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Troutbeck Tongue - the summit cairn on a grassy knoll, with the Troutbeck valley running down to Windermere and the fells around it under a clear spring sky

Troutbeck Tongue

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364 mWainwright — Far Eastern Fells+1 bonus Birkett within 3 km

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.

Summit conditions on Troutbeck Tongue

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 7°C, gusts to 56 mph, 7.5 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.

Against our lines, Tuesday 27 October: wind, cold and cloud from the Met Office UKV 2 km model (daylight hours, as in the verdict above); rain from the summit line’s forecast (the whole day). A tile is large when this top is past its line.

Wind on the top

Past the line

45 mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 43 mph times our exposure factor of 1.05. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 56 mph, before any exposure factor.

The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS describes what wind does to a walker across a range rather than at a line: from about 20–25 mph it starts to affect your balance.

Estimated: it is not calibrated against summit readings, and the two forecasts can disagree by more than a band.

Cloud on the top

Past the line

13 out of 100, the clear-top reading

Averaged over the daylight hours, from the forecast’s humidity and low cloud.

The line Our line: a clear-top reading under 20 out of 100, where our scorer says “summit likely clagged in”. There is no outside threshold to cite; it is our estimate. What cloud does to finding the way: navigating in cloud.

Not an observation: cloud lifts and drops within the hour.

Rain, and the becks

Past the line

7.5 mm of rain over the whole day, midnight to midnight

The same figure as the summit line above and the 7-day forecast.

The line Our line: 6 mm in the day, where our scorer counts a day as soaking. We read rainfall, never river levels: becks in spate.

Open-Meteo’s forecast. It says nothing about rain already in the ground.

Also checked cold: feels like 4 °C, no ice or snow forecast. Under a line is not the same as fine: it means only that these figures are under the lines we use.

Not in these tiles Lightning, river levels, snow or ice already lying, and the ground under your feet. A tile cannot see them, so an empty space here never means they are absent.

Snow figures with a second opinion: Powered by Met Office data

Full 7-day summit forecast ↓

Wainwrights are scored for walking conditions each morning from the Met Office’s UK forecast model, read for each summit through Open-Meteo; the forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com

Routes up Troutbeck Tongue

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.

Sour Howes, Sallows, Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick and Troutbeck Tongue in the sun!Troutbeck Tongue from Troutbeck
Starts fromAmbleside, Low Fold (paid)Town Head, Troutbeck
Distance and climb27.56 km, 1,424 m of climb10.52 km, 519 m of climb
Time, fast to steady~7¾–10½ h~2¾–4 h
ScramblingNot mentioned in the route’s notesNot mentioned in the route’s notes
ExposureHardNot assessed
NavigationModerateModerate
Steepest stretchDescent of about 30% at 16.1 km (Hard)Descent of about 29% at 5.5 km (Hard)
After the summitNo further topsNo further tops
Walked or plannedWalked by Lee, April 2025Planned: drawn, not yet walked
Car park at the startAmbleside, Low Fold (paid)unnamed layby north-west of Sour Howes
Bus to the start555 at the start508 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 →

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.

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 364 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast
Tue 27 Oct
12° / 7°
56 mph
7.5 mm (100%)
Wed 28 Oct
10° / 7°
36 mph
9.3 mm (100%)
Thu 29 Oct
11° / 8°
23 mph
3.0 mm (75%)
Fri 30 Oct
9° / 7°
24 mph
0.0 mm (8%)
Sat 31 Oct
8° / 5°
7 mph
0.0 mm (6%)
Sun 1 Nov
9° / 5°
15 mph
0.3 mm (2%)
Mon 2 Nov
7° / 0°
6 mph
0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for Troutbeck Tongue

Parking

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 stops at Troutbeck church) avoids the parking altogether; check the timetable for your day first.

Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.

