Silver How
Silver How at 395m (1,296ft) is a delightful, rocky little summit above Grasmere and Chapel Stile, its summit giving one of the finest views of Grasmere and the surrounding fells from any low-level viewpoint in the district.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 394 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 14° to 9°C, gusts to 26 mph, 2.5 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 394 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
Silver How at a glance
Silver How
Routes up Silver How
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Is Silver How a Wainwright?
Silver How is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.
Where do you park for Silver How?
The nearest car park we hold is Red Bank Road, Grasmere (W&F, paid), about 1.3 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Silver How, south car park 2, 1.3 km out. 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 Silver How (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
- Bimble up Silver How with the Kids (opens in new tab) — 5.8 km · 334 m ascent · 1h 50m moving · 6 Jun 2024
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Parking & buses for Silver How
Best parking to hike Silver How
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. 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.
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 Silver How by bus
The 555 stops at Grasmere, opposite Heaton Cooper Studio, 320 m from the start of West of Grasmere. Last bus: Monday to Friday 23:01 towards Kendal (555) and 21:53 towards Ambleside (555) and 20:53 towards Windermere (555) and 19:15 towards Bowness on Windermere (599); Saturday 23:01 towards Kendal (555) and 21:53 towards Ambleside (555) and 20:53 towards Windermere (555) and 19:15 towards Bowness on Windermere (599); Sunday 20:00 towards Windermere (555) and 19:30 towards Kendal (555) and 19:15 towards Bowness on Windermere (599). 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 Silver How
Hazard & Incident Information for Silver How
A popular little fell above Grasmere, beloved for the steep, craggy face it presents over the lake. It's easy walking on top, but a confusing one: a tangle of rounded knolls and countless paths — many not shown on maps — makes navigation surprisingly tricky in poor visibility, and the craggy lower slopes mean a wrong descent can land you above steep ground. Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.
- Maze of paths & rounded tops (navigation): The fell is criss-crossed by many paths, not all on OS maps, among a clutter of similar rounded tops. In cloud it is easy to lose track of which path you're on and drift off course. Carry a 1:25k map, use a compass, and pick descents deliberately.
- Steep craggy eastern slopes above Grasmere: The Grasmere-facing side is steep and craggy, and the lower reaches are broken — only a few lines get safely off the summit plateau. Don't improvise a descent down the craggy east side; keep to the known paths.
- Rocky steps & boggy ground: Some approach paths (around Huntingstile Crag and Dow Bank) have short rocky scrambling steps, and there's boggy ground about. Mind your footing, especially when wet, and wear proper footwear.
Most common causes: Navigation errors among the many unmapped paths and rounded tops in cloud · Wrong descents onto the steep, craggy eastern slopes above Grasmere · Slips on rocky steps and boggy ground · Casual walkers underestimating a confusing small fell
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 Silver How in cloud
Care neededA broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. 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 Silver How 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: Red Bank Road, Grasmere (W&F, paid), about 1.3 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Silver How (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 Silver How
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 Silver How
Water & shelter on the way up
On the West of Grasmere route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
The view from Silver How
The 360° skyline from Silver How
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 Silver How, by direction
- North: Steel Fell (4 km), Seat Sandal (5 km), Dollywaggon Pike (7 km), High Crag (7 km), Helvellyn (9 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (9 km), Gategill Fell Top (21 km), Blencathra (21 km)
- North-east: Heron Pike (4 km), Heron Pike North Top (4 km), Great Rigg (5 km), Fairfield (6 km), Hart Crag (6 km), Dove Crag (6 km)
- East: Red Screes (8 km), Caudale Moor (9 km), Ill Bell (11 km), Yoke (11 km)
- South-west: Blake Rigg (5 km), Wrynose Fell (5 km), Pike of Blisco (6 km), Wetherlam (7 km), Black Sails (7 km), Little Carrs (8 km), Great Carrs (8 km), Swirl How (8 km), Grey Friar (9 km)
- West: Harrison Stickle (4 km), Thorn Crag (4 km), Thunacar Knott (5 km), Crinkle Crags (8 km), Shelter Crags (8 km), Crinkle Crags (8 km), Crinkle Crags (8 km), Crinkle Crags (8 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (8 km), Bowfell (8 km), Ill Crag (10 km)
- North-west: Codale Head (4 km), Ullscarf (6 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Cadair Berwyn (176 km, Wales), Winter Hill (98 km, England), Penycloddiau (140 km, Wales), Billinge Hill (107 km, England).
