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774 m · Wainwright — North Western Fells · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Wandope - a grassy edge above a deep crag-rimmed combe, rolling north-western fells receding under grey cloud
Wainwright — North Western FellsAlso a Birkett

Wandope

Wandope at 772m (2,533ft) is the western arm of the Grasmoor massif, a high ridge with outstanding views of Crummock Water and the coastal plain beyond.

774 m
Height
~3.5–4.5 h
Typical time
+9
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › Wandope

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

774 mWainwright — North Western Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+9 bonus Birketts within 3 km Serious in Clag

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

Modelled guidance for the 774 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 14° to 12°C, gusts to 38 mph, 4.8 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌧️
14° / 12°
💨 38 mph
🌧 4.8 mm (99%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
13° / 10°
💨 28 mph
🌧 14.0 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
11° / 4°
💨 29 mph
🌧 3.0 mm (87%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
13° / 1°
💨 22 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (86%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
13° / 4°
💨 15 mph
🌧 2.7 mm (82%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
14° / 4°
💨 17 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (35%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
14° / 4°
💨 16 mph
🌧 0.4 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 774 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

Wandope

Wandope - a grassy edge above a deep crag-rimmed combe, rolling north-western fells receding under grey cloud
© Lee McCoy

Wandope at 772m (2,533ft) is the western arm of the Grasmoor massif, a high ridge with outstanding views of Crummock Water and the coastal plain beyond. Wainwright described it as giving one of the finest low-angle views of Crummock Water — the long lake spread across the valley below the fell in a beautiful composition. The ascent from Buttermere via Whiteless Pike and Whiteless Edge is excellent. Combined naturally with Whiteless Pike and Grasmoor for a fine Crummock Water circuit. The coastal views on clear days are a distinctive bonus.

🗒️ My notes
This is an unassuming fell that I don't see people talking about, probably because its featureless. But when I was there it actually quite busy. My view is that its because its relatively close to Grasmoor which is one of those flagship fells that people see can make more of a day of it by bagging this one too. I wouldn't call it a nothingburger as there re some pleasant views south east to Knot Rigg and east to Ard Crags and the valley. There's plenty of space to rest up but it is exposed and there is a lot of footfall so getting the peace and quite that most of us crave is pretty unlikely.

Routes up Wandope

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

The Grasmoor round: Whiteside, Hopegill Head and Whiteless Pike
16.2 km · ~5 hr · Hard
Ten tops and the finest ridge walking in the North Western Fells — up Whiteside, along the narrow crest of Gasgale Crags to Hopegill Head, over the great whaleback of Grasmoor, then out along Wandope and down the elegant cone of Whiteless Pike to Rannerdale. Sixteen kilometres, a thousand metres of climbing, and views over Crummock Water all the way round.
Classifications & hill data
Wainwright
North Western
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
Nuttall
774 m
Height
2,539 ft
In feet
NY 1881 1973
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Buttermere village (NT, paid), about 3.0 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Wandope (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.

0.5 km WSWThirdgill Head Man734 m · North Western
1.0 km NNEEel Crag (Birkett)807 m · North Western
1.3 km ESEIll Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)546 m · North Western
1.7 km WSWLad Hows426 m · North Western
2.1 km NSand Hill756 m · North Western
2.4 km NNEHobcarton Crag (Hobcarton Head)738 m · North Western
2.7 km NNWGasgale Crags703 m · North Western
2.7 km NNWWhiteside East Top (Whiteside) (Gasgale Crags)719 m · North Western
2.8 km SHigh Snockrigg526 m · North Western

Routes over Wandope

The Grasmoor round: Whiteside, Hopegill Head and Whiteless PikePlanned
16.17 km · ~1068 m ascent · loop · ~5–6.5 h · Hard
Summits: Whiteside (Whiteside West Top)Whiteside East Top (Whiteside) (Gasgale Crags)Gasgale CragsHopegill HeadSand HillGrasmoorWandopeThirdgill Head ManWhiteless PikeRannerdale Knotts

✎️ If you only do one round in the North Western Fells, this is it. Grasmoor is a bigger, wilder mountain than its modest reputation suggests, and the ridge from Whiteside over Gasgale Crags to Hopegill Head is as good as ridge walking gets outside the Langdales. Whiteless Pike at the end is a perfect little peak — and a punishing descent.

⬇️ Download GPX

Best season: Late spring to autumn, in clear conditions. Gasgale Crags is narrow and rocky, and Grasmoor’s summit plateau is a blank, stony expanse that is thoroughly disorientating in cloud.

