Sleet Fell
Sleet Fell at 378m (1,240ft) is a Birkett top above Sandwick (0.8 km to the north) and Boredale (0.5 km to the east), on the south-east side of Ullswater, its open summit giving views towards the Far Eastern Fells.
Summit conditions on Sleet Fell
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 13° to 7°C, gusts to 48 mph, 16.2 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.
The forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →
Routes up Sleet Fell
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Sleet Fell, Low Birk Fell and the Birk Fell tops on the southern shore — five summits in 11.5 km with 790 m of climbing. Hard for steepness and hard to navigate; about 3½–5 hours.
Distance and climb are measured from the route’s GPX track, and the time from them by Naismith’s rule; the route page says what each grade rests on. How we check →
How hard is Sleet Fell?
The shortest way up we hold is Birketts to the South of Ullswater — 11.53 km, 790 m of ascent, ~3½–5 h. On our scale its hardest axes are steepness and navigation — Hard.
All axes: steepness: Hard · navigation: Hard · length: Moderate · terrain: Not assessed · exposure: Not assessed.
These are the route page’s grades, set by the rules on how we grade: length and steepness measured from its GPX track, the others set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap. The route page says which. How we check →
Conditions and 7-day summit forecast
Modelled for the 378 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Full 7-day forecast
Taken 27 October 2026, 08:13 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)
Parking & buses for Sleet Fell
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
2 more places to park near Sleet Fell
Positions are approximate.
Vehicles are left at their owner’s risk: we list places people park and cannot vouch for any of them. Take valuables with you and leave nothing on show.
Buses
The UB1 stops at Martindale Cattle Grid (near), a 550 m walk and 74 m of ascent from the start of Birketts to the South of Ullswater — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: steepness and navigation). Seasonal: the UB1 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. It returns on 22 March 2027. Confirmed with the operator: its last day on 9 October 2026, its return on 16 October 2026. We haven’t published its last bus times, so check the timetable before you rely on getting back — times here are a guide, not a promise.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Hazards on Sleet Fell
Notes from a planned route, not walked: Birketts to the South of Ullswater
If you need to get off (the leg from the start): Simply turn 180 degrees and march straight back down the grassy spur. You have continuous line-of-sight to the valley floor, providing an immediate retreat to the starting lanes.
Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: the note for the leg that reaches Sleet Fell.
We have not written a hazard card for this fell yet, and that is not a sign that it is low-hazard. Read the warnings on the route pages that climb it, check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected. The National Park Authority’s What to pack page, AdventureSmart’s hill walking kit list and Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s safety page are linked from our what to carry guide.
If you need Mountain Rescue
Dial 999 or 112 and ask for the Police, then Mountain Rescue.
Before you call, have ready: where you are (a grid reference if you can – the OS Locate app shows yours on your phone), what has happened, how many of you there are, and your mobile number.
Then stay where you are until the rescue team contacts you.
If you cannot make a voice call because of a hearing or speech impairment, emergency SMS works only if you have registered first: text “register” to 999.
From Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s guidance on calling them out (opens in new tab) (read 26 October 2026).
Map, GPX and nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).
Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.
Birketts within 3 km of Sleet Fell
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Sleet Fell
Quiet tops above the southern shore. The walk starts and finishes at St Peter's Church, Howtown (The Hause), where parking is limited. The Ullswater Steamer to Howtown is the other way in, and takes one more car off the eastern-shore lane: from the pier to the start is about 1.2 km with 105 m of climbing, and the round comes back to the same place, so plan a return sailing from Howtown. (Seasonal timetable; checked 4 Aug 2026.)
Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked
Every line here is a guide, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate for yourself and carry a map and compass. How to use this guide.
On the hill: terrain and water on Sleet Fell
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Birketts to the South of Ullswater route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
About Sleet Fell
Classifications & hill data
Is Sleet Fell a Wainwright?
Sleet Fell is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.
Selected lists
This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.
Lists, height and summit position from the Database of British and Irish Hills; the feet are converted from its metres and the grid reference from that position. How we check →
Places to stay near this fell
- Low Gale (opens in new tab) self-cateringabout 0.9 km
- Howtown Cottages (opens in new tab) self-cateringabout 0.8 km
We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).