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723 m · Wainwright — Central Fells · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Ullscarf - a broad, flat moorland of rough brown grass with an old fence post, distant hazy fells beyond under high cloud
Wainwright — Central FellsAlso a Birkett

Ullscarf

Ullscarf at 726m (2,382ft) is the quietest and most remote of the Central Fells, a broad, heathery plateau above the headwaters of Wyth Burn that Wainwright described as giving an unfrequented and peaceful summit with outstanding views in all directions.

723 m
Height
~3–4 h
Typical time
+9
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › Ullscarf

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

723 mWainwright — Central Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+9 bonus Birketts within 3 km Severe in cloud

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

Modelled guidance for the 723 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 15° to 13°C, gusts to 35 mph, 9.3 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌧️
15° / 13°
💨 35 mph
🌧 9.3 mm (100%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
14° / 11°
💨 27 mph
🌧 5.0 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
12° / 5°
💨 28 mph
🌧 1.3 mm (78%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
14° / 1°
💨 24 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (78%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
14° / 3°
💨 15 mph
🌧 3.6 mm (54%)
Sun 2 Aug
🌫️
15° / 5°
💨 19 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (24%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
15° / 5°
💨 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 723 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

Ullscarf

Ullscarf - a broad, flat moorland of rough brown grass with an old fence post, distant hazy fells beyond under high cloud
© Lee McCoy

Ullscarf at 726m (2,382ft) is the quietest and most remote of the Central Fells, a broad, heathery plateau above the headwaters of Wyth Burn that Wainwright described as giving an unfrequented and peaceful summit with outstanding views in all directions. Its isolated position between Thirlmere, Borrowdale and Langdale means it sees relatively few visitors despite its height. The views north to Skiddaw and east to the Helvellyn range are particularly fine. Approached most naturally from Thirlmere or from the Greenup Edge path from Borrowdale — a good choice for those seeking solitude on the Central Fells.

Routes up Ullscarf

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

Ullscarf, Eagle Crag & Sergeant's Crag
14.8 km · ~4.2 hr
A rugged ~15 km round from Stonethwaite over three Wainwrights — the bold rocky nose of Eagle Crag, neighbouring Sergeant's Crag, and the broad whaleback of Ullscarf — returning down the quiet head of Borrowdale.
Classifications & hill data
Wainwright
Central
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
Nuttall
HuMP
723 m
Height
2,372 ft
In feet
NY 2914 1217
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Stonethwaite (roadside, limited), about 3.4 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Ullscarf (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.

0.8 km NNWColdbarrow Fell - High Saddle675 m · Central
1.2 km NNWLow Saddle656 m · Central
1.2 km NNEStanding Crag611 m · Central
1.3 km SWLining Crag542 m · Central
2.1 km EWythburn Fell508 m · Central
2.2 km NNEBell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)559 m · Central
2.3 km SSWLow White Stones731 m · Central
2.7 km NWatendlath Fell (Long Moss)515 m · Central
2.8 km NNEBrown Rigg462 m · Central

Routes over Ullscarf

Ullscarf, Eagle Crag & Sergeant's CragRevised
14.83 km · ~720 m ascent · loop · ~4–5.5 h
Summits: Lining CragUllscarfSergeant's CragEagle Crag

✎️ Walked and described first-hand by Lee. A serious round: the navigation over Ullscarf and Greenup Edge is boggy and featureless (a compass is essential in cloud), and the direct Eagle Crag line is steep and intricate — good-weather, sure-footed terrain. Carry OS Explorer OL4.

⬇️ Download GPX

⚠️ Warnings: The direct Eagle Crag route (described here in descent) is a steep, intricate line of rock terraces and a wet gully that guidebooks recommend for ascent only, and only in good weather — consider walking the round the other way to climb it, and avoid it altogether in the wet.; On Eagle Crag's terraces, don't go too far right where the terrace narrows above steep drops; sight each terrace before committing.; The Bleak How step-stile has a rotted lower step — a big step down; take care and lift or assist dogs.; Lining Crag's north face is near-vertical into Greenup Gill with little warning from the grassy top — keep back from the lip.; Greenup Edge and the Ullscarf plateau are boggy and featureless — serious navigation in mist; rely on the old fence posts, cairns and bearings.