⚠️ Warnings: The climb straight up Whiteside from Lanthwaite is brutally steep — a relentless, loose, eroded pull with little respite. It is the hardest 500 m on this route and it comes first.; Gasgale Crags is a narrow, rocky ridge. It is not a scramble in the Sharp Edge sense, but it is airy, the rock is loose in places, and it wants care in wind or wet.; Grasmoor’s summit is a featureless stony plateau with crags on three sides. In cloud it is a genuine navigation trap — take a bearing before you leave the cairn.; The descent off Whiteless Pike is a knee-breaker — steep, sustained and relentless, right at the end of a long day. It is one of the steepest sustained descents in the Lakes.; A long day with 1,068 m of ascent and ten tops. Navigation is graded hard: the high ground is broad and the drops are real.

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 Wandope

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 Wandope36 labelled tops shown (12 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWScafell Pike · 13 kmHelvellyn · 16 kmGreat End · 12 kmPillar · 8 kmRaise · 16 kmFairfield · 19 kmBlencathra · 16 kmGreat Dodd · 15 kmGrasmoor · 2 kmStybarrow Dodd · 16 kmScoat Fell · 9 kmKirk Fell · 9 kmHaycock · 10 kmGlaramara · 11 kmHigh Raise · 14 kmSand Hill · 2 kmRed Pike · 5 kmBlack Sails · 21 kmClough Head · 15 kmUllscarf · 13 kmLonscale Fell · 12 kmCross Fell · 52 km · clear daysIron Crag · 10 kmCrag Hill · 1 kmThirdgill Head Man · 0 kmHesk Fell · 25 kmGasgale Crags · 3 kmWhiteless Pike · 1 kmGreat Borne · 7 kmStanding Crag · 13 kmBlake Fell · 8 kmLining Crag · 13 kmGavel Fell · 7 kmLoweswater End · 7 kmWhoap · 11 kmWhite Hill · 65 km · clear daysScafell · 13 kmIll Crag · 13 kmBowfell · 14 kmNethermost Pike · 16 kmCatstye Cam · 16 kmBlack Crag · 8 kmHigh Stile · 5 kmRed Screes · 24 kmDale Head · 6 kmCombe Head · 11 kmLittle Gowder Crag · 10 kmHopegill Head · 2 kmHigh Crag · 6 kmCalfhow Pike · 14 kmCausey Pike · 3 kmLittle Dodd · 6 kmCarling Knott · 7 kmCrag Fell · 10 kmMellbreak North Top · 4 kmGavel Fell · 7 kmBanna Fell · 8 kmDent · 16 kmHigh Rigg · 12 kmSlieve Donard · 178 km · a handful of days a yearBroad Law · 104 km · a rare clear daySnaefell · 85 km · a rare clear dayTinto · 117 km · a rare clear daySlieve Croob · 178 km · a handful of days a yearIngleborough · 71 km · a rare clear dayGreen Lowther · 97 km · a rare clear dayMoel y Gamelin · 173 km · a handful of days a yearDivis · 179 km · a handful of days a yearEttrick Pen · 88 km · a rare clear dayCairn Table · 114 km · a rare clear dayAgnew's Hill · 175 km · a handful of days a year
What you can see from Wandope, by direction
  • North-east: Knowe Crags (14 km), Gategill Fell Top (15 km), Blencathra (16 km), Atkinson Pike (16 km)
  • East: Watson's Dodd (15 km), White Side (15 km), Great Dodd (15 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (16 km), Stybarrow Dodd (16 km), Raise (16 km), Helvellyn (16 km), Nethermost Pike (16 km), Catstye Cam (16 km), High Crag (17 km)
  • South-east: Glaramara (11 km), Looking Steads (11 km), High Raise (14 km), Bowfell (14 km), Dollywaggon Pike (17 km), Cofa Pike (19 km), Fairfield (19 km), Great Rigg (19 km), Wetherlam (21 km), Red Screes (24 km)
  • South: High Stile (5 km), Pillar (8 km), Black Crag (8 km), Scoat Fell (9 km), Kirk Fell (9 km), Great Gable (10 km), Great End (12 km), Broad Crag (12 km), Scafell Pike (13 km), Ill Crag (13 km), Esk Pike (13 km), Scafell (13 km), Pike de Bield (14 km)
  • South-west: High Stile (5 km), Haycock (10 km)
  • North-west: Grasmoor (2 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Slieve Donard (178 km, Ireland), Broad Law (104 km, Scotland), Snaefell (85 km, Isle of Man), Tinto (117 km, Scotland), South Barrule (103 km, Isle of Man), Slieve Croob (178 km, Ireland), Ingleborough (71 km, England), Green Lowther (97 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 Wandope

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
76Wainwrights in view+7 marginal
85 kmFurthest sightlineSnaefell
2Sea in viewIrish Sea, Solway Firth

On the clearest days the view reaches across to the Isle of Man.

