Stoupdale Head
Stoupdale Head (472 m / 1,549 ft) is one of Wainwright's Outlying Fells and a Birkett (one of the 541 tops in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells), a top on the fells north-east of Black Combe. It also features on the Synge list.
Summit conditions on Stoupdale Head
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 7°C, gusts to 51 mph, 0.8 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 Stoupdale Head
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Stoupdale Head, White Combe and Stoneside Hill in the far south-west — 12.25 km and 430 m, with a steepest sustained pull of about 22%. The name is earned by the navigation, which is rated hard. Around 3–4¼ 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 →
How hard is Stoupdale Head?
The shortest way up we hold is Awkward Around Swinside Fell — 12.25 km, 430 m of ascent, ~3–4¼ h. On our scale its hardest axis is navigation — Hard.
All axes: navigation: Hard · length: Moderate · steepness: Moderate · terrain: Not assessed · exposure: Not assessed.
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 472 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 Stoupdale Head
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
2 more places to park near Stoupdale Head
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 nearest bus stop we hold is the 505 at Coniston, outside John Ruskin School, 20.4 km of walking from the start — no bus route we hold serves it.
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Hazards on Stoupdale Head
Notes from a planned route, not walked: Awkward Around Swinside Fell
If you need to get off (the leg from the start): The way back is the way you came.
Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: the note for the leg that reaches Stoupdale Head.
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.
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 Stoupdale Head
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Stoupdale Head
Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked
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.
About Stoupdale Head
Classifications & hill data
Is Stoupdale Head a Wainwright?
Stoupdale Head is one of Wainwright's Outlying Fells, not one of the 214 in the Pictorial Guides. It is also 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.
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 →