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

Troutbeck Tongue - a grassy knoll with a small cairn looking down the valley to Windermere shining under clear blue sky
Wainwright — Far Eastern FellsAlso a Birkett

Troutbeck Tongue

Troutbeck Tongue at 364m (1,194ft) is a long, narrow ridge jutting into the Troutbeck valley, its summit giving fine views of the valley and the Ill Bell ridge above.

364 m
Height
~2–2.5 h
Typical time
+1
Bonus Birkett
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › Troutbeck Tongue

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

364 mWainwright — Far Eastern Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+1 bonus Birkett within 3 km Straightforward in cloud

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

Modelled guidance for the 364 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 16° to 15°C, gusts to 34 mph, 12.7 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌧️
16° / 15°
💨 34 mph
🌧 12.7 mm (100%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌦️
17° / 14°
💨 30 mph
🌧 1.1 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
15° / 6°
💨 27 mph
🌧 0.9 mm (78%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
16° / 4°
💨 24 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (78%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
16° / 5°
💨 15 mph
🌧 3.0 mm (54%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
17° / 6°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (24%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
18° / 6°
💨 17 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 364 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

Troutbeck Tongue

Troutbeck Tongue - a grassy knoll with a small cairn looking down the valley to Windermere shining under clear blue sky
© Lee McCoy

Troutbeck Tongue at 364m (1,194ft) is a long, narrow ridge jutting into the Troutbeck valley, its summit giving fine views of the valley and the Ill Bell ridge above. Wainwright described it as a fell of unusual character — the ridge narrows to a genuine tongue of land with steep sides visible from the valley below. The ascent from Troutbeck village is short and pleasant. A distinctive little fell that rewards the walker with valley views and a sense of the Troutbeck landscape.

Routes up Troutbeck Tongue

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

Sour Howes, Sallows, Yorke, Illl Bell, Frostwick and Troutbeck Tongue in the sun!
27.6 km · ~7.8 hr
Classifications & hill data
Wainwright
Far Eastern
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
364 m
Height
1,194 ft
In feet
NY 4223 0642
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Kirkstone Pass (laybys / inn), about 2.6 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Troutbeck Tongue (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.

2.5 km NWSt Raven's Edge593 m · Far Eastern

Routes over Troutbeck Tongue

Sour Howes, Sallows, Yorke, Illl Bell, Frostwick and Troutbeck Tongue in the sun!Revised
27.56 km · ~1395 m ascent · loop · ~7.5–10.5 h
Summits: Sour HowesSallowsYokeIll BellFroswickTroutbeck Tongue

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

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

The View from Troutbeck Tongue

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 Troutbeck Tongue15 labelled tops shown (3 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWScafell Pike · 21 kmCrinkle Crags · 17 kmThornthwaite Crag · 4 kmIll Bell · 2 kmGray Crag · 5 kmRed Screes · 4 kmSallows · 3 kmSour Howes · 3 kmFroswick · 2 kmSt Raven's Edge · 2 kmBaystones · 2 kmGummer's How · 18 kmStang Hill · 19 kmClaife Heights · 10 kmHampsfell · 27 kmLittle Stand · 18 kmBigland Barrow · 23 kmNewton Fell South · 25 kmSnowdon · 172 km · a handful of days a yearCadair Berwyn · 178 km · a handful of days a yearCarnedd y Filiast · 171 km · a handful of days a year
What you can see from Troutbeck Tongue, by direction
  • North: Thornthwaite Crag (4 km), Gray Crag (5 km)
  • North-east: Ill Bell (2 km), Froswick (2 km)
  • South-east: Sallows (3 km)
  • South: Sour Howes (3 km), Orrest Head (7 km), Brant Fell (10 km), Birch Fell (18 km), Gummer's How (18 km), Raven's Barrow (18 km), Newton Fell North (22 km), Bigland Barrow (23 km), Newton Fell South (25 km), Hampsfell (27 km)
  • South-west: Wansfell (2 km), Baystones (2 km), Claife Heights (10 km), Stang Hill (19 km)
  • West: Lingmoor Fell (12 km), Wrynose Fell (14 km), Pike of Blisco (15 km), Cold Pike (16 km), Great Knott (16 km), Crinkle Crags (17 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (17 km), Crinkle Crags (17 km), Crinkle Crags (17 km), Shelter Crags (17 km), Crinkle Crags (17 km), Little Stand (18 km), Bowfell (18 km), Esk Pike (19 km), Ill Crag (20 km), Broad Crag (20 km), Scafell Pike (21 km)
  • North-west: St Raven's Edge (2 km), Red Screes (4 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (172 km, Wales), Carnedd Llewelyn (160 km, Wales), Moel Siabod (168 km, Wales), Cadair Berwyn (178 km, Wales), Carnedd y Filiast (171 km, Wales), Creigiau Gleision (161 km, Wales), Allt-fawr (175 km, Wales), Y Garn (167 km, Wales).

