Stone Arthur

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Summited July 2023

Home › Fells › Stone Arthur

504 mWainwright — Eastern Fells+1 bonus Birkett within 3 km

Stone Arthur at 504m (1,654ft) is a craggy rock outcrop on the ridge above Grasmere, its small but distinctive summit giving one of the finest low-level views over Grasmere and Rydal Water in the whole district.

Summit conditions on Stone Arthur

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 55 mph, 11.6 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

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

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 50 mph times our exposure factor of 1.07. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 55 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 (opens in new tab) 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.

Rain, and the becks

Past the line

11.6 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 3 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 22 out of 100, over our in-cloud line of 20. 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 (opens in new tab)

Routes up Stone Arthur

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

Stone Arthur from Grasmere Walked by Lee

6.82 km · ~528 m ascent · ~2¼–3 h · out and back · 1 summit

Moderate effort Hard: steepness

Park: Stock Lane Car & Coach Park (LDNPA, paid) · Bus: 555 at the start

The steep little top above Grasmere, out and back in 6.8 km with 528 m of climbing. Easy for length, navigation and exposure — it is the gradient that makes it, rated hard. About 2¼–3 hours.

Distance and climb are measured from the route’s GPX track, and the time from them by Naismith’s rule; the route page says what each grade rests on. How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 504 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°

55 mph

11.6 mm (100%)

Wed 28 Oct

10° / 6°

37 mph

12.5 mm (100%)

Thu 29 Oct

9° / 8°

28 mph

0.6 mm (33%)

Fri 30 Oct

9° / 7°

29 mph

0.0 mm (23%)

Sat 31 Oct

10° / 2°

12 mph

0.0 mm (18%)

Sun 1 Nov

8° / 2°

13 mph

0.0 mm (10%)

Mon 2 Nov

8° / 2°

16 mph

0.0 mm (0%)

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)

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for Stone Arthur

Parking

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

Stock Lane Car & Coach Park (LDNPA, paid) — at the start of Stone Arthur from Grasmere

Walking base for Lang How, Swinescar Pike, Castle How (Raw Pike) and Stone Arthur — the 'Castle How & Lang How - Birketts' route starts 11 m away. Also serves 'Stone Arthur from Grasmere'. For Helm Crag, Silver How, the Easedale fells and the Far Easedale round. Signed as Stock Lane Car & Coach Park at the entrance. Pay and display (OSM-tagged).

Typically full before 10:00 on fine weekends, Apr-Oct — Lee McCoy, local observation, 9 August 2026.

Directions Something changed here?

If it is full: Red Bank Road, Grasmere (W&F, paid) (0.5 km); Grasmere, roadside layby (free) (0.5 km); Broadgate Meadow car park, Grasmere (0.7 km)

Grasmere (~396 m straight line) — Accessible · RADAR key Stock Lane carpark (~39 m straight line) — Accessible The Little Inn Coffee Shop Grasmere Tea Gardens Thirteen Valleys Kitchen 1769 Bar & Restaurant Tweedies Bar The Distiller’s Arms Grasmere Outdoors Mountain Hi Trespass Mountain Warehouse

Roadside parking for Helm Crag — 1.1 km from summit (straight line)

1 km from Helm Crag. Added from the 5 August 2026 OSM candidate review.

Directions Something changed here?

Stone Arthur (layby) — 1.2 km from summit (straight line)

1.2 km from Stone Arthur.

Directions Something changed here?

3 more places to park near Stone Arthur

Helm Crag (layby) — 1.3 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Helm Crag (0.9 km), Stone Arthur (1.3 km), Gibson Knott (1.9 km). Free (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Helm Crag car park (paid) — 1.5 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Helm Crag (0.8 km), Stone Arthur (1.5 km), Gibson Knott (1.7 km). Paid parking (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Grasmere, roadside layby (free) — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)

Free roadside layby just outside the village, room for about 20 cars. No facilities beyond bins.

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 555 stops at Grasmere, at School, a 120 m walk from the start of Stone Arthur from Grasmere — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: steepness). Last bus: Monday to Friday 20:46 towards Keswick (555); Saturday 20:46 towards Keswick (555); Sunday 18:36 towards Keswick (555). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 September 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 555

Kendal – Staveley – Windermere – Ambleside – Rydal – Grasmere – Thirlmere (Wythburn & Swirls) – Keswick

Catch it from: Windermere · Ambleside

Year-round, roughly hourly. The backbone bus of the A591 — ideal for Helvellyn (Wythburn/Swirls), Fairfield, the Central fells and anything around Grasmere/Rydal. From Penrith, take the X4/X5 to Keswick and change.

