hikes.guideLake District

411 m · Birkett — Western (not a Wainwright summit) · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Birkett — Western (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Sourfoot Fell

Sourfoot Fell at 441m (1,447ft) is a small fell above the Vale of Eden near Penrith, its open top giving views across the vale to the Pennines and west to the Northern Fells.

411 m
Height
+4
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →
411 mBirkett — Western (not a Wainwright summit)+4 bonus Birketts within 3 km

Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast

Modelled guidance for the 411 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 13° to 10°C, gusts to 22 mph, 1.5 mm of rain forecast.

Fri 11 Sep
🌦️
13° / 10°
💨 22 mph
🌧 1.5 mm (100%)
Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
16° / 10°
💨 42 mph
🌧 24.4 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
☁️
13° / 8°
💨 13 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (74%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌧️
15° / 9°
💨 32 mph
🌧 13.5 mm (96%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌦️
13° / 9°
💨 30 mph
🌧 9.9 mm (100%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
12° / 10°
💨 33 mph
🌧 4.6 mm (96%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌦️
11° / 10°
💨 37 mph
🌧 7.2 mm (98%)

Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 411 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Sourfoot Fell at a glance

Sourfoot Fell

Sourfoot Fell at 441m (1,447ft) is a small fell above the Vale of Eden near Penrith, its open top giving views across the vale to the Pennines and west to the Northern Fells. A Wainwright outlying fell in his Outlying Fells guide, noted for its pastoral setting and wide views. The ascent from the vale is easy and pleasant. A good short walk giving wide views of the Eden Valley landscape.

Routes up Sourfoot Fell

Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.

Classifications & hill data

Birkett
Synge
411 m
Height
1,348 ft
In feet
NY 1348 2336
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Sourfoot Fell a Wainwright?

Sourfoot Fell is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.

Where do you park for Sourfoot Fell?

The nearest car park we hold is Darling Fell, south-west (layby), about 1.7 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Darling Fell, west (layby), 1.7 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 Sourfoot Fell?

The shortest way up we hold is Around Loweswater to Fellbarrow and Low Fell — 10.8 km, 417 m of ascent, about 2.9 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.

All axes: steepness: Severe · navigation: Moderate · exposure: Moderate · length: Moderate · terrain: Moderate.

Parking & buses for Sourfoot Fell

Best parking to hike Sourfoot Fell

Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).

Darling Fell, south-west (layby) — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Darling Fell (0.7 km), Loweswater Fell (Low Fell South Top) (1.0 km), Low Fell (1.3 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Darling Fell, west (layby) — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Darling Fell (0.9 km), Loweswater Fell (Low Fell South Top) (1.5 km), Low Fell (1.6 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Darling Fell (layby) — 1.9 km from summit (straight line)
1.1 km from Darling Fell. With a phonebox.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Layby for Darling Fell (free) — 1.9 km from summit (straight line)
1.2 km from Darling Fell. Added from the 5 Aug 2026 OSM candidate review.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Maggie's Bridge, Loweswater (NT, paid) — 2.3 km from summit (straight line)
Small paid car park for Mellbreak, Hen Comb and the Loweswater fells. Free for NT members (checked Aug 2026).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
If it is full: Kirkstile Inn, Loweswater (free) (0.8 km, 22 m up); Car park for Loweswater Fell (free) (1.0 km); Lanthwaite Wood, Crummock Water (NT, paid) (1.7 km, 37 m up); Darling Fell (layby) (2.9 km, 144 m up)

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 Sourfoot Fell by bus

The 77 stops at Lanthwaite Green Farm (opp). From there it is 3.2 km and 121 m of ascent to the start of Around Loweswater to Fellbarrow and Low Fell — a walk in before the walk. 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 18:03 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.

Stagecoach 77 / 77A “Honister Rambler”
Keswick – Portinscale – Hawse End (Catbells) – Grange – Seatoller – Honister Pass – Buttermere – Lorton – Whinlatter – Keswick (circular)
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 from Windermere/Ambleside or X4/X5 from Penrith)
Seasonal (roughly Easter–October). Brilliant for the North Western fells: Catbells, Dale Head from Honister, the Buttermere fells and Whinlatter.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Hazards on Sourfoot Fell

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

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.

Nearest parking: Darling Fell, south-west (layby), about 1.7 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Sourfoot Fell (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.

0.4 km NNWSmithy Fell392 m · Western
1.0 km SSWDarling Fell392 m · Western
1.1 km SLoweswater Fell (Low Fell South Top)417 m · Western
1.4 km NHatteringill Head - Whin Fell385 m · Western

Routes over Sourfoot Fell

10.84 km · ~417 m ascent · loop · ~2.5–4 h

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.

Places to stay near this fell

Crummockwater Cottages (opens in new tab) guest house

about 0.9 km from the start, in a straight line

Foulsyke was a 16th-century manor house; the three cottages are its former barn and stables, and you reach the courtyard through an arched carriage entrance dated 1797.

What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).

Other fells near Sourfoot Fell