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576 m · Wainwright — Far Eastern Fells · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Wainwright — Far Eastern FellsAlso a Birkett

The Nab

The Nab at 576m (1,890ft) stands above the head of Martindale, its slopes forming part of the Martindale deer forest — one of the few remaining red deer forests in England.

576 m
Height
~5–6 h
Typical time
+4
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

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576 mWainwright — Far Eastern Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+4 bonus Birketts within 3 km Straightforward in cloud

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

Modelled guidance for the 576 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 16° to 14°C, gusts to 36 mph, 9.2 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌧️
16° / 14°
💨 36 mph
🌧 9.2 mm (100%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
16° / 12°
💨 26 mph
🌧 2.7 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
☁️
15° / 7°
💨 28 mph
🌧 0.1 mm (78%)
Fri 31 Jul
☁️
16° / 3°
💨 25 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (78%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
15° / 2°
💨 11 mph
🌧 6.3 mm (54%)
Sun 2 Aug
🌤️
17° / 3°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (24%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
17° / 7°
💨 12 mph
🌧 0.2 mm (23%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 576 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

About the walk

Key information

The Nab

The Nab at 576m (1,890ft) stands above the head of Martindale, its slopes forming part of the Martindale deer forest — one of the few remaining red deer forests in England. Wainwright described the views across Rampsgill and Bannerdale to Ullswater as very fine. The ascent is from Martindale or over the ridge from Rampsgill Head. A quiet, remote summit with a genuine sense of seclusion. The red deer herds make any visit to the Martindale area memorable.

Routes up The Nab

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

Angletarn Pikes and the Martindale round
22.2 km · ~6.7 hr · Hard
A long, quiet circuit of the Far Eastern fells above Patterdale — over Rest Dodd and out to the remote peak of The Nab, then back across Brock Crags to the twin tops of Angletarn Pikes, and home over Beda Fell and Place Fell. Twenty-two kilometres and six summits in some of the emptiest country in the National Park.
Classifications & hill data
Wainwright
Far Eastern
Birkett
Synge
576 m
Height
1,890 ft
In feet
NY 4342 1519
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Hartsop village (free, donation), about 3.3 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near The Nab (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.

1.6 km ERed Crag711 m · Far Eastern
1.8 km NEGowk Hill471 m · Far Eastern
2.3 km NNEBrownthwaite Crag444 m · Far Eastern
2.6 km ESELow Raise754 m · Far Eastern

Routes over The Nab

Angletarn Pikes and the Martindale roundPlanned
22.23 km · ~1349 m ascent · loop · ~6.5–9 h · Hard
Summits: Rest DoddThe NabBrock Crags (Wainwright)Angletarn Pikes (Angletarn Pikes North Top)Beda Fell (Beda Head)Place Fell

✎️ This is the antidote to Helvellyn on an August Saturday. The Nab is one of the least-visited Wainwrights precisely because of the deer forest, and the reward for the boggy trudge out to it is a summit almost nobody stands on. Angletarn Pikes and its tarn are the prettiest thing in the Far Eastern fells.

⬇️ Download GPX

Best season: Late spring to autumn. The ground between Rest Dodd and The Nab is notoriously boggy and the navigation is committing in cloud — save this one for a clear day with dry ground underfoot.

⚠️ Warnings: The Nab sits in the Martindale deer forest — England’s oldest deer herd. Access is by a permissive route only; keep to it, keep dogs on a lead, and do not wander. During the autumn rut the estate asks walkers to stay away entirely. Check before you go.; The ground either side of The Nab is genuinely boggy — peat hags and wet channels that swallow the path. Expect wet feet and slow going, and do not judge your timings by the distance alone.; A big day: over 22 km and 1,350 m of ascent, with navigation graded hard. The high ground is broad, rolling and short of landmarks — in cloud this is a compass-and-pacing exercise.; Long, remote and thinly walked. You will not meet many people, which is the joy of it and also the point — carry what you need to get yourself out.

Full route guide ↗

✎️ Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet.