Far horizons
  • Snaefell Isle of ManWSW · 85 km clear
  • Ingleborough Yorkshire DalesSE · 72 km clear
  • Whernside Yorkshire DalesSE · 67 km clear
  • Great Dun Fell North PenninesENE · 54 km clear
  • Cross Fell North PenninesENE · 52 km clear
  • Solway Firth bay/estuaryNNW · 39 km in view
  • Irish Sea open waterWNW · 27 km in view
All 76 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Sail, Whiteless Pike, Knott Rigg, Grasmoor, Ard Crags, Hopegill Head, Robinson, Causey Pike, Mellbreak (Mellbreak South Top), Hindscarth, Red Pike (Buttermere), Maiden Moor, High Stile, Dale Head, Cat Bells (Catbells), High Crag (Buttermere), High Spy, Fleetwith Pike, Hen Comb, Starling Dodd, Haystacks (Buttermere), Great Borne, Gavel Fell, Grey Knotts, Pillar, Blake Fell, Burnbank Fell, Brandreth, Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), Walla Crag, Kirk Fell, Green Gable, Great Gable, Bleaberry Fell, Haycock, High Seat, Crag Fell, Glaramara, Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top), Eagle Crag, Lingmell, Grike, Great End, Sergeant's Crag, Allen Crags, Lonscale Fell, High Rigg (Naddle Fell), Lank Rigg, Scafell Pike, Ullscarf, Esk Pike, Scafell, High Raise (High White Stones), Bowfell, Watson's Dodd, Clough Head, White Side, Pavey Ark, Great Dodd, Stybarrow Dodd, Harrison Stickle, Raise, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Helvellyn, Nethermost Pike, Catstye Cam, Dollywaggon Pike, Seat Sandal, Pike of Blisco, Bowscale Fell, Fairfield, Great Rigg, Wetherlam, Great Mell Fell, Red Screes

How Wandope’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 Wandope

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

Buttermere village (NT, paid) — 3.0 km from summit (straight line)
For Red Pike, High Stile, Robinson, Rannerdale Knotts.
Directions
🚺 Buttermere village (132m) — Accessible☕ Syke Farm Tea Room☕ Croft House Farm Café🍺 The Buttermere Court Hotel
Lanthwaite Green (NT) — 3.3 km from summit (straight line)
At the foot of Grasmoor and Whiteside, Crummock Water.
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 The Grasmoor round: Whiteside, Hopegill Head and Whiteless Pike route:

🛖 map (5 m)🚌 Lanthwaite Green Farm (58 m)

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

Buses to Wandope from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

Stagecoach 77 / 77A “Honister Rambler”
Keswick – Portinscale – Hawse End (Catbells) – Grange – Seatoller – Honister Pass – Buttermere – Lorton – Whinlatter – Keswick (circular)
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 from Windermere/Ambleside or X4/X5 from Penrith)
Seasonal (roughly Easter–October). Brilliant for the North Western fells: Catbells, Dale Head from Honister, the Buttermere fells and Whinlatter.

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

My hikes over Wandope (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 Wandope

Hazard: Moderate

A quiet fell on the Grasmoor–Coledale watershed with a gentle grassy top but steep, sudden edges — most strikingly the rim of Addacomb Hole, a half-crater hanging valley whose headwall drops some 210 m, which the path skirts vertiginously. Its real trap is navigation: a tempting southern spur steepens into difficult ground, and the airy Whiteless Edge runs off the other way. Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team covers this Buttermere-side ground.

  • The rim of Addacomb Hole: The path runs right around the edge of Addacomb Hole, a steep half-crater with a high headwall. Keep back from the rim, especially in wind or cloud — a slip here drops into serious ground. Don't approach the lip for the view in poor visibility.
  • The southern spur (navigation trap east of Third Gill): The blunt southern spur looks like an easy way off but soon steepens into difficult ground. In cloud it is easy to set off down it by mistake instead of the intended ridge. Take a compass bearing and choose the correct arm (the western one becomes Whiteless Edge).
  • Featureless top & airy connecting ridge: The flat summit gives few cues in mist, and Whiteless Edge — the fine ridge toward Whiteless Pike — is narrow and exposed in places. Navigate deliberately and take the edge steadily in wind.
Who should attempt this fell: Wandope is gentle on top but ringed by steep ground, so keep well back from the Addacomb Hole rim and navigate carefully in cloud — the southern spur is a known wrong-turn that leads onto difficult terrain. Pick the right ridge by compass before descending, take Whiteless Edge steadily, and treat the edges as serious in winter.

Most common causes: Falls near the steep rim of Addacomb Hole · Taking the wrong, steepening southern spur as a descent in cloud · Navigation errors off the featureless summit · Slips on the airy Whiteless Edge in wind or when wet/iced

Local Mountain Rescue: Cockermouth 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 Wandope in cloud

Serious in cloud

A rough, rocky summit ringed by crags, with no single obvious way off in poor visibility. 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 Wandope 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 Wandope

Maps & guidebooks for Wandope

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