Skiddaw South Top
Skiddaw South Top at 926m (3,038ft) is the southern subsidiary summit of Skiddaw, one of England's highest mountains, giving panoramic views across the northern Lake District, Derwent Water, and the Solway Firth.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 926 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Sat 12 Sep): 12° to 5°C, gusts to 43 mph, 18.4 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 12 Sep 2026, 15:36 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 926 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
Skiddaw South Top at a glance
Skiddaw South Top
Routes up Skiddaw South Top
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Is Skiddaw South Top a Wainwright?
Skiddaw South Top is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list.
Where do you park for Skiddaw South Top?
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.
How hard is Skiddaw South Top?
The shortest way up we hold is Up to Skiddaw Round Trip — 12 km, 799 m of ascent, about 3.7 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Hard.
All axes: steepness: Hard · navigation: Moderate · exposure: Moderate · length: Moderate · terrain: Moderate.
My hikes over Skiddaw South Top (Strava)
2 logged hikes pass over this summit:
- Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Lesser Man, Skiddaw and Bakestall in the sun! (opens in new tab) — 19.2 km · 980 m ascent · 4h 56m moving · 29 Jun 2025
- 102nd Wainwright including Ullock and Skiddaw (opens in new tab) — 13.7 km · 1152 m ascent · 3h 43m moving · 15 Jun 2025
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Parking & buses for Skiddaw South Top
Best parking to hike Skiddaw South Top
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 Skiddaw South Top by bus
The X4 stops at Bassenthwaite, opposite High Side Farm. From there it is 2.5 km and 142 m of ascent to the start of Birketts North of Skiddaw — a walk in before the walk. Last bus: Monday to Friday 20:28 towards Workington (X4) and 18:13 towards Wigton (554) and 09:09 towards Carlisle (553); Saturday 20:43 towards Wigton (554) and 20:28 towards Workington (X4) and 18:24 towards Carlisle (553); Sunday 18:24 towards Carlisle (553) and 16:23 towards Wigton (554). 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 Skiddaw South Top
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: Dodd car park (free), about 2.5 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Skiddaw South Top (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 Skiddaw South Top
✎️ 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. 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.
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 Skiddaw South Top
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Birketts North of Skiddaw route:
On the Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Lesser Man, Skiddaw and Bakestall in the sun! route:
On the Up to Skiddaw Round Trip route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
Places to stay near this fell
From Underscar: 8 places in Keswick