Whin Rigg - a grassy top above green coastal lowlands, the sea stretching along the horizon under grey cloud

Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Summited June 2025

Home › Fells › Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

537 mWainwright — Southern Fells+2 bonus Birketts within 3 km Severe in cloud

Whin Rigg at 537m (1,762ft) is the southern end of the Wastwater Screes ridge, its summit giving outstanding views of Wast Water and south to the Cumbrian coast.

Summit conditions on Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 54 mph, 4.1 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

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

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 46 mph times our exposure factor of 1.18. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 54 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 (opens in new tab) 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.

Also checked cold: feels like 3 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 37 out of 100, over our in-cloud line of 20; rain: 4.1 mm in the day, under our 6 mm line. 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 (opens in new tab)

Routes up Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

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.

Compared	Whin Rigg, Illgill Head & the Wastwater Screes	Boat How, Illgill Head & Whin Rigg
Starts from	Easthwaite Farm Car Park	Dalegarth Station, Eskdale (paid)
Distance and climb	16.86 km, 682 m of climb	20.67 km, 1,170 m of climb
Time, fast to steady	~4½–6 h	~6–8¼ h
Scrambling	It looks like a shortcut and is a serious mistake — the Wastwater Screes are steep, loose and boulder-choked, and the shoreline beneath them is a notorious, hazardous boulder-scramble, not an escape.	Not mentioned in the route’s notes
Exposure	Hard	Not assessed
Navigation	Moderate	Moderate
Steepest stretch	Climb of about 42% at 2.2 km (Severe)	Descent of about 42% at 10.9 km (Severe)
After the summit	Over Illgill Head	No further tops
Walked or planned	Planned: drawn, not yet walked	Planned: drawn, not yet walked
Car park at the start	Irton Fell car park (donation)	Dalegarth Station, Eskdale (paid)
Bus to the start	Not measured	Not measured

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 Whin Rigg a hard walk?

The walking is straightforward — a grassy ridge with a gentle approach from the south, and nothing on the ordinary line that needs care with your hands.

Its whole character is the northern side, which falls in a vast sweep of scree and gullies straight into Wast Water. That edge is spectacular and it is unforgiving: the gullies bite back into the ridge, so the drop is closer to the path in places than it looks. Our round with Illgill Head is 16.9 km with 682 m of ascent, which we rate Severe overall for its steepness.

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 537 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast

Tue 27 Oct

12° / 6°

54 mph

4.1 mm (100%)

Wed 28 Oct

10° / 7°

36 mph

3.3 mm (100%)

Thu 29 Oct

10° / 7°

24 mph

0.0 mm (26%)

Fri 30 Oct

9° / 6°

23 mph

0.0 mm (31%)

Sat 31 Oct

11° / 2°

8 mph

0.0 mm (25%)

Sun 1 Nov

9° / 1°

8 mph

0.0 mm (12%)

Mon 2 Nov

7° / 1°

17 mph

0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 08:13 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Parking

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

Irton Fell car park — 0.1 km from the start of Whin Rigg, Illgill Head & the Wastwater Screes (straight line)

2.0 km from Irton Fell. 40 vehicles (Lee, 9 August 2026). 98 m from the Whin Rigg / Illgill Head route start, whose nearest published pin was 2,361 m away. Fees: No pay-and-display machine; donation box (NT, checked August 2026). Free for NT members (checked August 2026).

Directions Something changed here?

Dalegarth Station, Eskdale (paid) — at the start of Boat How, Illgill Head & Whin Rigg

Pay & display at the La'al Ratty terminus — Eskdale fells, Harter Fell, Green Crag. Fees: pay and display (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked August 2026).

Directions Something changed here?

Dalegarth Station (~41 m straight line) — Accessible Fellbites Cafe

Nether Wasdale car park (free) — 2.3 km from summit (straight line)

Walking base for Whin Rigg (Wasdale) and Illgill Head — the 'Whin Rigg, Illgill Head & the Wastwater Screes' route starts 101 m away. Free (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

3 more places to park near Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Great Bank (layby) — 2.4 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Great Bank (0.8 km), Irton Fell (1.4 km). Free (community-reported). Grass surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Roadside Parking, Harrow Head Farm, Wasdale (free) — 2.9 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Buckbarrow (0.9 km), Glade How (1.0 km). Free (community-reported).

Directions Something changed here?

Great Bank car park — 3.4 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Great Bank (1.7 km). Free (community-reported).

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

We don’t know yet. Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway (“La'al Ratty”) serves this area, but we don’t hold its stop positions, so we can’t measure the walk from it — and we won’t tell you to drive on the strength of a gap in our own data. Check the operator’s timetable.

By train: change at Ravenglass onto the Ravenglass & Eskdale (narrow gauge, seasonal, not in the National Rail timetable), and Dalegarth station is 130 m on foot from the start of Boat How, Illgill Head & Whin Rigg. National Rail at Ravenglass, on the Cumbrian Coast line, not the narrow gauge: First train in 06:39, last train out 20:52, Monday to Friday, checked 12 September, valid to the 12 December timetable change; Saturday and Sunday.

