hikes.guideLake District

484 m · Birkett — Far Eastern (not a Wainwright summit) · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Birkett — Far Eastern (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Wansfell Pike

Wansfell at 484m (1,588ft) rises sharply above Ambleside, its summit giving one of the best views of Windermere from any fell in the district.

484 m
Height
+0
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →

Home › Fells › Wansfell Pike

Written and walked by Lee McCoy

484 mBirkett — Far Eastern (not a Wainwright summit)+0 bonus Birketts within 3 km

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

Modelled guidance for the 484 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Sat 12 Sep): 15° to 7°C, gusts to 36 mph, 33.1 mm of rain forecast.

Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
15° / 7°
💨 36 mph
🌧 33.1 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
☁️
15° / 10°
💨 12 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (12%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌦️
15° / 11°
💨 36 mph
🌧 5.3 mm (100%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌦️
15° / 10°
💨 36 mph
🌧 7.8 mm (98%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
12° / 9°
💨 28 mph
🌧 2.0 mm (54%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌦️
11° / 8°
💨 31 mph
🌧 11.4 mm (97%)
Fri 18 Sep
🌦️
12° / 9°
💨 33 mph
🌧 10.0 mm (92%)

Forecast snapshot from 12 Sep 2026, 18:50 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 484 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

Wansfell Pike at a glance

Wansfell Pike

Wansfell at 484m (1,588ft) rises sharply above Ambleside, its summit giving one of the best views of Windermere from any fell in the district. Wainwright noted the excellent prospect of the lake from the Pike top, with the wooded Furness Fells beyond. The steep ascent from Ambleside via Stock Ghyll Force is a classic short route — waterfall, woodland and open fell in quick succession. Excellent for combining with the Waterhead path for a circular walk above Ambleside.

Routes up Wansfell Pike

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

Ambleside to the Old Post Office Tea Room, Troutbeck (over Wansfell)
9.9 km · ~2.9 hr · Moderate
A proper half-day loop with a reward built in: climb out of Ambleside over Wansfell Pike for a huge view down Windermere, drop into pretty Troutbeck for tea and cake at the Old Post Office Tea Room, then circle back. Around 550 m of up and down — and dog-friendly throughout.
Wansfell Pike and Baystones
11.9 km · ~3.3 hr
The pair above Ambleside — 11.9 km and 534 m, nothing steeper than about 12% on average, and easy for both navigation and exposure. A straightforward half-day at about 3.3 hours.

Classifications & hill data

Birkett
Synge
484 m
Height
1,588 ft
In feet
NY 3941 0417
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Wansfell Pike a Wainwright?

Wansfell Pike is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.

Where do you park for Wansfell Pike?

The nearest car park we hold is Wansfell (layby), about 1.6 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Ambleside, Low Fold (paid), 1.7 km out. 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 Wansfell Pike?

The shortest way up we hold is Ambleside to the Old Post Office Tea Room, Troutbeck (over Wansfell) — 9.9 km, 546 m of ascent, about 2.9 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.

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

My hikes over Wansfell Pike (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

