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

Birkett — Central (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Side Pike

Side Pike at 362m (1,188ft) is a small, rocky knoll above the head of Great Langdale beside Blea Tarn, its craggy top giving outstanding views of both Great and Little Langdale and the Langdale Pikes.

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

Home › Fells › Side Pike

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

362 mBirkett — Central (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 362 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 17° to 15°C, gusts to 35 mph, 7.5 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌧️
17° / 15°
💨 35 mph
🌧 7.5 mm (100%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
17° / 14°
💨 27 mph
🌧 3.1 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
14° / 7°
💨 28 mph
🌧 1.3 mm (78%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
16° / 4°
💨 24 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (78%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
16° / 6°
💨 15 mph
🌧 3.6 mm (54%)
Sun 2 Aug
🌫️
18° / 8°
💨 19 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (24%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
17° / 8°
💨 16 mph
🌧 0.2 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 362 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

Side Pike

Side Pike at 362m (1,188ft) is a small, rocky knoll above the head of Great Langdale beside Blea Tarn, its craggy top giving outstanding views of both Great and Little Langdale and the Langdale Pikes. Wainwright included it in his Central Fells as a worthwhile short ascent. The views across Blea Tarn to the Langdale Pikes are among the finest small viewpoints in the district.

Routes up Side Pike

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

Lingmoor Fell from Elterwater
11.5 km · ~3.1 hr · Moderate
The best low fell in Langdale, and the one that shows you the valley properly. Lingmoor sits between Great and Little Langdale, so the Pikes rear up across the dale in front of you the whole way along the ridge. Side Pike at the far end throws in a famous rock squeeze. Half the effort of the big Langdale rounds and arguably a better view of them.
Classifications & hill data
Birkett
Synge
362 m
Height
1,188 ft
In feet
NY 2930 0537
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Stickle Ghyll / New Dungeon Ghyll (NT, paid), about 0.8 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Side Pike (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.

1.7 km SSWBlake Rigg (Little Langdale)535 m · Southern
1.9 km SWWrynose Fell - Long Crag547 m · Southern
2.2 km NWThorn Crag644 m · Central
2.7 km NNECastle How (Raw Pike)498 m · Central
2.7 km NESwinescar Pike411 m · Central

Routes over Side Pike

Lingmoor Fell from ElterwaterPlanned
11.51 km · ~487 m ascent · loop · ~3–4 h · Moderate
Summits: Lingmoor Fell (Brown How)Side Pike

⬇️ Download GPX

⚠️ Warnings: The Side Pike squeeze. The direct ridge line passes through a narrow cleft above a steep drop. There is a bypass path that drops below the crag — take it if you are carrying a big pack, or with a dog or children.; Old quarry workings on the Elterwater side. Keep to the path.

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 Side Pike

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

Stickle Ghyll / New Dungeon Ghyll (NT, paid) — 0.8 km from summit (straight line)
Direct start up Stickle Ghyll for the Langdale Pikes.
Directions
🚺 Public toilets (640m) — Free🚺 Public toilets (770m) — Free
Old Dungeon Ghyll (NT, paid) — 0.9 km from summit (straight line)
Head of Great Langdale — Bowfell, Crinkle Crags, Pike o' Blisco, the Langdale Pikes.
Directions
🚺 Public toilets (510m) — Free🚺 Public toilets (649m) — Free🍺 Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel🍺 Sticklebarn

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 Lingmoor Fell from Elterwater route:

🛖 map (40 m)🚺 map (23 m)🚌 The Britannia Inn (20 m)⛺ Elterwater Hostel (88 m)

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

Buses to Side Pike from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

Stagecoach 516 “Langdale Rambler”
Ambleside – Skelwith Bridge – Elterwater – New Dungeon Ghyll – Old Dungeon Ghyll
Catch it from: Ambleside · Windermere (change at Ambleside)
The Langdale bus — Pikes, Bowfell, Crinkle Crags, Pike o' Blisco all walkable from the Dungeon Ghyll stops. Seasonal frequency varies; check before relying on the last bus back.

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

My hikes over Side Pike (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.

Other fells near Side Pike

Maps & guidebooks for Side Pike

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