Ambleside, Low Fold (paid) — 0.2 km from the start of Sour Howes, Sallows, Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick and Troutbeck Tongue in the sun! (straight line)
Towards Waterhead, a short walk from the centre. Fees: pay and display (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked August 2026). 1h £2.60; 2h £4.40; 3h £5.80; 4h £7.40; 6h £8.80; all day £10.60. Motorcycles free. Park and Explore ticket £23.80 (parking + bus for up to 5 people, same day only). Blue Badge: +1h free. Cash/card/contactless; PayByPhone 9912. 3/7-day passes and permits accepted (W&F council, checked August 2026). Charges apply 08:00-20:00, every day incl. bank holidays. The council's own page is contradictory about access outside those hours - it says both open all day and open from 8am to 8pm - so do not count on getting in before 08:00 (W&F council, checked August 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: Ambleside, Miller Bridge (paid) (1.1 km, 42 m up); Under Loughrigg Road (verge), Ambleside (1.3 km, 48 m up) a few spaces only; Loughrigg Fell (verge, east) (1.6 km, 72 m up) a few spaces only
Sour Howes, north-west (layby) — 0.1 km from the start of Troutbeck Tongue from Troutbeck (straight line)
Nearest fells: Sour Howes (1.5 km), Baystones (Wansfell) (1.6 km), Wansfell (Wansfell North Top) (1.7 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Compacted surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Troutbeck Tongue, west (layby) — 0.9 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Troutbeck Tongue (0.9 km), Wansfell (Wansfell North Top) (1.4 km), Baystones (Wansfell) (1.5 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
4 more places to park near Troutbeck Tongue
Troutbeck Tongue (layby) — 1.2 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Troutbeck Tongue (1.2 km), Wansfell (Wansfell North Top) (1.5 km), Baystones (Wansfell) (1.6 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Troutbeck Tongue car park (free) — 1.5 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Troutbeck Tongue (1.5 km), Wansfell (Wansfell North Top) (1.5 km), St Raven's Edge (1.7 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
St Raven's Edge car park (free) — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: St Raven's Edge (1.5 km), Wansfell (Wansfell North Top) (1.6 km), Troutbeck Tongue (1.7 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Baystones car park (free) — 1.8 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Baystones (Wansfell) (1.3 km), Wansfell (Wansfell North Top) (1.3 km), Troutbeck Tongue (1.8 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate.

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 508 stops at Troutbeck, at Town Head by spring, a 50 m walk from the start of Troutbeck Tongue from Troutbeck — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: steepness). We haven’t published last buses, Sunday or winter service yet, so check the timetable before you rely on getting back.

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.

Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat

Hazards on Troutbeck Tongue

Notes from the Sour Howes, Sallows, Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick and Troutbeck Tongue in the sun! route

  • The eastern and western slopes are both too steep to be used by walkers, and the Kentmere side falls in fans of scree to the River Kent. Don't be tempted to drop off the ridge in either direction; keep to the crest, and leave it only by an established path such as Scot Rake from the col north of Froswick, which our Troutbeck route uses. This route leaves the ridge only by the Scot Rake path, as its stage notes describe.

If you need to get off (the leg from Froswick): Once off Froswick and in the valley, you can skip the climb up Troutbeck Tongue and simply walk the valley track south toward the village.

Quoted from the route page: its warnings and the note for the leg that reaches Troutbeck Tongue.

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.

Navigating in cloud

Not graded by the model

Our terrain model finds nothing to grade on this summit, so it gives no cloud grade here — that is not a sign of easy navigation. Read this fell’s hazard notes and the route pages before a day in cloud. Carry map and compass, and know how to use them.

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 (experimental).

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 (read 26 October 2026).

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).

Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.

Birketts within 3 km of Troutbeck Tongue

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.

2.5 km NWSt Raven's Edge593 m · Far Eastern

Routes over Troutbeck Tongue

Sour Howes, Sallows, Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick and Troutbeck Tongue in the sun!
Summits: Sour HowesSallowsYokeIll BellFroswickTroutbeck Tongue

Download GPX Walked by Lee, April 2025

Warnings: Ill Bell: The ridge turns north-west at the summit, so it is not safe to simply head north off the top — that leads toward steep ground. Among the several tall cairns it's easy to take the wrong line in mist. Take a compass bearing and follow the correct ridge. The eastern and western slopes are both too steep to be used by walkers, and the Kentmere side falls in fans of scree to the River Kent. Don't be tempted to drop off the ridge in either direction; keep to the crest, and leave it only by an established path such as Scot Rake from the col north of Froswick, which our Troutbeck route uses. This route leaves the ridge only by the Scot Rake path, as its stage notes describe. Ill Bell: The eastern side drops almost sheer to the head of Kentmere, with the formidable Rainsborrow Crag hidden below the summit. Keep well back from the eastern edge, especially in cloud or wind — the drop is out of sight until you are on it.