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

Parking & buses for Wansfell Pike

Best parking to hike Wansfell Pike

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

Wansfell (layby) — 1.6 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Wansfell (Wansfell North Top) (1.5 km), Baystones (Wansfell) (1.5 km), Wansfell Pike (1.6 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Ambleside, Low Fold (paid) — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
Towards Waterhead, a short walk from the centre. Fees: pay and display (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked Aug 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. 3/7-day passes and permits accepted (W&F council, checked Aug 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 Aug 2026). Open every day incl. bank holidays; charges apply 08:00-20:00 (W&F council, checked Aug 2026). 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 Aug 2026).
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: Ambleside, Miller Bridge (paid) (0.9 km, 22 m up); Wansfell Pike (verge) (1.2 km, 43 m up) a few spaces only; Loughrigg Fell (verge, east) (1.5 km, 63 m up) a few spaces only
Wansfell Pike, west car park (free) — 1.8 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Loughrigg Fell — the 'Stock Ghyll Force' route starts 64 m away. Also serves 'Ambleside, Todd Crag, Rydal Cave'. Free (OSM-tagged). OpenStreetMap also records a 20-minute maximum stay here (9 spaces; fee last surveyed 1 Apr 2026), so treat it as a short-stay bay rather than a base for a walk. Twenty-minute maximum stay - OSM records maxstay=20 minutes here, so this is not a car park to leave a car in for a walk; check the signs on arrival (OSM element way/561321012, 2026-07-24 extract). OSM records a 20-minute maximum stay here (24 Jul 2026 extract) - check the restriction before relying on it.
Directions Something changed here?
Wansfell Pike (layby) — 1.8 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Loughrigg Fell — the 'Ambleside, Todd Crag, Rydal Cave' route starts 85 m away. Also serves 'Stock Ghyll Force'. Fee not verified — check signage on arrival.
Directions Something changed here?
Ambleside, Lake Road (paid) — 1.8 km from summit (straight line)
South end of town towards Waterhead. Fees: pay and display (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked Aug 2026). 1h £2.60; 2h £4.40; 3h £5.80; 4h £7.40; 6h £8.80; all day £10.60. Early Bird: £1.40 all day if you arrive before 09:00. Motorcycles free. Blue Badge: +1h free. Cash/card/contactless. 3/7-day passes and permits accepted (W&F council, checked Aug 2026). Charges apply 08:00-20:00, 7 days a week 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 Aug 2026). Open all day, 7 days a week incl. bank holidays; charges apply 08:00-20:00 (W&F council, checked Aug 2026). Blue Badge: +1h free. Cash/card/contactless; PayByPhone 9908. 3/7-day passes and permits accepted (W&F council, checked Aug 2026).
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 Wansfell Pike by bus

The 505 stops at Ambleside, at Hayes Garden Centre, 180 m from the start of Ambleside to the Old Post Office Tea Room, Troutbeck (over Wansfell) — a route we rate Moderate. Last bus: Monday to Friday 22:43 towards Grasmere (555) and 20:29 towards Keswick (555) and 09:47 towards Coniston (505) and 09:21 towards Dungeon Ghyll (516); Saturday 22:43 towards Grasmere (555) and 20:29 towards Keswick (555) and 09:47 towards Coniston (505) and 09:21 towards Dungeon Ghyll (516); Sunday 19:09 towards Grasmere (555) and 18:15 towards Keswick (555) and 09:47 towards Coniston (505) and 09:21 towards Dungeon Ghyll (516). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 505 “Coniston Rambler”
Windermere – Ambleside – Skelwith Bridge – Hawkshead – Coniston
Catch it from: Windermere · Ambleside
Daily in season (reduced winter service). Best access for the Coniston fells (Old Man, Wetherlam group).

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

Hazards on Wansfell Pike

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: Wansfell (layby), about 1.6 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Wansfell Pike (within 3 km)

No bonus Birketts within 3 km — every Birkett near here is already a Wainwright summit, so just enjoy the walk.

Routes over Wansfell Pike

Ambleside to the Old Post Office Tea Room, Troutbeck (over Wansfell)Planned
9.89 km · ~546 m ascent · loop · ~2.5–4 h · Moderate
Summits: Wansfell Pike

✎️ A hill day rather than a stroll (546 m ascent) — it tops Wansfell Pike — with a tea-room halfway; grand with a dog.

⬇️ Download GPX

Best season: Year-round, best in clear weather for the Windermere view. Wansfell’s shoulder is open and can be windy; paths get muddy.

⚠️ Warnings: The climb over Wansfell is open and exposed to wind on top. A sustained descent into Troutbeck — jarring on tired knees. Lanes and a road crossing in Troutbeck; livestock on the fell. Check the tea room’s opening before relying on it.

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.

Wansfell Pike and BaystonesRevised
11.92 km · ~534 m ascent · linear · ~3–4.5 h
Summits: Wansfell PikeBaystones (Wansfell)

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

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

On the hill: terrain and water on Wansfell Pike

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Ambleside to the Old Post Office Tea Room, Troutbeck (over Wansfell) route:

🚌 Hayes Garden Centre (18 m)🚌 Loughrigg Avenue (180 m)🚌 Riverside Lodge (378 m)⛺ Ambleside Backpackers (153 m)

On the Wansfell Pike and Baystones route:

🛖 map (62 m)🛖 map (75 m)🚺 map (94 m)🚌 Hayes Garden Centre (92 m)🚌 Loughrigg Avenue (207 m)🚌 Riverside Lodge (405 m)⛺ Ambleside Backpackers (139 m)

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

Places to stay near this fell

From Ambleside or Grasmere: 10 places

Other fells near Wansfell Pike