Skelgill Bank
Skelgill Bank at 338m (1,109ft) is a Birkett top above the Newlands valley in the Central Fells, giving views across the beautiful valley towards Causey Pike and the Coledale fells.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 338 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Sat 12 Sep): 16° to 7°C, gusts to 38 mph, 17.6 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 12 Sep 2026, 18:50 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 338 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
Skelgill Bank at a glance
Skelgill Bank
Routes up Skelgill Bank
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Is Skelgill Bank a Wainwright?
Skelgill Bank is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.
Where do you park for Skelgill Bank?
The nearest car park we hold is Skelgill Bank car park, about 0.5 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Skelgill Bank (layby), 0.5 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.
How hard is Skelgill Bank?
The shortest way up we hold is Catbells: the short way up — 5.7 km, 388 m of ascent, about 1.8 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.
All axes: steepness: Severe · terrain: Moderate · exposure: Easy · navigation: Easy · length: Easy.
My hikes over Skelgill Bank (Strava)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- Was supposed to be grim so did a tourist route. It wasn't. (opens in new tab) — 21.4 km · 866 m ascent · 4h 53m moving · 9 May 2026
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Parking & buses for Skelgill Bank
Best parking to hike Skelgill Bank
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 Skelgill Bank by bus
The 77 stops at Hawes End, outside Cattle Grid, 80 m from the start of Catbells, Maiden Moor & High Spy — a route we rate Easy. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day, and it is not daily before then — a bus on 31 of the 56 days from 7 September. We don’t know when it returns. Confirmed with the operator, 29 August 2026. The last bus is 19:00 towards Keswick (77), every day. 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 Skelgill Bank
No hazard card for this fell. The usual open-fell rules apply: check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected.
Map & nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: Skelgill Bank car park, about 0.5 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Skelgill Bank (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 Skelgill Bank
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.
✎️ Catbells is the fell that makes people fall in love with the Lakes, and its access is the best story on this site: the Keswick launch to Hawse End, or the bus, and you are at the foot of it without a car. Wainwright called it a family fell — but he also noted, drily, that its rocky steps have caught out plenty of grown-ups.
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 Skelgill Bank
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Catbells, Maiden Moor & High Spy route:
On the Catbells: the short way up route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
Places to stay near this fell
From Hawes End: 6 places in Keswick
Other fells near Skelgill Bank
- Ard Crags
- Barf
- Barrow
- Broom Fell
- Castle Crag
- Cat Bells (Catbells)
- Causey Pike
- Crag Hill (Eel Crag)
- Dale Head
- Grasmoor
- Graystones (Graystones North Top)
- Grisedale Pike
- High Spy
- Hindscarth
- Hopegill Head
- Knott Rigg
- Ling Fell
- Lord's Seat
- Maiden Moor
- Outerside
- Rannerdale Knotts
- Robinson
- Sail
- Sale Fell
- Scar Crags
- Wandope
- Whinlatter (Brown How)
- Whiteless Pike
- Whiteside (Whiteside West Top)