Full route guide ↗

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

The View from Ullscarf

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 Ullscarf36 labelled tops shown (9 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWScafell Pike · 9 kmHelvellyn · 6 kmSkiddaw · 17 kmHelvellyn Lower Man · 6 kmBowfell · 7 kmGreat Gable · 8 kmPillar · 12 kmNethermost Pike · 6 kmEsk Pike · 7 kmHigh Crag · 5 kmRaise · 7 kmFairfield · 7 kmBlencathra · 16 kmCrinkle Crags · 8 kmDollywaggon Pike · 6 kmGreat Dodd · 10 kmGrasmoor · 14 kmStybarrow Dodd · 8 kmRed Pike · 13 kmLingmell · 9 kmHigh Stile · 13 kmThe Old Man of Coniston · 14 kmRampsgill Head · 15 kmDove Crag · 8 kmGrisedale Pike · 14 kmGlaramara · 5 kmRed Screes · 11 kmSail · 12 kmWetherlam · 11 kmHigh Raise · 3 kmDale Head · 8 kmClough Head · 11 kmLonscale Fell · 15 kmKnott · 21 kmUllock Pike · 17 kmLord's Seat · 17 kmGreat End · 8 kmScoat Fell · 13 kmPike de Bield · 8 kmKnowe Crags · 15 kmKirk Fell · 10 kmGreat Carrs · 11 kmGreat Rigg · 7 kmBlack Sails · 11 kmHigh Crag · 11 kmRobinson · 10 kmHobcarton Crag · 14 kmCombe Head · 4 kmJenkin Hill · 15 kmGrey Knotts · 7 kmBannerdale Crags · 17 kmDodd · 13 kmThe Tongue · 19 kmCofa Pike · 7 kmGavel Fell · 19 kmCrag Fell · 20 kmSeat Sandal · 5 kmCriffel · 60 km · clear daysHigh Pike · 9 kmRossett Pike · 6 kmIngleborough · 59 km · clear daysHeron Pike North Top · 7 kmHeron Pike · 8 kmWhernside · 54 km · clear daysWard's Stone · 61 km · clear daysTarn Crag · 3 kmBlea Rigg · 4 kmWhinlatter Top · 16 kmCastle How · 5 kmLingmoor Fell · 8 kmBarf · 16 kmBlake Rigg · 11 kmBaugh Fell · 49 km · clear daysLoughrigg Fell · 9 kmCaermote Hill · 27 kmGrandsire · 20 kmWhite Hill · 66 km · clear daysCairnsmore of Carsphairn · 111 km · a rare clear dayGreen Lowther · 107 km · a rare clear dayBoulsworth Hill · 100 km · a rare clear dayCairn Table · 126 km · a handful of days a yearSighty Crag · 75 km · a rare clear dayGreat Whernside · 81 km · a rare clear dayFair Snape Fell · 72 km · a rare clear dayLarriston Fells · 85 km · a rare clear dayBillinge Hill · 113 km · a rare clear day
What you can see from Ullscarf, by direction
  • North: Gategill Fell Top (15 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (16 km), Skiddaw Little Man (16 km), Blencathra (16 km), Skiddaw South Top (17 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (17 km), Skiddaw (17 km), Skiddaw North Top (17 km)
  • North-east: Helvellyn Lower Man (6 km), Helvellyn (6 km), White Side (6 km), Raise (7 km), Stybarrow Dodd (8 km), Great Dodd (10 km)
  • East: High Crag (5 km), Dollywaggon Pike (6 km), Nethermost Pike (6 km), Fairfield (7 km)
  • South-west: Esk Pike (7 km), Bowfell (7 km), Great End (8 km), Pike de Bield (8 km), Crinkle Crags (8 km), Crinkle Crags (8 km), Crinkle Crags (8 km), Broad Crag (9 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (9 km), Scafell Pike (9 km), Lingmell (9 km)
  • West: Great Gable (8 km), Pillar (12 km), High Stile (12 km), Black Crag (13 km), Red Pike (13 km), High Stile (13 km), Scoat Fell (13 km), Steeple (13 km)
  • North-west: Crag Hill (13 km), Eel Crag (13 km), Grasmoor (14 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (111 km, Scotland), Green Lowther (107 km, Scotland), Queensberry (93 km, Scotland), Boulsworth Hill (100 km, England), Cairn Table (126 km, Scotland), Sighty Crag (75 km, England), Great Whernside (81 km, England), Wether Hill (101 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 Ullscarf

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
78Wainwrights in view+31 marginal
61 kmFurthest sightlineCriffel
2Sea in viewSolway Firth, Morecambe Bay

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Scotland.

