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Sour Howes - a wide panorama from the hummocky summit, the sun low over the fells to the left and Windermere glinting in the distance under a clear sky

Sour Howes

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483 mWainwright — Far Eastern Fells+1 bonus Birkett within 3 km Fewer traps in Clag

Sour Howes at 483m (1,585ft) is a broad, grassy summit above Troutbeck with good views south to Windermere. Wainwright included it in his Far Eastern Fells guide. Combined naturally with Sallows as a gentle circuit above the Troutbeck valley.

Summit conditions on Sour Howes

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 49 mph, 10.8 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.

Against our lines, Tuesday 27 October: wind, cold and cloud from the Met Office UKV 2 km model (daylight hours, as in the verdict above); rain from the summit line’s forecast (the whole day). A tile is large when this top is past its line.

Wind on the top

Past the line

45 mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 42 mph times our exposure factor of 1.06. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 49 mph, before any exposure factor.

The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS describes what wind does to a walker across a range rather than at a line: from about 20–25 mph it starts to affect your balance.

Estimated: it is not calibrated against summit readings, and the two forecasts can disagree by more than a band.

Cloud on the top

Past the line

19 out of 100, the clear-top reading

Averaged over the daylight hours, from the forecast’s humidity and low cloud.

The line Our line: a clear-top reading under 20 out of 100, where our scorer says “summit likely clagged in”. There is no outside threshold to cite; it is our estimate. What cloud does to finding the way: navigating in cloud.

Not an observation: cloud lifts and drops within the hour.

Rain, and the becks

Past the line

10.8 mm of rain over the whole day, midnight to midnight

The same figure as the summit line above and the 7-day forecast.

The line Our line: 6 mm in the day, where our scorer counts a day as soaking. We read rainfall, never river levels: becks in spate.

Open-Meteo’s forecast. It says nothing about rain already in the ground.

Also checked cold: feels like 4 °C, no ice or snow forecast. Under a line is not the same as fine: it means only that these figures are under the lines we use.

Not in these tiles Lightning, river levels, snow or ice already lying, and the ground under your feet. A tile cannot see them, so an empty space here never means they are absent.

Snow figures with a second opinion: Powered by Met Office data

Full 7-day summit forecast ↓

Wainwrights are scored for walking conditions each morning from the Met Office’s UK forecast model, read for each summit through Open-Meteo; the forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com

Routes up Sour Howes

Choose the way up before the car park: these two routes start from two places, and the last two rows give the parking and bus at each route’s own start. Full maps further down.

Sour Howes, Sallows, Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick and Troutbeck Tongue in the sun!Capple Howe & Sallows
Starts fromAmbleside, Low Fold (paid)Corfoot Beck
Distance and climb27.56 km, 1,424 m of climb8.68 km, 490 m of climb
Time, fast to steady~7¾–10½ h~2½–3½ h
ScramblingNot mentioned in the route’s notesNot mentioned in the route’s notes
ExposureHardNot assessed
NavigationModerateHard
Steepest stretchDescent of about 30% at 16.1 km (Hard)Climb of about 26% at 1.5 km (Hard)
After the summitOver Sallows, Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick and Troutbeck TongueOver Capple Howe and Sallows
Walked or plannedWalked by Lee, April 2025Walked in part; km 2.6–3.5, km 5.6–8.6 from the map
Car park at the startAmbleside, Low Fold (paid)Church Bridge, Troutbeck (limited) (free)
Bus to the start555 at the start508 at the start

Times run from fast to steady pace (Naismith’s rule). Scrambling quotes each route’s own notes; “not mentioned” means they do not say, not that the ground has none. Each route’s page has its map, stages and GPX.

Distance, climb and the steepest stretch are measured from each route’s GPX track; the other grades are set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap, and each route page says which. How we check →

Is Sour Howes a hard walk?

Not to climb. Our round with Capple Howe and Sallows is 8.7 km with 490 m of ascent, which is a short outing by Lakeland standards, though the climb to Sour Howes has a steep stretch of about 27%, and we grade the round’s steepness hard.

The difficulty is finding your way, and we grade the navigation on that round hard. This is a broad top of low rocky knolls and old walls with no obvious summit among them, and in cloud one hummock looks much like the next.

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 483 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast
Tue 27 Oct
12° / 6°
49 mph
10.8 mm (100%)
Wed 28 Oct
10° / 7°
34 mph
5.3 mm (100%)
Thu 29 Oct
10° / 7°
19 mph
1.5 mm (75%)
Fri 30 Oct
8° / 3°
20 mph
0.3 mm (8%)
Sat 31 Oct
7° / 3°
5 mph
0.0 mm (6%)
Sun 1 Nov
9° / 4°
15 mph
0.0 mm (2%)
Mon 2 Nov
7° / 1°
8 mph
0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for Sour Howes

Parking

Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.

