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502 m · Outlying Fell — Pennines · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Outlying Fell — PenninesAlso a Birkett

Ulthwaite Rigg

Ulthwaite Rigg at 502m (1,647ft) is an Outlying Fell on the limestone plateau east of Shap, giving views across the Shap Fells and towards the Pennines.

502 m
Height
+3
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →

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502 mOutlying Fell — Pennines✓ summit is also a Birkett+3 bonus Birketts within 3 km

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

Modelled guidance for the 502 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 13° to 9°C, gusts to 22 mph, 1.1 mm of rain forecast.

Fri 11 Sep
🌦️
13° / 9°
💨 22 mph
🌧 1.1 mm (98%)
Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
15° / 9°
💨 48 mph
🌧 26.8 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
🌦️
13° / 8°
💨 17 mph
🌧 0.5 mm (26%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌧️
15° / 8°
💨 34 mph
🌧 9.7 mm (94%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌦️
14° / 8°
💨 34 mph
🌧 2.0 mm (77%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
12° / 9°
💨 32 mph
🌧 1.3 mm (59%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌦️
12° / 9°
💨 36 mph
🌧 1.4 mm (76%)

Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 502 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

Ulthwaite Rigg at a glance

Ulthwaite Rigg

Ulthwaite Rigg at 502m (1,647ft) is an Outlying Fell on the limestone plateau east of Shap, giving views across the Shap Fells and towards the Pennines. Wainwright included it in his Outlying Fells guide as part of the Pennines group. A quiet, remote moorland fell on the limestone upland.

Routes up Ulthwaite Rigg

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

Ulthwaite Rigg
12.6 km · ~3.1 hr
One top on the Shap fells, out and back in 12.6 km with 362 m of climbing and nothing steeper than about 5%. The navigation is rated SEVERE — the only route here to carry that on any axis but steepness. About 3.1 hours.

Classifications & hill data

Outlying Fell
Pennines
Birkett
Synge
502 m
Height
1,647 ft
In feet
NY 5146 0933
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Ulthwaite Rigg a Wainwright?

Ulthwaite Rigg is one of Wainwright's Outlying Fells, not one of the 214 in the Pictorial Guides. It is also on the Birkett list and the Synge list.

Where do you park for Ulthwaite Rigg?

We hold no car park within 2.5 km of the summit, so there is no short walk-in to recommend here. 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 Ulthwaite Rigg?

The shortest way up we hold is Ulthwaite Rigg — 12.6 km, 362 m of ascent, about 3.1 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is navigation — Severe.

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

Parking & buses for Ulthwaite Rigg

Best parking to hike Ulthwaite Rigg

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

Branstree, north (layby) — 4.3 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Branstree (1.2 km), Branstree NE Top (Branstree East Top) (High Howes (Mardale)) (1.5 km), Selside Pike (1.5 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Ground surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Brown Howe (layby) — 4.4 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Brown Howe (Mardale) (0.8 km), Castle Crag (Mardale) (1.3 km), Selside Pike (1.4 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions 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 Ulthwaite Rigg by bus

The nearest bus stop we hold is the UB2 at Askham, outside Stores, 14.9 km of walking from the start — not realistically reachable without a car. This looks like a seasonal service. Our timetable data has the UB2 stopping on 1 November 2026, but we haven’t confirmed that with the operator — so treat it as a reason to check rather than a date to plan around.

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

Hazards on Ulthwaite Rigg

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: Branstree, north (layby), about 4.3 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Ulthwaite Rigg (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.

2.1 km SWHarrop Pike637 m · Far Eastern
2.8 km NNEGlede Howe476 m · Far Eastern
2.9 km WNWBranstree NE Top (Branstree East Top) (High Howes (Mardale))673 m · Far Eastern

Routes over Ulthwaite Rigg

Ulthwaite RiggPlanned
12.62 km · ~362 m ascent · loop · ~3–4 h
Summits: Ulthwaite Rigg

⬇️ Download GPX

⚠️ Warnings: Upper Mosedale is peat-hag and tussock country with no paths — short route, slow miles. The plotted line is indicative; pick your own dry ground.

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. How to use this guide.

Places to stay near this fell

New Ing Lodge

about 4.2 km from the start, in a straight line

The only property in this cluster that answers the family questions from its own copy: family ensuite rooms, free parking, overnight laundry, an EV charger, a play area and a licensed bar, all in Shap village where the shop and the chippy are. It also scales down to camping from GBP 8 a night, so a party arriving late off Wet Sleddale without a room booked still has something. Ranked first on that, not on distance - it is 0.49 km further from the start than the Bothy but is the one that can take a family with a car and wet kit.

The whole lodge can be taken over on exclusive hire from GBP 500 a night, sleeping up to 30, with a sauna and hot tub, games room and firepit - a running club from Marsden books it for the same annual weekend every year.

  • Dogs “Stayed for 3 nights as a family with a German shephard in a family room, spotless, large and comfortable to say the least.”
  • Family rooms “Family Ensuite Rooms Double Ensuite Rooms FULLY LICENSED BAR Overnight Laundry Free Parking”
  • Evening meal “The staff can't help enough and the food is perfect!Log burner in the common room hits the spot every night.”
  • Parking “FULLY LICENSED BAR Overnight Laundry Free Parking GARDEN AREA PLAY AREA”

Shap Fell Bothy

about 4.7 km from the start, in a straight line

It is the only bed on this side of the start - on Shap Fell by the A6 rather than in the village - and it is the one place here that states a dog policy outright, in one sentence. It suits a self-sufficient pair or a group taking the whole building; it is emphatically not a wet-arrival option, because there is no running water, the toilet is a Portaloo in the side yard and the sleeping floor is upstairs. Ranked second not on distance but because the family who cannot cook for themselves cannot use it.

The bothy is a converted telephone repeater station, standing at 1,390 ft on Shap Fell with no neighbours for miles; the roof windows are there for star-gazing because the horizon is exceptionally low and wide and there is almost no light pollution.

  • Dogs “Dogs are welcome.”
  • Family rooms “The Bothy accommodates up to 8 people. In the upstairs there are 4 futon mattresses for the first 4 people to sleep on; additional guests can make use of the upstairs seating cushions or bring their own lilos, carrymats etc.”
  • Parking “Two very large lay-bys for ample parking within 70 yards.”
  • Children “The property is completely off-grid i.e. it is not connected to the electricity grid and has no running water.”

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.

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