Far horizons
  • Criffel ScotlandNW · 61 km distant
  • Ingleborough Yorkshire DalesSE · 59 km clear
  • Whernside Yorkshire DalesSE · 54 km clear
  • Solway Firth bay/estuaryNNW · 50 km in view
  • Morecambe Bay bay/estuaryS · 40 km in view
All 78 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Eagle Crag, Sergeant's Crag, High Raise (High White Stones), Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Tarn Crag (Easedale), Sergeant Man, Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, Blea Rigg, Glaramara, Dollywaggon Pike, Nethermost Pike, Castle Crag, Helvellyn, High Seat, Rossett Pike, Stone Arthur, Silver How, Allen Crags, Fairfield, Base Brown, Raven Crag, High Spy, Esk Pike, Bowfell, Bleaberry Fell, Great End, Heron Pike (Rydal), Dale Head, Brandreth, Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), Green Gable, Nab Scar, Great Gable, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Hindscarth, Fleetwith Pike, High Pike (Scandale), Cat Bells (Catbells), Loughrigg Fell, Scafell Pike, Lingmell, Kirk Fell, High Rigg (Naddle Fell), Robinson, Wetherlam, High Crag (Buttermere), Causey Pike, Great Carrs, Barrow, Black Fell, Swirl How, Holme Fell, Scar Crags, Pillar, Red Pike (Wasdale), High Stile, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Wandope, Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), Steeple, Red Pike (Buttermere), Brim Fell, Grasmoor, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Haycock, Lonscale Fell, Dodd (Skiddaw), Sour Howes, Whinlatter (Brown How - Whinlatter), Barf, Lord's Seat, Ullock Pike, Bannerdale Crags, Broom Fell, Gavel Fell, Great Calva, Crag Fell, Knott

How Ullscarf’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 Ullscarf

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

Stonethwaite (roadside, limited) — 3.4 km from summit (straight line)
Small roadside area near the hamlet — Eagle Crag, Sergeant's Crag, Langstrath approaches.
Directions
🚺 Rosthwaite Village (1156m) — Free · Accessible☕ Peathouse Tea & Coffee Shop🍺 The Langstrath Inn
Wythburn Church, Thirlmere (paid) — 3.5 km from summit (straight line)
Direct forest path up Helvellyn's south ridge (Comb Crags).
Directions
🚺 Dob Gill Car Park (931m) — Free

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 Ullscarf, Eagle Crag & Sergeant's Crag route:

🚌 Stonethwaite Village (237 m)🚌 Chapel Howe Road End (375 m)🚌 Stonethwaite Road End (390 m)🚌 Longthwaite Road End (394 m)⛺ Chapel House Farm Campsite (322 m)

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

Buses to Ullscarf from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

Stagecoach 78 “Borrowdale Rambler”
Keswick – Lodore – Grange – Rosthwaite – Seatoller
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 or X4/X5)
Year-round, frequent in season. Serves all the Borrowdale starts — Glaramara, the Scafells and Great Gable via Seathwaite (alight Seatoller, 20 min walk up the lane).
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 Ullscarf (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

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

Hazard & Incident Information for Ullscarf

Hazard: Moderate

The great boggy hub of the Central Fells, on the watershed between Thirlmere and Borrowdale — reputedly the wettest ground in the Lake District. Its flat peat-hag plateau is almost featureless and often pathless, so the hazard here is pure navigation: in cloud it is one of the easiest places in the Lakes to lose your way, and the nearby Greenup Edge is a notorious spot for Coast to Coast walkers to go astray. Keswick Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.

  • Featureless boggy plateau (navigation): A flat peat-hag plateau with few landmarks and an indistinct, sometimes absent path. In mist it is very easy to drift off line over miles of similar ground. Take and trust a compass bearing and don't rely on finding a trodden path.
  • Deep bog & peat hags: This is the wettest ground in the District — deep bog and peat hags that are tiring and disorientating, and can swallow a leg. Pick careful lines, keep to firmer ground where you can, and allow far more time than the distance suggests.
  • Greenup Edge & the wet cols: The connecting ground around Greenup Edge is boggy and confusing in cloud and has caught out many walkers (including on the Coast to Coast). Watch carefully for path splits and navigate the junctions deliberately rather than following the lie of the land.
Who should attempt this fell: Ullscarf is gentle in gradient but a serious navigation and bog challenge — the blank, sodden plateau defeats people in cloud who'd handle far rougher ground. Be confident with map, compass and bearings, allow plenty of time for the wet going, take particular care around Greenup Edge, and turn back if cloud closes in over the featureless top. In winter the navigation is harder still.

Most common causes: Navigation errors on the featureless, pathless peat-hag plateau in cloud · Floundering or tiring badly in deep bog · Getting lost around Greenup Edge and the wet cols · Exposure and long, slow going far from shelter

Local Mountain Rescue: Keswick Mountain Rescue Team · Reviewed 14 Jun 2026

Safety: Hazard guidance compiled from published Mountain Rescue reports and well-documented accident history - editorial background, not a live feed of callouts. Always check current conditions, carry proper navigation equipment, and seek qualified instruction before heading onto the fells. In an emergency, call 999, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Report incorrect information

Navigating Ullscarf in cloud

Severe

A broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. A serious place to be caught in cloud: carry map and compass (or GPS) and know how to use them, or save it for a clear day.

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 Ullscarf 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 Ullscarf

Maps & guidebooks for Ullscarf

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