Swinescar Pike
Swinescar Pike (411 m / 1,348 ft) is a Birkett (one of the 541 tops in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells), in the Central Fells. The name comes from pike (Old Norse pík, a peak). It also features on the Synge list.
- On a walked route
- West of Grasmere, walked by Lee in March 2025
- Tops in order on it
- Tarn Crag → Codale Head → Sergeant Man → Blea Rigg → Swinescar Pike → Silver How
- Watch for
- “More of the same complex terrain. The dips hold water and require weaving to keep boots dry, though the main path becomes slightly more defined as you progress. Ridge-upon-ridge of rocky knolls, several tarns and a web of faint, poorly-marked paths make Blea Rigg a genuinely confusing place — it's not always obvious which outcrop is the summit.” The route’s note for the leg from Blea Rigg.
Summit conditions on Swinescar Pike
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 7°C, gusts to 53 mph, 8.7 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 Swinescar Pike
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 | West of Grasmere | Castle How & Lang How - Birketts |
|---|---|---|
| Starts from | Grasmere Village | Stock Lane Car & Coach Park (LDNPA, paid) |
| Distance and climb | 15.44 km, 863 m of climb | 10.91 km, 490 m of climb |
| Time, fast to steady | ~4½–6¼ h | ~3–4 h |
| Scrambling | Not mentioned in the route’s notes | Not mentioned in the route’s notes |
| Exposure | Moderate | Not assessed |
| Navigation | Moderate | Hard |
| Steepest stretch | Climb of about 24% at 4.8 km (Moderate) | Descent of about 26% at 6.1 km (Hard) |
| After the summit | Over Silver How | Over Castle How (Raw Pike) |
| Walked or planned | Walked by Lee, March 2025 | Walked in part; km 1.9–3.1, km 5.9–7.0 from the map |
| Car park at the start | Red Bank Road, Grasmere (W&F, paid) | Stock Lane Car & Coach Park (LDNPA, paid) |
| Bus to the start | 555, 320 m walk from Grasmere, opposite Heaton Cooper Studio | 555 at the start |
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 Swinescar Pike?
The shortest way up we hold is Castle How & Lang How - Birketts — 10.91 km, 490 m of ascent, ~3–4 h. On our scale its hardest axes are steepness and navigation — Hard.
All axes: steepness: Hard · navigation: Hard · length: 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 411 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Full 7-day forecast
Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)
Parking & buses for Swinescar Pike
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
3 more places to park near Swinescar Pike
Positions are approximate.
Of the pay-and-display machine tickets sold at New Dungeon Ghyll from 17 August 2024 to 31 March 2026, 33% were bought before 10am (our count of FOI/2026.500 ticket data). Contains public sector information provided by the Lake District National Park Authority and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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, an 80 m walk from the start of Castle How & Lang How - Birketts — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: steepness and navigation). 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.
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 Swinescar Pike
Notes from the West of Grasmere route
If you need to get off (the leg from Blea Rigg): Push forward towards Silver How for the usual descent path.
Quoted from the route page: the note for the leg that reaches Swinescar Pike.
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 Swinescar Pike
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Swinescar Pike
Download GPX Walked in part, March 2025 · km 1.9–3.1, km 5.9–7.0 from the map
Download GPX Walked by Lee, March 2025
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 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.
About Swinescar Pike
My Strava hikes over Swinescar Pike
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 March 2025
Data from Strava.
The summit, from the hill database
What the database records, not an account of the walk.
- Summit feature
- Cairn
- Grid reference
- NY 31488 07005
- Drop
- 18 m, to a col at 393 m (NY312071)
- Parent Marilyn
- High Raise (High White Stones)
- DoBIH note
- Birkett summit could also be rock 200m NW at NY 31365 07178 which is 2m lower than cairn
Source: Database of British and Irish Hills (opens in new tab) v18.6 (CC BY 4.0), hill 3783, entry revised March 2011.
Classifications & hill data
Is Swinescar Pike a Wainwright?
Swinescar Pike 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 Grasmere: 10 places