From the hazard notes for Ill Bell, each with its sources.

Route guide →

Troutbeck Tongue from Troutbeck
Summits: Troutbeck Tongue

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Route guide →

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 Troutbeck Tongue

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Sour Howes, Sallows, Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick and Troutbeck Tongue in the sun! route:

Loughrigg Avenue (64 m from the start, straight line) Hayes Garden Centre (182 m from the start, straight line) Kelsick Road Stand 1 (279 m from the start, straight line) Ambleside Backpackers (15 m from the start, straight line)

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

About Troutbeck Tongue

Troutbeck Tongue - the summit cairn on a grassy knoll, with the Troutbeck valley running down to Windermere and the fells around it under a clear spring sky
© Lee McCoy

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.

My Strava hikes over Troutbeck Tongue

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is Troutbeck Tongue a Wainwright?

Troutbeck Tongue is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.

Selected lists

Wainwright
Far Eastern
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
364 m
Height
1,194 ft
In feet
NY 4223 0642
Grid ref

This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.

The summit is also a Birkett.

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 →

The view from Troutbeck Tongue

The 360° skyline 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
The skyline as a list, 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 Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills v18.4 (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on Troutbeck Tongue

Troutbeck Tongue waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when the sun is up for 101 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 06:17 against an almanac sunrise of 04:36. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the east-north-east from here (65.1°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 11.5°.

0°50°60°70°80°06:17
Midsummer. The filled shape is the skyline as seen from the summit; the line is the sun’s path. Where they meet is first light — everything left of that point is the wait.
Times for 2026, in Lakeland clock time (GMT in winter, BST in summer) — and model outputs rather than observations.
First lightAlmanac sunriseDifference
Midsummer06:17 BST ±5.0 min04:36+101 min
Equinox07:40 GMT ±5.0 min06:15+85 min
Midwinter09:06 GMT ±5.0 min08:32+34 min

The northern horizon stands at about 6.0° from here.

Last light — when the sun leaves Troutbeck Tongue

Troutbeck Tongue loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when last light is 58 minutes before almanac sunset — 20:53 against 21:51. The sun goes down to the west-north-west from here (303.2°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 6.21°.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
Last lightAlmanac sunsetDifference
Midsummer20:53 BST ±5.0 min21:51-58 min
Equinox18:16 GMT ±5.0 min18:26-10 min
Midwinter15:28 GMT ±5.0 min15:49-21 min

These are daylight figures, not a descent plan: the light goes on fading for a good while after the sun leaves, and going down in it is a decision about your own ground and party, not about this table.

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 the view from Troutbeck Tongue compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

How the skyline, light and sightlines are computed

Computed, not photographed. First light is the first minute the sun’s upper limb clears this summit’s own skyline and last light the last minute it is still clear of it, both solved against the 360° horizon profile behind The View from Troutbeck Tongue. Almanac sunrise and sunset are the flat-horizon convention. Every time carries a ± band from the 30 m elevation model — it smooths arêtes and cornices, so nothing here claims better than five minutes.

Sightlines from the Copernicus GLO-30 elevation model, which is a surface model: each 30 m cell holds the top of whatever stands there, trees and buildings included, rather than bare ground. 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.

Places to stay near this fell

From Ambleside or Grasmere: 10 places

Frequently asked questions about Troutbeck Tongue

Is Troutbeck Tongue an easy walk? Answered above.

Where do you park for Troutbeck Tongue? Answered above: Parking for Troutbeck Tongue.

How long does Troutbeck Tongue take? Answered above: Routes up Troutbeck Tongue.

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 from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-07-20 · Suggest a question or correction

Other fells near Troutbeck Tongue

Places nearby: Kirkstone Pass · Stock Ghyll Force