings, not paths — carry map and compass and expect to weave.
The fell's chief interest is the Old Corpse Road that crosses its northern flank. Most walkers reach it from Mardale Head or Swindale and pair it with neighbouring Branstree. The going is boggy in places.
This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.
The summit is also a Birkett.
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 →
The view from Selside Pike
The 360° skyline from Selside Pike
A computed 360° skyline — every visible named top labelled by distance and bearing, from the terrain model in perfect clarity, not photographed. Drag to pan; reveal the far four-nations horizon.
drag to pan · arrow keys
The skyline as a list, by direction
North: Hare Shaw (2 km), Bampton Fell (5 km), Low Kop (6 km)
North-east: Cross Fell (30 km)
East: Nabs Moor (1 km), Fewling Stones (2 km), High Wether Howe (2 km), Glede Howe (3 km), Seat Robert (4 km), Sleddale Pike (5 km)
South-east: Howes (1 km), Ulthwaite Rigg (3 km), Great Saddle Crag (4 km), Great Yarlside (5 km), Wasdale Pike (5 km), The Forest (8 km), The Calf (23 km), Wild Boar Fell (30 km), Calf Top (31 km), Whernside (39 km), Ingleborough (44 km)
South: Branstree NE Top (1 km), Tarn Crag (3 km), Harrop Pike (4 km), Grey Crag (4 km), Ward's Stone (53 km)
South-west: Branstree (2 km), Harter Fell (4 km)
West: Rough Crag (4 km), Mardale Ill Bell (4 km), Kidsty Pike (5 km), High Street (5 km), Rampsgill Head (5 km), Thornthwaite Crag (6 km), St Sunday Crag (12 km), Nethermost Pike (15 km)
North-west: Low Raise (4 km), High Raise (5 km), Wether Hill (7 km), Loadpot Hill (8 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Broad Law (118 km, Scotland), Pendle Hill (76 km, England), White Coomb (109 km, Scotland), Ettrick Pen (101 km, Scotland), Sighty Crag (71 km, England), Wisp Hill (89 km, Scotland), Roan Fell (82 km, Scotland), Cauldcleuch Head (90 km, Scotland).
Selside Pike sits close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its longest wait of the modelled year (on 1 July) first light is only 2 minutes after almanac sunrise, so the published sunrise time is a fair guide here.
Midsummer. The filled shape is the skyline as seen from the summit; the line is the sun’s path. Where they meet is first light — everything left of that point is the wait.
Times for 2026, in Lakeland clock time (GMT in winter, BST in summer) — and model outputs rather than observations.
First light
Almanac sunrise
Difference
Midsummer
04:37 BST ±5.0 min
04:36
+1 min
Equinox
06:11 GMT ±5.0 min
06:14
-3 min
Midwinter
08:29 GMT ±5.0 min
08:32
-3 min
A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean -0.15°).
Last light — when the sun leaves Selside Pike
The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (at midwinter) last light is only 18 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on Selside Pike.
The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
Last light
Almanac sunset
Difference
Midsummer
21:42 BST ±5.0 min
21:51
-9 min
Equinox
18:10 GMT ±5.0 min
18:25
-15 min
Midwinter
15:30 GMT ±5.0 min
15:48
-18 min
These are daylight figures, not a descent plan: the light goes on fading for a good while after the sun leaves, and going down in it is a decision about your own ground and party, not about this table.
What you can see from Selside Pike
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
How the view from Selside Pike compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.
How the skyline, light and sightlines are computed
Computed, not photographed. First light is the first minute the sun’s upper limb clears this summit’s own skyline and last light the last minute it is still clear of it, both solved against the 360° horizon profile behind The View from Selside Pike. Almanac sunrise and sunset are the flat-horizon convention. Every time carries a ± band from the 30 m elevation model — it smooths arêtes and cornices, so nothing here claims better than five minutes.
Sightlines from the Copernicus GLO-30 elevation model, which is a surface model: each 30 m cell holds the top of whatever stands there, trees and buildings included, rather than bare ground. Corrected for the Earth’s curvature and average atmospheric refraction. “Distant” sightlines and any over 100 km depend on exceptionally clear air. Modelled from Copernicus GLO-30 open elevation data — a guide to the view, not a guarantee of any single one.
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).
