Sergeant Man
Sergeant Man at 736m (2,415ft) is the subsidiary summit of High Raise above Langdale, a rocky outcrop on the rim of the plateau with outstanding views of the Langdale valley and the Pikes below.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 736 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 11° to 8°C, gusts to 26 mph, 2.4 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 736 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
Sergeant Man at a glance
Sergeant Man
Field notes
This is a fell that most won't go out of their way to bag. It sits above the slope above Stickle Tarn and is much friendlier a climb than its neighbour: Pavey Ark and is often visited as part of the Langdale Pikes round. I actually liked Sergeant Man as it has a relatively rocky precipice and commands great views to the east towards Easdale Tarn and over Codale Tarn and is somewhat sheltered from northerly winds. It is a good place to stop and rest - and we have on a couple of occasions.Routes up Sergeant Man
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Is Sergeant Man a Wainwright?
Sergeant Man is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.
Where do you park for Sergeant Man?
We hold no car park within 2.5 km of the summit, so there is no short walk-in to recommend here. We only look within 2.5 km, measured straight-line: over longer distances a road may cross a pass and the drive bears no relation to the line.
My hikes over Sergeant Man (Strava)
2 logged hikes pass over this summit:
- Sunrise Summit Stroll with Chris (opens in new tab) — 17.6 km · 850 m ascent · 4h 59m moving · 23 Mar 2025
- 8 Wainwrights today - had some catching up to do! (opens in new tab) — 14.5 km · 1013 m ascent · 4h 23m moving · 1 Jun 2024
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Parking & buses for Sergeant Man
Best parking to hike Sergeant Man
Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).
Positions are approximate — zoom the map to confirm.
Tip: pan and zoom the interactive map at the top of this page to spot other potential parking near your route.
Vehicles are left entirely at their owner’s risk. We list places people park; we cannot vouch for any of them. Judge it on the day: take valuables with you, leave nothing on show, and if a spot feels wrong when you get there, park somewhere else.
Getting to Sergeant Man by bus
The 516 stops at New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel (at), 140 m from the start of Langdale Pikes Round — a route we rate Moderate. Last bus: Monday to Friday 20:13 towards Kendal (516) and 18:13 towards Ambleside (516); Saturday 22:33 towards Kendal (516) and 21:13 towards Ambleside (516); Sunday 20:13 towards Kendal (516) and 18:13 towards Ambleside (516). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 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.
Hazards on Sergeant Man
Hazard & Incident Information for Sergeant Man
A rocky little cone perched at the edge of High Raise's great plateau above Langdale, where gentle grassy ground meets steep drops toward Stickle Tarn and Dungeon Ghyll. The summit itself is small, but it sits amid indistinct, boggy paths and a featureless plateau that make this a genuine navigation fell — hard to follow in cloud or snow. Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.
- Steep ground to Stickle Tarn / Dungeon Ghyll: Steep slopes fall away south to Bright Beck and Stickle Tarn, and one approach runs alongside a steep drop into Dungeon Ghyll with an awkward rocky section. Keep back from these edges, especially in wind or cloud, and take the rocky step carefully.
- Indistinct paths & navigation (Codale Tarn / High Raise): The grassy paths around Codale Tarn and up from Stickle Tarn are boggy, narrow and faint, and the link onto High Raise's featureless dome offers few landmarks. In mist or snow the route is hard to follow — take and trust compass bearings to gain and leave the summit.
- Exposure on the open plateau: Up here there is little shelter and the ground is exposed; in poor weather it is easy to become disorientated between Sergeant Man, High Raise and the Langdale Pikes. Don't rely on following trodden ground.
Most common causes: Navigation errors on faint, boggy paths and the featureless plateau in cloud or snow · Slips on the steep ground toward Stickle Tarn and Dungeon Ghyll · Difficulty on the awkward rocky section of the Dungeon Ghyll-side path · Disorientation between Sergeant Man, High Raise and the Langdale Pikes
Local Mountain Rescue: Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab) · Reviewed 14 Jun 2026
Safety: Hazard guidance compiled from published Mountain Rescue reports and well-documented accident history - editorial background, not a live feed of callouts. Always check current conditions, carry proper navigation equipment, and seek qualified instruction before heading onto the fells. In an emergency, call 999, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.
Navigating Sergeant Man in cloud
SevereA broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. A serious place to be caught in cloud: carry map and compass (or GPS) and know how to use them, or save it for a clear day.
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 Sergeant Man compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.
Map & nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: New Dungeon Ghyll (LDNPA, paid), about 2.7 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Sergeant Man (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.
Routes over Sergeant Man
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.
On the hill: terrain and water on Sergeant Man
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Langdale Pikes Round route:
On the West of Grasmere route:
💧 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.
The view from Sergeant Man
The 360° skyline from Sergeant Man
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.