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 Silver How
Silver How waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when the sun is up for 36 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 05:13 against an almanac sunrise of 04:37. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the north-east from here (52.6°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 3.58°.
| First light | Almanac sunrise | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 05:13 BST ±5.0 min | 04:37 | +36 min |
| Equinox | 06:26 GMT ±5.0 min | 06:15 | +11 min |
| Midwinter | 08:30 GMT ±5.0 min | 08:32 | -2 min |
The northern horizon stands at about 2.74° from here.
Last light — when the sun leaves Silver How
Silver How loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when last light is 41 minutes before almanac sunset — 21:11 against 21:52. The sun goes down to the north-west from here (306.7°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 4.14°.
| Last light | Almanac sunset | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 21:11 BST ±5.0 min | 21:52 | -41 min |
| Equinox | 18:05 GMT ±5.0 min | 18:26 | -21 min |
| Midwinter | 15:21 GMT ±5.0 min | 15:49 | -28 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 Silver How. 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 Silver How
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.- Ingleborough Yorkshire Dales
- Whernside Yorkshire Dales
- Morecambe Bay bay/estuary
All 40 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Blea Rigg, Helm Crag, Loughrigg Fell, Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), Nab Scar, Tarn Crag (Easedale), Stone Arthur, Heron Pike (Rydal), Gibson Knott, Pavey Ark, Sergeant Man, Harrison Stickle, Calf Crag, Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Thunacar Knott, Loft Crag, Great Rigg, Low Pike, Pike of Stickle, Seat Sandal, Black Fell, Pike of Blisco, Fairfield, Hart Crag, Dove Crag, Ullscarf, Wetherlam, Dollywaggon Pike, Red Screes, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Great Carrs, Bowfell, Swirl How, Baystones (Wansfell), Helvellyn, Grey Friar, Ill Bell, Yoke, Sallows, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top
How Silver How’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: 10 places
Frequently asked questions about Silver How
How hard is the walk up Silver How?
Short, steady and well within most people's reach. At 394 m Silver How is one of the smaller Wainwrights, and the climb from Grasmere is a persistent but even pull on good paths — no scrambling, no exposure. The one thing that catches people out is the top itself: it is a broad, knobbly shoulder with several rocky humps, and the true summit is not obvious, so in mist it is easy to top out on the wrong one and head down the wrong side. Take a map.
How do you walk up Silver How from Grasmere?
This is the standard ascent and the one nearly everyone means. Paths climb west out of the village towards the fell, gaining height steadily with the lake dropping away behind you — the view back over Grasmere is the reason to do it this way round. Allow a short half-day for an out-and-back. Park in Grasmere village (paid) or the free roadside layby just outside it, which holds about twenty cars and is usually busy; full details are in the parking panel on this page.
Is Silver How near Grasmere or Rosthwaite?
Grasmere. This is worth stating plainly because the two names get mixed up in searches: the Wainwright called Silver How stands immediately west of Grasmere village, between it and Great Langdale. Rosthwaite is in Borrowdale, a different valley entirely, and the ground above it is Rosthwaite Fell. If you have been sent to Rosthwaite for Silver How, you are in the wrong dale.
Is Silver How worth climbing?
For the size of it, the view is out of all proportion to the effort — Grasmere and Rydal Water laid out below, the Fairfield horseshoe opposite, and the Langdale Pikes showing their profile to the west. It is a genuinely good choice for a short day, a late afternoon, or when the high tops are in cloud. For a fuller day our walked round links it with Blea Rigg, Sergeant Man, Codale Head, Swinescar Pike and Tarn Crag over 15.4 km and 806 m of ascent, which we estimate at about 4 hours 25.
What else can you climb from Silver How?
The natural continuation is west and north onto the Easedale skyline — Blea Rigg and then Sergeant Man, which turns a short outing into a proper round. Loughrigg Fell sits just across the valley and pairs well if you want two small fells rather than one long ridge. Southward the ground runs on towards Lingmoor Fell and Elterwater.
Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-08-08 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)
Other fells near Silver How
- 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 Man
- Sergeant's Crag
- Steel Fell (Dead Pike)
- Tarn Crag (Easedale)
- Thunacar Knott
- Ullscarf
- Walla Crag