At the station: Ravenglass, where you change, has some step-free access to its platforms, and there are no toilets. The rest of what meets that train. Station facilities: NationalRail (Train Information Services Ltd).

Cabs: Ravenglass station has neither a taxi rank nor a cab office. Advance booking is essential. Consider using the following local operator: Gosforth 019467 25308. As Traintaxi supplies them, read 4 October 2026. Traintaxi leaves “taxis” out of a firm’s name. Lee checked them on 4 October 2026. © Traintaxi Limited, 2000-2026. Using cabs in the UK.

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

Hazards on Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Notes from a planned route, not walked: Boat How, Illgill Head & Whin Rigg

If you need to get off (the leg from Illgill Head): Under no circumstances should you ever attempt to descend the Screes directly into Wast Water. If the weather turns violently, retreat along the ridge to Illgill Head, or push on to Whin Rigg and the route's own descent (next stage).

Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: the note for the leg that reaches Whin Rigg (Wasdale).

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

Severe

Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of steep ground within half a kilometre of the summit. 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 Whin Rigg (Wasdale) 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 (opens in new tab) (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 Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

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

1.2 km SWIrton Fell395 m · Southern

1.7 km SSWGreat Bank329 m · Southern

Routes over Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Boat How, Illgill Head & Whin Rigg

Summits: Boat How Illgill HeadWhin Rigg (Wasdale)

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Route guide: Boat How, Illgill Head & Whin Rigg →

Whin Rigg, Illgill Head & the Wastwater Screes

Summits: Whin Rigg (Wasdale)Illgill Head

Whin Rigg and Illgill Head are the two fells that cap the Wastwater Screes, looking down England’s deepest lake. A magnificent but serious round — and the rule that matters most: resist any urge to drop down the Screes; the only safe way down is the walking route.

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Best season: Late spring to autumn, in clear and dry conditions. It’s a long, exposed day; near the edge in poor visibility is no place to be, and the tops are boggy in stretches.

Warnings: Do not try to cut the walk short down the Screes to the lake. It looks like a shortcut and is a serious mistake — the Wastwater Screes are steep, loose and boulder-choked, and the shoreline beneath them is a notorious, hazardous boulder-scramble, not an escape. The only safe way off is to finish the route. A high, exposed edge above a huge drop to Wast Water — keep well back from the crumbling rim, especially in wind or poor visibility. A long day (nearly 17 km, 680 m of ascent) with boggy stretches — carry map, compass and enough food and water, and start early. Livestock on the lower fields; keep dogs under close control.

Route guide: Whin Rigg, Illgill Head & the Wastwater Screes →

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 Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Boat How, Illgill Head & Whin Rigg route:

Dalegarth Station (33 m from the start, straight line) Beckfoot Bridge (439 m from the start, straight line) Post Office (487 m from the start, straight line)

On the Whin Rigg, Illgill Head & the Wastwater Screes route:

possible water source (45 m off the line) Camping Barn (mapped, not checked; 86 m off the line) toilets (53 m off the line) Nether Wasdale Car Park (105 m from the start, straight line)

Treat water from the fell before you drink it. A mapped point is not proof the water is drinkable, so carry your own or use a supply you know is safe. Never drink untreated from a beck, stream or tarn — even clear-looking hill water can carry giardia or cryptosporidium from livestock upstream and leave you seriously ill. Use a treatment method suited to what might be in the water, and follow the device’s own instructions. Boiling and ordinary filters do not make water with dissolved metals or chemicals safe: where that is possible, choose another source.

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

About Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Wainwright noted the dramatic view from Whin Rigg looking north along the full length of the Screes to Illgill Head — one of the most striking fell panoramas in Lakeland. The ascent from Nether Wasdale is pleasant. Most naturally combined with Illgill Head for a circuit of the great Screes ridge.

Field notes

Whin Rigg is a fell that I really didn't like getting to. The drive over from the M6 started off ok on the A595 but after Ulpha got very annoying and stressful. As you traverse between Hesk Fell and Great Worm Crag the roads deteriorated, there were more hazards everywhere. After more than three hours driving I really had enough. I just about missed the parking at the bottom of Irton Pike and had to make a hard stop. Then trying to bag that outlying fell I started walking the wrong way. I double-backed and wish I hadn't. I then had to climb up a steep forest route. The expectation was that there should have been a track, there wasn't. I was thinking that it's only a 229m fell it can't go on forever. It didn't and when it did open up there were nice views over to the Isle of Man. I then moved onto Irton Fell and it was all going south then - actually north east, but you get the message. My GPS wasn't working properly, I couldn't find the route and was navigating through boggy ground. I was disinterested in Whin Rigg when I got there and hardly smiled as I normally do bagging a fell and just proceeded to Illgill Head - where I walked around like a fool trying to find the summit.