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

The View from The Nab

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
Computed 360-degree skyline from The Nab28 labelled tops shown (7 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWScafell Pike · 23 kmHelvellyn · 9 kmSkiddaw · 22 kmNethermost Pike · 9 kmRaise · 9 kmBlencathra · 17 kmGreat Dodd · 11 kmStybarrow Dodd · 10 kmHart Crag · 8 kmHigh Raise · 2 kmThe Old Man of Coniston · 24 kmRampsgill Head · 2 kmDove Crag · 8 kmRed Screes · 8 kmThe Knott · 2 kmBirkhouse Moor · 7 kmRed Crag · 2 kmBowscale Fell · 18 kmRest Dodd · 2 kmLoadpot Hill · 4 kmWether Hill · 3 kmCarrock Fell · 21 kmGreat Mell Fell · 11 kmLittle Mell Fell · 9 kmAngletarn Pikes South Top · 2 kmSwarth Fell · 5 kmSighty Crag · 68 km · clear daysHallin Fell · 5 kmHelvellyn Lower Man · 10 kmHigh Crag · 9 kmFairfield · 8 kmKnowe Crags · 17 kmBirkett Fell · 8 kmKnott · 22 kmTarn Crags Top · 18 kmHartsop Dodd · 4 kmLow Pike · 10 kmGale Crag · 5 kmBeda Fell · 2 kmGowk Hill · 2 kmGreen Hill · 6 kmBroad Law · 112 km · a rare clear dayTinto · 128 km · a handful of days a yearWisp Hill · 84 km · a rare clear dayRoan Fell · 78 km · a rare clear dayDun Rig · 118 km · a rare clear dayPeel Fell · 87 km · a rare clear dayBlackwood Hill · 82 km · a rare clear day
What you can see from The Nab, by direction
  • East: Red Crag (2 km)
  • South-east: High Raise (2 km)
  • South: Rest Dodd (2 km), Rampsgill Head (2 km), The Knott (2 km)
  • South-west: Red Screes (8 km), Dove Crag (8 km), Hart Crag (8 km), Fairfield (8 km), The Old Man of Coniston (24 km)
  • West: Gavel Pike (6 km), St Sunday Crag (7 km), Birkhouse Moor (7 km), Catstye Cam (9 km), Nethermost Pike (9 km), Helvellyn (9 km), High Crag (9 km), Raise (9 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (10 km), White Side (10 km), Stybarrow Dodd (10 km), Ill Crag (22 km), Broad Crag (23 km), Scafell Pike (23 km)
  • North-west: Birkett Fell (8 km), Green Side (9 km), Great Dodd (11 km), Blencathra (17 km), Gategill Fell Top (17 km), Knowe Crags (17 km), Bannerdale Crags (17 km), Atkinson Pike (17 km), Bowscale Fell (18 km), Skiddaw Little Man (21 km), Skiddaw South Top (22 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (22 km), Skiddaw (22 km), Skiddaw North Top (22 km), Knott (22 km), Broad End (23 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Broad Law (112 km, Scotland), Tinto (128 km, Scotland), White Coomb (104 km, Scotland), Ettrick Pen (95 km, Scotland), Wisp Hill (84 km, Scotland), Roan Fell (78 km, Scotland), Cauldcleuch Head (86 km, Scotland), Dun Rig (118 km, Scotland).

Computed from terrain in perfect clarity, not photographed · distances are straight-line.

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

What you can see from The Nab

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
45Wainwrights in view+6 marginal
—Sea in viewnone from here
All 45 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Rest Dodd, Beda Fell (Beda Head), Angletarn Pikes (Angletarn Pikes North Top), High Raise (High Street), Brock Crags (Wainwright), Rampsgill Head, The Knott (High Street), Wether Hill, Steel Knotts (Pikeawassa - Steel Knotts), Place Fell, Loadpot Hill, Hartsop Dodd, Hallin Fell, Birks, Hartsop Above How (Gill Crag - Hartsop Above How), High Hartsop Dodd, Middle Dodd, St Sunday Crag, Little Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top), Birkhouse Moor, Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit), Sheffield Pike, Red Screes, Dove Crag, Hart Crag, Fairfield, Catstye Cam, High Pike (Scandale), Little Mell Fell, Nethermost Pike, Helvellyn, Raise, White Side, Stybarrow Dodd, Great Dodd, Great Mell Fell, Souther Fell, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Bannerdale Crags, Bowscale Fell, Carrock Fell, Skiddaw, Knott, Scafell Pike, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man)

How The Nab’s view compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

Sightlines from a bare-earth terrain model (forests and buildings not included), 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.

Best parking to hike The Nab

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

Hartsop village (free, donation) — 3.3 km from summit (straight line)
For Hartsop Dodd, Gray Crag, High Street via Hayeswater, Brock Crags.
Directions
Cow Bridge, Hartsop (free) — 3.4 km from summit (straight line)
Free car park by Brothers Water — Hartsop above How, Dovedale, Caudale Moor.
Directions

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.

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Angletarn Pikes and the Martindale round route:

🚌 Road End (467 m)

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

Buses to The Nab from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

Stagecoach 508 “Ullswater Bus”
Penrith – Pooley Bridge – Aira Force – Glenridding – Patterdale (summer services continue over Kirkstone Pass to Troutbeck and Windermere)
Catch it from: Penrith · Windermere (summer only)
The key route from Penrith for the Eastern and Far Eastern fells: Helvellyn from Glenridding, Place Fell, the Hartsop fells. The summer Kirkstone extension drops you at the pass for Red Screes and Caudale Moor.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Navigating The Nab in cloud

Straightforward

A rough, rocky summit ringed by crags, with no single obvious way off in poor visibility. Navigation here is relatively straightforward even in cloud — but carry map and compass and know how to use them; a low score never means “safe”.

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 The Nab compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.

Other fells near The Nab

Maps & guidebooks for The Nab

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