Ambleside, Low Fold (paid) — 0.2 km from the start of Sour Howes, Sallows, Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick and Troutbeck Tongue in the sun! (straight line)
Towards Waterhead, a short walk from the centre. Fees: pay and display (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked August 2026). 1h £2.60; 2h £4.40; 3h £5.80; 4h £7.40; 6h £8.80; all day £10.60. Motorcycles free. Park and Explore ticket £23.80 (parking + bus for up to 5 people, same day only). Blue Badge: +1h free. Cash/card/contactless; PayByPhone 9912. 3/7-day passes and permits accepted (W&F council, checked August 2026). Charges apply 08:00-20:00, every day incl. bank holidays. The council's own page is contradictory about access outside those hours - it says both open all day and open from 8am to 8pm - so do not count on getting in before 08:00 (W&F council, checked August 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: Ambleside, Miller Bridge (paid) (1.1 km, 42 m up); Under Loughrigg Road (verge), Ambleside (1.3 km, 48 m up) a few spaces only; Loughrigg Fell (verge, east) (1.6 km, 72 m up) a few spaces only
Church Bridge, Troutbeck (limited) — at the start of Capple Howe & Sallows
For Wansfell, Troutbeck Tongue and the Ill Bell ridge via Garburn Pass.
Directions Something changed here?
Public toilets (~641 m straight line) — Free Public toilets (~1879 m straight line) — Free The Old Post Office
Sour Howes (layby) — 1.4 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Sour Howes, Capple Howe and Sallows — the 'Capple Howe & Sallows' route starts 496 m away. Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
3 more places to park near Sour Howes
Sour Howes, west (layby) — 1.4 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Sour Howes, Capple Howe and Sallows — the 'Capple Howe & Sallows' route starts 227 m away. Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Sour Howes, north-west (layby) — 1.5 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Sour Howes (1.5 km), Baystones (Wansfell) (1.6 km), Wansfell (Wansfell North Top) (1.7 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Compacted surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Baystones (layby) — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Baystones (Wansfell) (1.4 km), Wansfell (Wansfell North Top) (1.5 km), Sour Howes (1.7 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?

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 508 stops at Troutbeck Jesus Church (near), a 40 m walk from the start of Capple Howe & Sallows — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: steepness and navigation). The last bus is 17:18, towards Penrith, every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 30 August 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 508 “Ullswater Bus”
Penrith – Pooley Bridge – Aira Force – Glenridding – Patterdale (summer services continue over Kirkstone Pass to Troutbeck and Windermere)
Catch it from: Penrith · Windermere (summer only)
The key route from Penrith for the Eastern and Far Eastern fells: Helvellyn from Glenridding, Place Fell, the Hartsop fells. The summer Kirkstone extension drops you at the pass for Red Screes and Caudale Moor.

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

Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat

Hazards on Sour Howes

Notes from the Sour Howes, Sallows, Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick and Troutbeck Tongue in the sun! route

  • The eastern and western slopes are both too steep to be used by walkers, and the Kentmere side falls in fans of scree to the River Kent. Don't be tempted to drop off the ridge in either direction; keep to the crest, and leave it only by an established path such as Scot Rake from the col north of Froswick, which our Troutbeck route uses. This route leaves the ridge only by the Scot Rake path, as its stage notes describe.

If you need to get off (the leg from the start): Before reaching the Garburn Pass, you can simply turn around in Troutbeck and use the road or low-level paths to return to Ambleside.

Quoted from the route page: its warnings and the note for the leg that reaches Sour Howes.

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.

Navigating in cloud

Fewer traps in cloud

Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of near-level ground around the summit. This top is in the lowest of the index’s four bands, and a low band never means “safe”: 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 Sour Howes compares with all 214: the Clag Index (experimental).

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 (read 26 October 2026).

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).

Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.

Birketts within 3 km of Sour Howes

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.

