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665 m · Birkett — Northern (not a Wainwright summit) · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Birkett — Northern (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top)

Tarn Crags Top at 665m (2,182ft) is a Birkett top on the eastern ridge of Bowscale Fell in the Northern Fells, giving views east across the Uldale Fells and north towards the Solway.

665 m
Height
+2
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →
665 mBirkett — Northern (not a Wainwright summit)+2 bonus Birketts within 3 km

Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast

Modelled guidance for the 665 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 11° to 8°C, gusts to 31 mph, 2.4 mm of rain forecast.

Fri 11 Sep
🌦️
11° / 8°
💨 31 mph
🌧 2.4 mm (90%)
Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
14° / 8°
💨 46 mph
🌧 24.0 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
🌦️
12° / 7°
💨 21 mph
🌧 0.3 mm (48%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌧️
14° / 6°
💨 32 mph
🌧 8.1 mm (84%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌦️
13° / 7°
💨 34 mph
🌧 7.8 mm (75%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
10° / 8°
💨 33 mph
🌧 2.3 mm (57%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌦️
10° / 8°
💨 38 mph
🌧 6.2 mm (74%)

Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 665 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top) at a glance

Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top)

Tarn Crags Top at 665m (2,182ft) is a Birkett top on the eastern ridge of Bowscale Fell in the Northern Fells, giving views east across the Uldale Fells and north towards the Solway. Part of the Back o' Skiddaw fell country. A quiet, open summit on the eastern flank of the Bowscale Fell massif.

Routes up Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top)

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

Classifications & hill data

Birkett
Synge
665 m
Height
2,182 ft
In feet
NY 3404 3105
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top) a Wainwright?

Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top) is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.

Where do you park for Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top)?

The nearest car park we hold is Mosedale / Bowscale (verge), about 1.3 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Tarn Crags Top, north-east (layby), 1.4 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 Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top)?

The shortest way up we hold is Blencathra to Mungrisdale Common and over the back — 17.6 km, 961 m of ascent, about 5.1 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.

All axes: steepness: Severe · length: Hard · exposure: Moderate · navigation: Moderate · terrain: Moderate.

My hikes over Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top) (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.

Parking & buses for Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top)

Best parking to hike Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top)

Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).

Mosedale / Bowscale (verge) — 1.3 km from summit (straight line)
Verge parking for Carrock Fell and the back o' Skiddaw fells via the Caldew valley.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
If it is full: Mungrisdale village hall (donation) (2.7 km); Mungrisdale (verge, by the village hall) (3.0 km); Roadside parking for The Tongue (free) (1.5 km, 81 m up) a few spaces only
Tarn Crags Top, north-east (layby) — 1.4 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top) (1.4 km), Carrock Fell (1.4 km), Round Knott (1.9 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Mosedale / Bowscale (verge, west) — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
Verge parking on the Caldew valley road, 1.2 km west of the other Mosedale / Bowscale verge - for Carrock Fell, Round Knott and the back o' Skiddaw fells. Fee and capacity are unknown: this is a location Lee supplied, not a survey.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Roadside parking for Round Knott (free) — 1.8 km from summit (straight line)
Approx 6 spaces. 1.2 km from Round Knott. Added from the 5 Aug 2026 OSM candidate review.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Tarn Crags Top (layby) — 1.9 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Coomb Height, Knott, Great Calva and Carrock Fell — the 'Great Calva, Knott, High Pike and Carrock Fell' route starts 100 m away. Also serves 'Birketts by Carrock Fell'. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?

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 Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top) by bus

The 509 stops at Mungrisdale, adjacent to Road End. From there it is 3.2 km and 76 m of ascent to the start of Blencathra to Mungrisdale Common and over the back — a walk in before the walk. Last bus: Monday to Friday 22:11 towards Penrith (X5) and 17:07 towards Patterdale (509) and 14:42 towards Hartsop (509); Saturday 22:11 towards Penrith (X5) and 17:07 towards Patterdale (509) and 14:42 towards Hartsop (509); Sunday 18:38 towards Penrith (X5) and 17:07 towards Patterdale (509) and 14:42 towards Hartsop (509). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 509
Penrith ↔ Keswick around Ullswater — calls at Pooley Bridge, Watermillock, Glenridding, Patterdale, Hartsop, Dockray, Matterdale, Mungrisdale and Threlkeld
Catch it from: Penrith · Keswick
The Ullswater side of the Penrith–Keswick corridor, and a second option where we previously showed only the 508. Reaches Helvellyn and Catstye Cam from Glenridding, Place Fell and Angletarn Pikes from Patterdale, the Hartsop fells, and Gowbarrow from Dockray. Frequency and season are not listed here because we have not verified a timetable — check Stagecoach before you rely on it. Note the Troutbeck on this route is the one on the A66 near Penrith, not the Troutbeck near Windermere.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Hazards on Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top)

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

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.

Nearest parking: Mosedale / Bowscale (verge), about 1.3 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top) (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.

1.1 km SEThe Tongue553 m · Northern
2.7 km NNWRound Knott603 m · Northern

Routes over Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top)

17.59 km · ~961 m ascent · loop · ~5–7 h

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.

Places to stay near this fell

Mosedale End Farm B&B (opens in new tab) guest house

about 2.3 km from the start, in a straight line

The nearest bed in the area we can actually evidence, at 2.31 km, and it answers more of our columns from its own pages than anything else here: an EV charge point, a room that sleeps two adults plus two children, a breakfast hamper delivered to the door, picnics, and its own private yard to park in. It also tells you the one thing most pages hide - that there is no bus - which matters on a Mungrisdale start where the alternative is a taxi.

Worth knowing: “Sorry we do not take DOGS or offer help the farmer or work experience days”

They run cameras on their own livestock and wildlife and lend guests a tablet to watch them from bed - a lambing camera in the lambing shed, a badger-sett camera and nest-box cameras.

  • Family rooms “THE GRAINERY SUITE A spacious en-suite bedroom with a king-size bed. Small kitchen area for basic food prep, with kettle, toaster, microwave, fridge, sink, and cupboard storage. Private balcony with outdoor seating.”
  • Packed lunch “Leave the car and walk all day for free. Picnics available.”
  • Parking “Mosedale End Farm is a traditional Lake District white farm house and is set back off the road, behind its own private yard where you may park your car.”

Scales Farm Country Guest House (opens in new tab) guest house

about 3.9 km from the start, in a straight line

It answers more of a wet walker's questions than anything else in this area, and answers them on its own pages: a boiler-room drying room, a private car park for eight, a ground-floor room for mobility-impaired guests, dog-friendly ground-floor rooms with their own exercise field opening straight onto Scales Fell, lockable storage for up to twelve bikes, free loan of poles, compasses and maps, and a bus stop directly opposite. It ranks second rather than first only because it is 1.57 km further out than Mosedale End and is silent on children in everything we hold.

The house is a 1650s farmhouse and barn, converted to a guest house in the early 1980s, and the owners were qualified hill-walking leaders for fifteen years before they bought it.

  • Drying room “We have a boiler room to provide heat and hot water which runs all year. This room is like a mini-sauna and is ideal for drying wet clothes and boots.”
  • Dogs “All three ground floor rooms are dog friendly with direct access to the garden and our own field.”
  • Parking “We have a large off road private car park that can easily accommodate 8 vehicles.”

What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).

Other fells near Tarn Crags Top (Bowscale Fell East Top)