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 Stone Arthur

Hazard & Incident Information for Stone Arthur

Checked by Lee McCoy, 14 June 2026. Draws on published material from Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team. Editorial background, not a live callout feed.

Hazard: Moderate

A rocky promontory jutting from the Great Rigg ridge above Grasmere, popular as a short steep climb from the village. The path is steep, gravelly and rocky-stepped, the north-west side is craggy (Rigg Crags), and the true top is easy to walk past on the way to the main ridge. Old lead-mine workings lie in Greenhead Gill below. Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.

Steep, gravelly, rocky-stepped path: The climb from Grasmere is steep with loose gravel and rocky steps, and high bracken can hide the line lower down. Take care with footing, especially descending when it's slippery, and watch for hidden holes under the bracken.
Craggy north-west side (Rigg Crags): The fell breaks into crags on its north-west side (Brackenwife Knotts, Rigg Crags). Keep to the path and back from the steep edges, particularly in cloud or wind.
Old mine workings in Greenhead Gill: Remains of the Elizabethan Grasmere lead mine lie in Greenhead Gill below. If you explore there, keep clear of old shafts, levels and spoil.

Who should attempt this fell: Stone Arthur is a short, steep, rewarding climb from Grasmere — take the gravelly, rocky path carefully (it's slipperiest on descent), keep back from the craggy north-west edge, and watch your footing in the bracken. If you push on to Great Rigg, remember the ground steepens and the weather is harsher up high.

What to watch for: Slips on the steep, gravelly, rocky path, especially descending · Walkers straying toward the Rigg Crags edges in poor visibility · Trips on ground hidden by bracken · Mishaps around the old Greenhead Gill mine workings

Local Mountain Rescue: Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab)

Safety: Always check current conditions, carry proper navigation equipment, and seek qualified instruction before heading onto the fells. In an emergency, call 999, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Report incorrect information (opens in new tab)

Navigating in cloud

Not graded by the model

Our terrain model finds nothing to grade on this summit, so it gives no cloud grade here — that is not a sign of easy navigation. Read this fell’s hazard notes and the route pages before a day in cloud. 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 Stone Arthur 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 (opens in new tab) (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 Stone Arthur

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

1.1 km ESEHeron Pike North Top (Rydal Fell)621 m · Eastern

Routes over Stone Arthur

Stone Arthur from Grasmere

6.82 km · ~528 m ascent · out and back · ~2¼–3 h

Moderate effort Hard: steepness

Summits: Stone Arthur

Download GPX Walked by Lee, July 2023

Picked for its light in: July, November A winter pick assumes the tops are clear of snow and ice on the day, or that you carry winter kit and know how to use it.

Route guide: Stone Arthur from Grasmere →

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 Stone Arthur

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Stone Arthur from Grasmere route:

bus shelter (3 m off the line) bus shelter (8 m off the line) shelter (mapped, not checked; 103 m off the line) Stock Lane at School (47 m from the start, straight line) School (90 m from the start, straight line) bus stop (262 m from the start, straight line) Daffodil House for Dove Cottage (318 m from the start, straight line)

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

About Stone Arthur

The ascent from Grasmere is short but steep, on a gravelly, rocky-stepped path. Our out-and-back from the village is 6.8 km with 528 m of climbing, about 2–3 hours.

My Strava hikes over Stone Arthur

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

A jaunt up Stone Arthur with Laura. 199 to go (opens in new tab) — 5.9 km · 441 m ascent · 1h 43m moving · 8 July 2023

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is Stone Arthur a Wainwright?

Stone Arthur is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.

