Birkett — North Western (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Stile End

Stile End at 447m (1,467ft) is the grassy ridge summit between Outerside and Barrow above the Coledale valley, its open top giving views of the surrounding North Western Fells.

447 m

Height

Bonus Birketts

See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →

Home › Fells › Stile End

Written and walked by Lee McCoy

447 mBirkett — North Western (not a Wainwright summit)+5 bonus Birketts within 3 km

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

Modelled guidance for the 447 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 12° to 10°C, gusts to 31 mph, 2.6 mm of rain forecast.

Fri 11 Sep

🌧️

12° / 10°

💨 31 mph

🌧 2.6 mm (100%)

Sat 12 Sep

🌧️

15° / 10°

💨 44 mph

🌧 23.2 mm (100%)

Sun 13 Sep

🌦️

13° / 9°

💨 20 mph

🌧 0.1 mm (74%)

Mon 14 Sep

🌧️

15° / 8°

💨 33 mph

🌧 12.7 mm (96%)

Tue 15 Sep

🌦️

14° / 9°

💨 32 mph

🌧 13.2 mm (100%)

Wed 16 Sep

🌦️

11° / 9°

💨 33 mph

🌧 5.4 mm (96%)

Thu 17 Sep

🌦️

11° / 9°

💨 37 mph

🌧 8.8 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 447 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Stile End at a glance

Stile End

Stile End at 447m (1,467ft) is the grassy ridge summit between Outerside and Barrow above the Coledale valley, its open top giving views of the surrounding North Western Fells. Wainwright included it as a separate fell, noting its pleasant character on the ridge above Braithwaite. Most naturally combined with Barrow and Outerside for a circuit above the Coledale valley. A quiet, unhurried summit.

Routes up Stile End

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

Coledale Round

16 km · ~5.1 hr · Hard

One of the great north-western horseshoes, and a properly big mountain day from Braithwaite. From the little car park tucked behind the trees on the Whinlatter Pass road — or straight off the bus — a steady wake-up climb leads up over Kinn and Sleet How before Grisedale Pike shows its hand: a steep, craggy pull the map never quite warns you about, with hands needed on rock near the top. From its rocky summit the round opens out — the airy ridge over Hobcarton Crag to Hopegill Head's tiny, wind-blown perch, the broad sweep to Crag Hill and Sail, then a long, satisfying horseshoe back over the quieter tops of Outerside, Stile End and Barrow. Six Wainwrights, a handful of Birkett tops, and some of the best ridge-walking in the Lakes for the effort.

Stile End, Outerside, Causey Pike, Rowling End

9.9 km · ~3.1 hr

Four small Newlands tops in 9.9 km, though 682 m of ascent packed into that makes it steeper than the distance suggests, with one stage averaging 16%. Both the terrain and the exposure are rated hard along Causey Pike's knobbly crest. About 3.1 hours.

Classifications & hill data

Birkett

Synge

447 m

Height

1,467 ft

In feet

NY 2206 2191

Grid ref

The short answers

Is Stile End a Wainwright?

Stile End is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.

Where do you park for Stile End?

The nearest car park we hold is Barrow (layby), about 1.2 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Barrow, north-east (layby), 1.2 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 Stile End?

The shortest way up we hold is Stile End, Outerside, Causey Pike, Rowling End — 9.9 km, 682 m of ascent, about 3.1 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.

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

My hikes over Stile End (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

My knees didn't like that (opens in new tab) — 19.0 km · 1421 m ascent · 5h 33m moving · 16 May 2026

Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.

Parking & buses for Stile End

Best parking to hike Stile End

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

Barrow (layby) — 1.2 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Barrow (0.6 km), Stile End (1.2 km), Rowling End (1.3 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Compacted surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Barrow, north-east (layby) — 1.2 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Barrow (0.6 km), Stile End (1.2 km), Rowling End (1.5 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Compacted surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Stoneycroft Ghyll, Newlands (free) — 1.2 km from summit (straight line)

Roadside car park in the Newlands valley - Causey Pike and Barrow.

Directions Something changed here?

Barrow, north-east (layby 2) — 1.3 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Barrow (0.8 km), Stile End (1.3 km), Kinn (1.7 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Compacted surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Rowling End, north-east (layby 2) — 1.3 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Rowling End (0.7 km), Barrow (0.8 km), Stile End (1.3 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Compacted surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

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 Stile End by bus

The 77 stops at Braithwaite, at Croft Terrace, 70 m from the start of Stile End, Outerside, Causey Pike, Rowling End. Last bus: Monday to Friday 22:27 towards Workington (X5) and 17:37 towards Keswick (77) and 16:37 towards Cockermouth (77); Saturday 00:22 (+1) (after midnight) towards Workington (X5) and 17:37 towards Keswick (77) and 16:37 towards Cockermouth (77); Sunday 20:17 towards Workington (X5) and 17:37 towards Keswick (77) and 16:37 towards Cockermouth (77). 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 Stile End

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.

A note on Coledale Beck

Coledale Beck runs below the old Force Crag mine and carries mine-derived zinc — enough to matter for river life, though the lead and cadmium that would harm a person stay below the drinking limit here. Treat any hill water before drinking (a filter won’t remove dissolved metals); don’t single this beck out as a clean fill-up.

What’s actually in this beck — we mapped every mine-fed one →

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Barrow (layby), about 1.2 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Stile End (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.

1.3 km NKinn374 m · North Western

1.5 km SERowling End433 m · North Western

2.7 km WHobcarton Crag (Hobcarton Head)738 m · North Western

2.8 km ESESkelgill Bank338 m · North Western

3.0 km WNWHobcarton End634 m · North Western

Routes over Stile End

Coledale RoundRevised

16.02 km · ~1108 m ascent · loop · ~5–7 h · Loop · Hard

Summits: Kinn Grisedale Pike Hobcarton Crag (Hobcarton Head)Hopegill Head Sand Hill Crag Hill (Eel Crag)Sail OutersideStile EndBarrow

✎️ The Whinlatter Pass road car park is small and tucked behind the trees — and the bus to Braithwaite makes this an easy car-free round, adding only a couple of hundred metres of road to reach the start.

⬇️ Download GPX

Best season: At its best in clear, settled weather — the airy sections and the broad Crag Hill plateau want good visibility, and they're exactly where care matters most. The lower path up from Braithwaite can be smothered in bracken at the height of summer; in firm winter conditions the Grisedale Pike climb and the exposed tops become a serious proposition for axe-and-crampon walkers only.

⚠️ Warnings: Grisedale Pike's upper climb is steep and craggy — you'll want hands on rock near the top. It's no place to be rushed, or to be in poor conditions. Along Sand Hill and Hobcarton Crag, keep left in cloud: there's a sharp, rocky drop close on the right that's easy to drift towards. Hopegill Head's summit is tiny and exposed — in a strong wind you may have to crouch to claim it. Watch the short grassy ridge at Kinn; a careless step could slide you down the bank. Worth marking on the GPS. Off Sail, take the switchback path down to the col — the alternative Long Comb line dropping to the right looked treacherous; avoid it. High Moss is reliably boggy underfoot.

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.

Stile End, Outerside, Causey Pike, Rowling EndRevised

9.89 km · ~682 m ascent · loop · ~3–4 h

Summits: Stile EndOuterside Causey Pike Rowling End

⬇️ 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.