Swinescar Pike
Swinescar Pike (411 m / 1,348 ft) is a Birkett (one of the 541 tops in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells), one of the lesser-known Central tops.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 411 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Sat 12 Sep): 15° to 8°C, gusts to 38 mph, 36.1 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 12 Sep 2026, 18:50 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 411 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
Swinescar Pike at a glance
Routes up Swinescar Pike
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Is Swinescar Pike a Wainwright?
Swinescar Pike is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.
Where do you park for Swinescar Pike?
The nearest car park we hold is Silver How, south car park 2, about 1.8 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is New Dungeon Ghyll (LDNPA, paid), 2.0 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 Swinescar Pike?
The shortest way up we hold is Castle How & Lang How - Birketts — 10.9 km, 445 m of ascent, about 2.9 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is navigation — Hard.
All axes: navigation: Hard · steepness: Hard · exposure: Moderate · length: Moderate · terrain: Moderate.
My hikes over Swinescar Pike (Strava)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- Sunrise Summit Stroll with Chris (opens in new tab) — 17.6 km · 850 m ascent · 4h 59m moving · 23 Mar 2025
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Parking & buses for Swinescar Pike
Best parking to hike Swinescar Pike
Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).
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 Swinescar Pike by bus
The 555 stops at Grasmere, at School, 80 m from the start of Castle How & Lang How - Birketts. 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. 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.
Hazards on Swinescar Pike
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.
Map & nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: Silver How, south car park 2, about 1.8 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Swinescar Pike (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.
Routes over Swinescar Pike
🥾 Walked in part — Lee walked this ground in March 2025; km 1.6–2.6, km 4.9–5.8 of this line are from the map.
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.
On the hill: terrain and water on Swinescar Pike
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Castle How & Lang How - Birketts route:
On the West of Grasmere route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
Places to stay near this fell
From Grasmere: 10 places
Other fells near Swinescar Pike
- Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top)
- Blea Rigg
- Bleaberry Fell
- Calf Crag
- Eagle Crag
- Gibson Knott
- Grange Fell (Brund Fell)
- Great Crag (Stonethwaite)
- Harrison Stickle
- Helm Crag
- High Raise (High White Stones)
- High Rigg (Naddle Fell)
- High Seat
- High Tove
- Loft Crag
- Loughrigg Fell
- Pavey Ark
- Pike of Stickle
- Raven Crag
- Sergeant Man
- Sergeant's Crag
- Silver How
- Steel Fell (Dead Pike)
- Tarn Crag (Easedale)
- Thunacar Knott
- Ullscarf
- Walla Crag