Selected lists

504 m

Height

1,654 ft

In feet

NY 3475 0923

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 Stone Arthur

The 360° skyline from Stone Arthur

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

The skyline as a list, by direction

North: Dollywaggon Pike (4 km)
South-west: Blake Rigg (8 km), Wrynose Fell (9 km), Pike of Blisco (9 km), Wetherlam (10 km), Great Knott (10 km), Crinkle Crags (11 km), Crinkle Crags (11 km), Crinkle Crags (11 km), Black Sails (11 km), Crinkle Crags (11 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (11 km), Hell Gill Pike (11 km), Great Carrs (11 km), Little Stand (11 km), Swirl How (12 km), Great How (12 km), Grey Friar (12 km), The Old Man of Coniston (14 km)
West: Codale Head (6 km), Pavey Ark (6 km), Low White Stones (7 km), High Raise (7 km), Harrison Stickle (7 km), Thunacar Knott (7 km), Loft Crag (7 km), Combe Head (10 km), Shelter Crags (10 km), Bowfell (11 km), Esk Pike (11 km), Great End (12 km), Ill Crag (13 km), Broad Crag (13 km), Scafell Pike (13 km), Scafell (14 km)
North-west: Ullscarf (6 km), Bell Crags (7 km), High Seat (11 km), Grisedale Pike (20 km), Lord's Seat (22 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (172 km, Wales), Carnedd Llewelyn (159 km, Wales), Moel Siabod (167 km, Wales), Moel y Gamelin (164 km, Wales), Cadair Berwyn (179 km, Wales), Moel Famau (148 km, Wales), Manod Mawr (176 km, Wales), Mwdwl-eithin (161 km, Wales).

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

Sunrise and sunset on Stone Arthur

Stone Arthur waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when the sun is up for 59 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 05:36 against an almanac sunrise of 04:37. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the east-north-east from here (57.1°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 6.32°.

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 light	Almanac sunrise	Difference
Midsummer	05:36 BST ±5.0 min	04:37	+59 min
Equinox	07:03 GMT ±5.0 min	06:15	+48 min
Midwinter	09:20 GMT ±5.0 min	08:32	+48 min

The northern horizon stands at about 5.6° from here.

Last light — when the sun leaves Stone Arthur

The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (on 1 August) last light is only 17 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on Stone Arthur.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
	Last light	Almanac sunset	Difference
Midsummer	21:50 BST ±5.0 min	21:52	-2 min
Equinox	18:10 GMT ±5.0 min	18:26	-16 min
Midwinter	15:50 GMT ±5.0 min	15:49	+1 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 Stone Arthur

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.

38Wainwrights in view+2 marginal

172 kmFurthest sightlineSnowdon (Yr Wyddfa) · possible under favourable refraction

1Sea in viewMorecambe Bay

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales.

Far horizons

Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) WalesSSW · 172 km clear
Carnedd Llewelyn WalesSSW · 156 km clear
Morecambe Bay bay/estuaryS · 35 km in view

All 38 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Heron Pike (Rydal), Great Rigg, Helm Crag, Seat Sandal, Gibson Knott, Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Silver How, Loughrigg Fell, Tarn Crag (Easedale), Calf Crag, Blea Rigg, Sergeant Man, Ullscarf, Pavey Ark, Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), High Raise (High White Stones), Harrison Stickle, Thunacar Knott, Loft Crag, Black Fell, Pike of Blisco, Holme Fell, High Tove, Wetherlam, Bowfell, High Seat, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Esk Pike, Great Carrs, Swirl How, Great End, Grey Friar, Scafell Pike, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Scafell, Grisedale Pike, Lord's Seat, Broom Fell

How the view from Stone Arthur 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 Stone Arthur. 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 Grasmere: 10 places

Frequently asked questions about Stone Arthur

Is Stone Arthur steep?

Yes, for its size — that is the whole character of it. Our route from Grasmere is only 6.8 km but carries 528 m of ascent, and we grade its steepness hard against a length we grade easy. It is a short walk that climbs almost the whole way to the top.

The path is steep, gravelly and rocky-stepped, which matters more coming down than going up. The north-west side is craggy at Rigg Crags, and the true top is easy to walk past.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

Stone Arthur

Summit conditions on Stone Arthur

Wind on the top

Rain, and the becks

Routes up Stone Arthur

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Parking & buses for Stone Arthur

Parking

Buses

Hazards on Stone Arthur

Hazard & Incident Information for Stone Arthur

Navigating in cloud

If you need Mountain Rescue

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Birketts within 3 km of Stone Arthur

Routes over Stone Arthur

On the hill: terrain and water on Stone Arthur

Water & shelter on the way up

About Stone Arthur

My Strava hikes over Stone Arthur

Classifications & hill data

Is Stone Arthur a Wainwright?

Selected lists

The view from Stone Arthur

The 360° skyline from Stone Arthur

Sunrise and sunset on Stone Arthur

Last light — when the sun leaves Stone Arthur

What you can see from Stone Arthur

Places to stay near this fell

Frequently asked questions about Stone Arthur

Other fells near Stone Arthur