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. Most naturally combined with Barrow and Outerside for a circuit above the Coledale valley.
Summit conditions on Stile End
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 13° to 6°C, gusts to 53 mph, 9.9 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 Stile End
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.
| Compared | Stile End, Outerside, Causey Pike, Rowling End | Coledale Round |
|---|---|---|
| Starts from | Braithwaite village (roadside/small areas) | Whinlatter Pass road car park (above Braithwaite) |
| Distance and climb | 10.08 km, 692 m of climb | 16.13 km, 1,277 m of climb |
| Time, fast to steady | ~3–4¼ h | ~5¼–7¼ h |
| Scrambling | Hands for a few steps: Causey Pike's top, up and down (km 3.4–6.0). The terrain changes from squelchy peat to loose scree and shattered rock, ending in a short, hands-on scramble onto the rocky "bobble" of the summit. | Hands for a few steps: near the top of Grisedale Pike (km 3.1–3.6). Grisedale Pike's upper climb is steep and craggy — you'll want hands on rock near the top. |
| Exposure | Hard | Hard |
| Navigation | Moderate | Hard |
| Steepest stretch | Descent of about 42% at 6.4 km (Severe) | Climb of about 32% at 3.3 km (Hard) |
| After the summit | Over Outerside, Causey Pike and Rowling End | Over Barrow |
| Walked or planned | Walked in part; km 0.3–2.2, km 5.0–9.7 from the map | Walked by Lee, May 2026 |
| Car park at the start | Braithwaite village (roadside/small areas) | Kinn car park |
| Bus to the start | 77 at the start | 77, 720 m walk from Braithwaite, at Croft Terrace |
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 →
How hard is Stile End?
The shortest way up we hold is Stile End, Outerside, Causey Pike, Rowling End — 10.08 km, 692 m of ascent, ~3–4¼ h. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.
All axes: steepness: Severe · terrain: Hard · exposure: Hard · length: Moderate · navigation: Moderate.
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 447 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 Stile End
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
4 more places to park near Stile End
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 77 and X5 stop at Braithwaite, at Croft Terrace, a 70 m walk from the start of Stile End, Outerside, Causey Pike, Rowling End — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: steepness). As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Keswick (77): Tuesday to Sunday 17:37 to Keswick, 16:37 to Cockermouth. Towards Workington (X5): Tuesday to Thursday 22:27; Friday and Saturday 00:22 (after midnight); Sunday 20:17. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 24 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
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 Stile End
Notes from the Coledale Round route
- 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.
- 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.
If you need to get off (the leg from Outerside): At Low Moss, the col between Outerside and Stile End, leave the main route by taking the path that skirts Stile End to the north-east, descending towards High Coledale and following the track back to Braithwaite, avoiding the remaining summits.
Quoted from the route page: its warnings and the note for the leg that reaches Stile End.
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.
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. In Environment Agency samples taken near our route Coledale Round between 2007 and 2026, no sample put lead or cadmium, the metals that matter for people, above the drinking limit. That is a record of past sampling, not a test of the water today. Treat any hill water before drinking (an ordinary hiking 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).
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 Stile End
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Stile End
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: the start is about 720 m and 87 m of climb up the road from the Croft Terrace stop.
Download GPX Walked by Lee, May 2026
Download GPX Walked in part, May 2026 · km 0.3–2.2, km 5.0–9.7 from the map
Route guide: Stile End, Outerside, Causey Pike, Rowling End →
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 Stile End
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Coledale Round route:
On the Stile End, Outerside, Causey Pike, Rowling End route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
About Stile End
My Strava hikes over Stile End
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
Data from Strava.
Classifications & hill data
Is Stile End a Wainwright?
Stile End 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
From Whinlatter: 10 places in Keswick