— Lee McCoy

My Strava hikes over Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Whin Rigg, Illgill Head and an Outlying fell. (opens in new tab) — 14.2 km · 684 m ascent · 3h 33m moving · 25 June 2025

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is Whin Rigg (Wasdale) a Wainwright?

Whin Rigg (Wasdale) is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.

Selected lists

537 m

Height

1,762 ft

In feet

NY 1510 0353

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 Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

The 360° skyline from Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

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

The skyline as a list, by direction

North: Seatallan (5 km), Red Pike (7 km), Haycock (7 km), Little Gowder Crag (8 km), Scoat Fell (8 km), Pillar (9 km)
North-east: Yewbarrow (5 km), Scafell (6 km), Lingmell (8 km), Kirk Fell (8 km), Kirk Fell East Top (9 km), Looking Stead (9 km), Great Gable (9 km), Brandreth (10 km), Fleetwith Pike (12 km), Hindscarth (14 km), Skiddaw Little Man (27 km), Skiddaw South Top (27 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (28 km), Skiddaw (28 km)
East: Crinkle Crags (10 km), Stonesty Pike (10 km), Little Stand (10 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (10 km), Crinkle Crags (10 km), Crinkle Crags (10 km), Shelter Crags (10 km), Grey Friar (11 km), Hell Gill Pike (12 km), Little Carrs (12 km), Great Carrs (12 km), Swirl How (12 km), Wetherlam (14 km)
South-east: Harter Fell (8 km), Dow Crag (12 km), Buck Pike (13 km), Walna Scar (13 km), Brim Fell (13 km), Brown Pike (13 km), The Old Man of Coniston (13 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (159 km, Wales), Slieve Donard (172 km, Ireland), Carnedd Llewelyn (147 km, Wales), Merrick (109 km, Scotland), Aran Fawddwy (183 km, Wales), Snaefell (77 km, Isle of Man), Moel Siabod (155 km, Wales), Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (110 km, Scotland).

Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills v18.4 (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Whin Rigg (Wasdale) waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 August, when the sun is up for 32 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 05:57 against an almanac sunrise of 05:25. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the east-north-east from here (63.0°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 3.7°.

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 light	Almanac sunrise	Difference
Midsummer	04:58 BST ±5.0 min	04:38	+20 min
Equinox	06:25 GMT ±5.0 min	06:16	+9 min
Midwinter	08:30 GMT ±5.0 min	08:33	-3 min

The northern horizon stands at about 1.06° from here.

Last light — when the sun leaves Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Whin Rigg (Wasdale) holds the light. On not one of the sixteen dates modelled does the sun leave this summit before almanac sunset — the ground falls away westward rather than standing over you, and at midsummer it is still in the sun 3 minutes after the valley has lost it.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
	Last light	Almanac sunset	Difference
Midsummer	21:56 BST ±5.0 min	21:53	+3 min
Equinox	18:32 GMT ±5.0 min	18:27	+5 min
Midwinter	15:57 GMT ±5.0 min	15:50	+7 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 Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.

30Wainwrights in view+3 marginal

172 kmFurthest sightlineSlieve Donard · possible under favourable refraction

1Sea in viewIrish Sea

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland.

Far horizons

Slieve Donard Northern IrelandW · 172 km clear
Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) WalesSSW · 159 km clear
Carnedd Llewelyn WalesSSW · 144 km clear
Merrick ScotlandNW · 111 km clear
Snaefell Isle of ManWSW · 77 km clear
Irish Sea open waterWSW · 33 km in view

All 30 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Buckbarrow, Middle Fell, Seatallan, Yewbarrow, Slight Side, Scafell, Red Pike (Wasdale), Haycock, Green Crag, Harter Fell (Eskdale), Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), Kirk Fell, Hard Knott, Pillar, Great Gable, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Lank Rigg, Brandreth, Grey Friar, Fleetwith Pike, Great Carrs, Grike, Swirl How, Dow Crag, Brim Fell, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Wetherlam, Hindscarth, Skiddaw Little Man, Skiddaw

How the view from Whin Rigg (Wasdale) 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 Whin Rigg (Wasdale). 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

Church Stile Farm And Holiday Park (opens in new tab) campsiteabout 0.6 km

We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).

Frequently asked questions about Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Is Whin Rigg a hard walk? Answered above.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Summit conditions on Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Wind on the top

Routes up Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Is Whin Rigg a hard walk?

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Parking & buses for Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Parking

Buses

Hazards on Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Notes from a planned route, not walked: Boat How, Illgill Head & Whin Rigg

Navigating in cloud

If you need Mountain Rescue

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Birketts within 3 km of Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Routes over Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

On the hill: terrain and water on Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Water & shelter on the way up

About Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Field notes

My Strava hikes over Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Classifications & hill data

Is Whin Rigg (Wasdale) a Wainwright?

Selected lists

The view from Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

The 360° skyline from Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Sunrise and sunset on Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Last light — when the sun leaves Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

What you can see from Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Places to stay near this fell

Frequently asked questions about Whin Rigg (Wasdale)

Other fells near Whin Rigg (Wasdale)