0.6 km SECapple Howe445 m · Far Eastern

Routes over Sour Howes

Capple Howe & Sallows
Summits: Sour HowesCapple HoweSallows

Download GPX Walked in part, April 2025 · km 2.6–3.5, km 5.6–8.6 from the map

Route guide →

Sour Howes, Sallows, Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick and Troutbeck Tongue in the sun!
Summits: Sour HowesSallowsYokeIll BellFroswickTroutbeck Tongue

Download GPX Walked by Lee, April 2025

Warnings: Ill Bell: The ridge turns north-west at the summit, so it is not safe to simply head north off the top — that leads toward steep ground. Among the several tall cairns it's easy to take the wrong line in mist. Take a compass bearing and follow the correct ridge. The eastern and western slopes are both too steep to be used by walkers, and the Kentmere side falls in fans of scree to the River Kent. Don't be tempted to drop off the ridge in either direction; keep to the crest, and leave it only by an established path such as Scot Rake from the col north of Froswick, which our Troutbeck route uses. This route leaves the ridge only by the Scot Rake path, as its stage notes describe. Ill Bell: The eastern side drops almost sheer to the head of Kentmere, with the formidable Rainsborrow Crag hidden below the summit. Keep well back from the eastern edge, especially in cloud or wind — the drop is out of sight until you are on it.

From the hazard notes for Ill Bell, each with its sources.

Route guide →

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 Sour Howes

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Capple Howe & Sallows route:

Jesus Church at Corfoot Beck (17 m from the start, straight line) Nursery School (141 m from the start, straight line) Limefitt Park (305 m from the start, straight line) Limefitt Park Camp Site (314 m from the start, straight line)

On the Sour Howes, Sallows, Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick and Troutbeck Tongue in the sun! route:

Loughrigg Avenue (64 m from the start, straight line) Hayes Garden Centre (182 m from the start, straight line) Kelsick Road Stand 1 (279 m from the start, straight line) Ambleside Backpackers (15 m from the start, straight line)

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

About Sour Howes

Sour Howes - a wide panorama from the hummocky summit, the sun low over the fells to the left and Windermere glinting in the distance under a clear sky
© Lee McCoy

My Strava hikes over Sour Howes

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is Sour Howes a Wainwright?

Sour Howes is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list and the Synge list.

Selected lists

Wainwright
Far Eastern
Birkett
Synge
483 m
Height
1,585 ft
In feet
NY 4276 0322
Grid ref

This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.

The summit is also a Birkett.

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 →

The view from Sour Howes

The 360° skyline from Sour Howes

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.

drag to pan · arrow keys
Computed 360-degree skyline from Sour Howes36 labelled tops shown (5 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWScafell Pike · 22 kmGreat Gable · 23 kmFairfield · 11 kmCrinkle Crags · 18 kmThe Old Man of Coniston · 16 kmSwirl How · 16 kmThornthwaite Crag · 7 kmHarter Fell · 7 kmRed Screes · 6 kmGreat Rigg · 10 kmStony Cove Pike · 7 kmIll Bell · 5 kmDale Head · 24 kmLow White Stones · 16 kmKentmere Pike · 6 kmBirkett Fell · 18 kmGray Crag · 8 kmTarn Crag · 8 kmGrey Crag · 8 kmHeron Pike North Top · 9 kmBlack Combe · 34 km · clear daysGreat Yarlside · 11 kmSwinklebank Crag · 8 kmHard Knott · 20 kmWhite Howe · 10 kmIngleborough · 42 km · clear daysWhernside · 38 km · clear daysWard's Stone · 47 km · clear daysThe Calf · 25 kmStickle Pike · 24 kmWild Boar Fell · 33 km · clear daysTop o' Selside · 16 kmGummer's How · 15 kmGreat Whernside · 64 km · clear daysHampsfell · 24 kmHigh Knott · 4 kmGreat End · 21 kmBrim Fell · 16 kmLooking Steads · 20 kmCaudale Moor · 7 kmLittle Stand · 18 kmUllscarf · 16 kmFroswick · 5 kmYoke · 4 kmLittle Carrs · 16 kmMiddle Dodd · 7 kmWalna Scar · 18 kmShipman Knotts · 5 kmnameless · 8 kmThe Forest · 10 kmSallows · 1 kmLow Pike · 7 kmStang Hill · 17 kmCarron Crag · 14 kmWhiteside Pike · 10 kmnameless · 8 kmFair Snape Fell · 58 km · clear daysHolme Fell · 12 kmClaife Heights · 7 kmReston Scar · 6 kmGrandsire · 6 kmnameless · 6 kmLatterbarrow · 7 kmWhite Hill · 51 km · clear daysOrrest Head · 4 kmNewton Fell North · 19 kmSchool Knott · 6 kmSnowdon · 170 km · a handful of days a yearArenig Fawr · 177 km · a handful of days a yearPendle Hill · 72 km · a rare clear dayMoel y Gamelin · 159 km · a handful of days a yearBoulsworth Hill · 84 km · a rare clear day
The skyline as a list, by direction
  • North: Ill Bell (5 km), Thornthwaite Crag (7 km), Stony Cove Pike (7 km), Caudale Moor (7 km)
  • North-east: Harter Fell (7 km)
  • West: Wetherlam (14 km), Black Sails (15 km), Sergeant Man (15 km), Harrison Stickle (15 km), Swirl How (16 km), Great Carrs (16 km), Great How (16 km), The Old Man of Coniston (16 km), Brim Fell (16 km), Little Stand (18 km), Crinkle Crags (18 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (18 km), Crinkle Crags (18 km), Crinkle Crags (18 km), Shelter Crags (18 km), Crinkle Crags (18 km), Bowfell (19 km), Looking Steads (20 km), Esk Pike (20 km), Allen Crags (20 km), Great End (21 km), Ill Crag (21 km), Broad Crag (21 km), Scafell Pike (22 km), Scafell (22 km), Green Gable (23 km), Great Gable (23 km), Pillar (27 km)
  • North-west: Red Screes (6 km), Great Rigg (10 km), Fairfield (11 km), Codale Head (15 km), High Raise (16 km), Low White Stones (16 km), Dale Head (24 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (170 km, Wales), Carnedd Llewelyn (158 km, Wales), Moel Siabod (165 km, Wales), Arenig Fawr (177 km, Wales), Craig Cwm Silyn (178 km, Wales), Pendle Hill (72 km, England), Moel y Gamelin (159 km, Wales), Cadair Berwyn (174 km, Wales).

Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills v18.4 (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on Sour Howes

Sour Howes sits close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its longest wait of the modelled year (at midsummer) first light is only 14 minutes after almanac sunrise, so the published sunrise time is a fair guide here.

0°30°40°50°60°70°04:51
Midsummer. The filled shape is the skyline as seen from the summit; the line is the sun’s path. Where they meet is first light — everything left of that point is the wait.
Times for 2026, in Lakeland clock time (GMT in winter, BST in summer) — and model outputs rather than observations.
First lightAlmanac sunriseDifference
Midsummer04:51 BST ±5.0 min04:37+14 min
Equinox06:15 GMT ±5.0 min06:15—
Midwinter08:32 GMT ±5.0 min08:31+1 min

The northern horizon stands at about 2.05° from here.

Last light — when the sun leaves Sour Howes

The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (at midsummer) last light is only 10 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on Sour Howes.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
Last lightAlmanac sunsetDifference
Midsummer21:41 BST ±5.0 min21:51-10 min
Equinox18:20 GMT ±5.0 min18:25-5 min
Midwinter15:55 GMT ±5.0 min15:49+6 min

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 Sour Howes

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
54Wainwrights in view+2 marginal
170 kmFurthest sightlineSnowdon (Yr Wyddfa) · possible under favourable refraction
2Sea in viewIrish Sea, Morecambe Bay

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales.

Far horizons
  • Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) WalesSSW · 170 km clear
  • Carnedd Llewelyn WalesSSW · 154 km clear
  • Irish Sea open waterSW · 63 km in view
  • Ingleborough Yorkshire DalesSE · 43 km clear
  • Whernside Yorkshire DalesSE · 37 km clear
  • Morecambe Bay bay/estuarySSW · 31 km in view
All 54 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Sallows, Baystones (Wansfell), Troutbeck Tongue, Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick, Kentmere Pike, Red Screes, Thornthwaite Crag, Harter Fell (Mardale), Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), Middle Dodd, Low Pike, High Pike (Scandale), Grey Crag (Sleddale Fell), Nab Scar, Gray Crag, Heron Pike (Rydal), Black Fell, Great Rigg, Fairfield, Holme Fell, Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), Blea Rigg, Tarn Crag (Easedale), Wetherlam, Calf Crag, Pavey Ark, Sergeant Man, Harrison Stickle, Thunacar Knott, Loft Crag, Swirl How, Pike of Blisco, Great Carrs, Pike of Stickle, High Raise (High White Stones), Ullscarf, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Brim Fell, Cold Pike, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Rossett Pike, Bowfell, Esk Pike, Hard Knott, Allen Crags, Great End, Scafell Pike, Scafell, Green Gable, Great Gable, Dale Head, Pillar

How the view from Sour Howes compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

How the skyline, light and sightlines are computed

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 Sour Howes. 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.

Sightlines from the Copernicus GLO-30 elevation model, which is a surface model: each 30 m cell holds the top of whatever stands there, trees and buildings included, rather than bare ground. 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 Ambleside or Grasmere: 9 places · From Troutbeck: 1 place in Ambleside

Frequently asked questions about Sour Howes

Is Sour Howes a hard walk? Answered above.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction

Other fells near Sour Howes

Places nearby: Troutbeck · Kentmere