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

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
+5
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › Stile End

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

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 (Tue 28 Jul): 16° to 14°C, gusts to 36 mph, 4.3 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌧️
16° / 14°
💨 36 mph
🌧 4.3 mm (99%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
17° / 12°
💨 32 mph
🌧 12.5 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
13° / 6°
💨 29 mph
🌧 2.9 mm (87%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
15° / 3°
💨 22 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (86%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
15° / 6°
💨 15 mph
🌧 2.7 mm (82%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
16° / 6°
💨 17 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (35%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
16° / 6°
💨 16 mph
🌧 0.4 mm (23%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 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

About the walk

Key information

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
Classifications & hill data
Birkett
Synge
447 m
Height
1,467 ft
In feet
NY 2206 2191
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Braithwaite village (roadside/small areas), about 2.3 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 · Central
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: KinnGrisedale PikeHobcarton Crag (Hobcarton Head)Hopegill HeadSand HillCrag Hill (Eel Crag)SailOutersideStile 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.

Stile End, Outerside, Causey Pike, Rowling EndRevised
9.89 km · ~682 m ascent · loop · ~3–4 h
Summits: Stile EndOutersideCausey PikeRowling End

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

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

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).

Braithwaite village (roadside/small areas) — 2.3 km from summit (straight line)
Start of the Coledale Horseshoe: Grisedale Pike, Causey Pike round.
Directions
🚺 Braithwaite, Keswick (229m) — Free☕ Middle Ruddings☕ Ivy House☕ Jasper's🍺 Royal Oak🍺 Coledale Inn
Little Town, Newlands (paid, small) — 2.8 km from summit (straight line)
Newlands valley — Catbells, Maiden Moor, Hindscarth, Robinson.
Directions

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.

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Coledale Round route:

🛖 map (25 m)⛺ Hope Memorial Camp (64 m)

On the Stile End, Outerside, Causey Pike, Rowling End route:

🛖 map (6 m)🚌 Police Station (W bound) (11 m)🚌 Police Station (E bound) (22 m)🚌 Thornthwaite Road (N bound) (424 m)🚌 Thornthwaite Road (S bound) (431 m)⛺ Hope Memorial Camp (434 m)

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

Buses to Stile End from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

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.
Stagecoach X4 / X5
Penrith – Rheged – Threlkeld – Keswick – Braithwaite – Cockermouth – Workington
Catch it from: Penrith
Year-round, frequent. From Penrith this is your way into Keswick and the Northern fells — Threlkeld/Scales stops serve Blencathra directly, Braithwaite serves the Coledale fells.

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

My hikes over Stile End (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

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

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 →

Metal-mine water data © Environment Agency (Open Government Licence v3.0).

Other fells near Stile End

Maps & guidebooks for Stile End

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