What you can see from Sergeant Man, by direction
- North: Knowe Crags (18 km), Gategill Fell Top (19 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (19 km), Skiddaw Little Man (19 km), Blencathra (19 km), Skiddaw South Top (20 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (20 km), Skiddaw (20 km), Skiddaw North Top (20 km)
- North-east: Dollywaggon Pike (7 km), High Crag (7 km), Nethermost Pike (8 km), Cofa Pike (8 km), Helvellyn (8 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (8 km), St Sunday Crag (9 km), Raise (10 km), Stybarrow Dodd (12 km), Great Dodd (13 km)
- East: Fairfield (8 km), Hart Crag (8 km), High Street (16 km), Rampsgill Head (16 km)
- South: Swirl How (8 km), Brim Fell (10 km), The Old Man of Coniston (11 km)
- South-west: Shelter Crags (5 km), Crinkle Crags (5 km), Crinkle Crags (6 km)
- West: Esk Pike (5 km), Great End (6 km), Ill Crag (6 km), Broad Crag (7 km), Scafell Pike (7 km), Green Gable (7 km), Great Gable (8 km), Scafell (8 km), Pillar (12 km), Red Pike (12 km), Black Crag (12 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (169 km, Wales), Carnedd Llewelyn (157 km, Wales), Moel Siabod (165 km, Wales), Craig Cwm Silyn (176 km, Wales), Boulsworth Hill (98 km, England), Great Whernside (80 km, England), Creigiau Gleision (158 km, Wales), Moel Eilio (168 km, Wales).
Computed from terrain in perfect clarity, not photographed · distances are straight-line.
Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.
Sunrise and sunset on Sergeant Man
Sergeant Man sits close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its longest wait of the modelled year (at midsummer) first light is only 12 minutes after almanac sunrise, so the published sunrise time is a fair guide here.
| First light | Almanac sunrise | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 04:49 BST ±5.0 min | 04:37 | +12 min |
| Equinox | 06:16 GMT ±5.0 min | 06:15 | +1 min |
| Midwinter | 08:27 GMT ±5.0 min | 08:33 | -6 min |
A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean 0.48°).
Last light — when the sun leaves Sergeant Man
The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (at midsummer) last light is only 17 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on Sergeant Man.
| Last light | Almanac sunset | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 21:35 BST ±6.6 min | 21:52 | -17 min |
| Equinox | 18:31 GMT ±5.0 min | 18:26 | +5 min |
| Midwinter | 15:42 GMT ±5.0 min | 15:49 | -7 min |
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 Sergeant Man. 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. 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 Sergeant Man
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales.
- Carnedd Llewelyn Wales
- Ingleborough Yorkshire Dales
- Whernside Yorkshire Dales
- Morecambe Bay bay/estuary
All 70 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Pavey Ark, Thunacar Knott, Harrison Stickle, Blea Rigg, Ullscarf, Rossett Pike, Helm Crag, Silver How, Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), Bowfell, Allen Crags, Esk Pike, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Cold Pike, Great End, Stone Arthur, Seat Sandal, Heron Pike (Rydal), Great Rigg, Nab Scar, Loughrigg Fell, Scafell Pike, Dollywaggon Pike, Green Gable, Great Gable, Nethermost Pike, Fairfield, Wetherlam, Great Carrs, Scafell, Helvellyn, Swirl How, Hart Crag, High Pike (Scandale), Holme Fell, Dove Crag, Grey Friar, Black Fell, High Seat, St Sunday Crag, Raise, Brim Fell, Bleaberry Fell, Red Screes, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Dow Crag, Stybarrow Dodd, Watson's Dodd, Pillar, Red Pike (Wasdale), Baystones (Wansfell), Great Dodd, Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), Clough Head, Thornthwaite Crag, Ill Bell, Sour Howes, Yoke, High Street, Sallows, Harter Fell (Mardale), Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Little Man, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Long Side, Ullock Pike, Skiddaw, Bannerdale Crags, Great Calva, Knott
How Sergeant Man’s view compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.
Sightlines from a bare-earth terrain model (forests and buildings not included), 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.
Places to stay near this fell
From Grasmere: 7 places · From Great Langdale: 3 places in Grasmere
Frequently asked questions about Sergeant Man
Is Sergeant Man hard to climb?
The last bit is steeper than the rest, but there is nothing on it that needs hands. Sergeant Man is a rocky little cone perched on the edge of High Raise's plateau, and it is a much more distinctive top than its neighbours.
Two things make it worth attention. Gentle grassy ground meets steep drops toward Stickle Tarn and Dungeon Ghyll right at the summit, so there is no gradual warning on that side. And we grade the navigation on our Langdale Pikes round hard — 12.3 km with 830 m of ascent — because the plateau behind is featureless in a way the front of the Pikes never is.
Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)
Other fells near Sergeant Man
- Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)
- Blea Rigg
- Bleaberry Fell
- Calf Crag
- Eagle Crag
- Gibson Knott
- Grange Fell (Brund Fell)
- Great Crag (Stonethwaite)
- Harrison Stickle
- Helm Crag
- High Raise (High White Stones)
- High Rigg (Naddle Fell)
- High Seat
- High Tove
- Loft Crag
- Loughrigg Fell
- Pavey Ark
- Pike of Stickle
- Raven Crag
- Sergeant's Crag
- Silver How
- Steel Fell (Dead Pike)
- Tarn Crag (Easedale)
- Thunacar Knott
- Ullscarf
- Walla Crag