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 Troutbeck Tongue

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
14Wainwrights in view+3 marginal
172 kmFurthest sightlineSnowdon (Yr Wyddfa) · possible under favourable refraction
—Sea in viewnone from here

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales.

Far horizons
  • Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) WalesSSW · 172 km distant
  • Carnedd Llewelyn WalesSSW · 157 km clear
All 14 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Ill Bell, Baystones (Wansfell), Froswick, Sallows, Sour Howes, Red Screes, Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), Thornthwaite Crag, Gray Crag, Pike of Blisco, Cold Pike, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Bowfell, Scafell Pike

How Troutbeck Tongue’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 Troutbeck Tongue

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

Kirkstone Pass (laybys / inn) — 2.6 km from summit (straight line)
High start for Red Screes (30 min!), Caudale Moor and Middle Dodd.
Directions
Church Bridge, Troutbeck (limited) — 3.9 km from summit (straight line)
For Wansfell, Troutbeck Tongue and the Ill Bell ridge via Garburn Pass.
Directions
🚺 Public toilets (423m) — Free🚺 Public toilets (1904m) — Free☕ The Old Post Office

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 Sour Howes, Sallows, Yorke, Illl Bell, Frostwick and Troutbeck Tongue in the sun! route:

🚌 Loughrigg Avenue (64 m)🚌 Hayes Garden Centre (182 m)🚌 Kelsick Road Stand 1 (279 m)⛺ Ambleside Backpackers (15 m)

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

Buses to Troutbeck Tongue 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.
Stagecoach 555
Kendal – Staveley – Windermere – Ambleside – Rydal – Grasmere – Thirlmere (Wythburn & Swirls) – Keswick
Catch it from: Windermere · Ambleside
Year-round, roughly hourly. The backbone bus of the A591 — ideal for Helvellyn (Wythburn/Swirls), Fairfield, the Central fells and anything around Grasmere/Rydal. From Penrith, take the X4/X5 to Keswick and change.

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

My hikes over Troutbeck Tongue (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

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

Navigating Troutbeck Tongue in cloud

Straightforward

A broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. 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 Troutbeck Tongue compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.

Frequently asked questions about Troutbeck Tongue

Is Troutbeck Tongue an easy walk?

Mostly, yes — at 364 m (1,194 ft) it's one of the smallest Wainwrights, a whale-back hill sitting alone in the middle of the Troutbeck valley. The southern nose is a short, sharp pull; after that it's easy grassy ridge. Its charm is the position: ringed by the high Ill Bell ridge on three sides, it feels like the centre of an amphitheatre.

Where do you park for Troutbeck Tongue?

Limited: Troutbeck village has small honesty/roadside options and Church Bridge a little verge space on the A592 — all fill quickly, so park considerately and never block farm gates or the valley track. Coming by bus (the 508 passes Troutbeck church) sidesteps the problem entirely.

How long does Troutbeck Tongue take?

About 2–2.5 hours as a valley circuit from Troutbeck village. Our walked line takes it as the finale of the big Sour Howes–Ill Bell ridge round (27.6 km) — but on its own it's a lovely short outing, and pairs naturally with Wansfell across the valley.

Is Troutbeck Tongue dog friendly?

With care: our survey of the long round found stiles as well as gates, so a dog may need lifting once or twice, and the valley is working sheep farmland end to end — leads on throughout, especially at lambing time.

Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-07-20 · Suggest a question or correction

Other fells near Troutbeck Tongue

Maps & guidebooks for Troutbeck Tongue

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