Whinlatter (Brown How)

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Summited May 2025

Home › Fells › Whinlatter (Brown How)

517 mWainwright — North Western Fells+9 bonus Birketts within 3 km Fewer traps in Clag

Whinlatter, whose Wainwright summit Brown How stands at 517m (1,696ft), is the fell above Whinlatter Pass — the broad, wooded ridge between Braithwaite and Lorton — its open summit giving views west to the coast and north to Bassenthwaite Lake.

Summit conditions on Whinlatter (Brown How)

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 7°C, gusts to 60 mph, 6.7 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

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

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 52 mph times our exposure factor of 1.08. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 60 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.

Rain, and the becks

Past the line

6.7 mm of rain over the whole day, midnight to midnight

The same figure as the summit line above and the 7-day forecast.

The line Our line: 6 mm in the day, where our scorer counts a day as soaking. We read rainfall, never river levels: becks in spate.

Open-Meteo’s forecast. It says nothing about rain already in the ground.

Also checked cold: feels like 3 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 41 out of 100, over our in-cloud line of 20. 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 Whinlatter (Brown How)

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

Whinlatter Loop Walked by Lee

13.56 km · ~712 m ascent · ~3¾–5¼ h · loop · 7 summits

Moderate effort Severe: steepness

Park: Spout Force, Whinlatter (free) · Bus: 77, 2.5 km walk from Lorton Winder Hall (near)

A north-western round above Whinlatter that opens with a brutal climb onto Graystones, about 56% over its steepest 250 m.

Distance and climb are measured from the route’s GPX track, and the time from them by Naismith’s rule; the route page says what each grade rests on. How we check →

Is Whinlatter an easy walk?

Fairly — it is a modest forested fell above the pass, though our loop opens with a very steep climb onto Graystones (about 56% at its steepest) before the gentler ground. Our loop is 13.6 km with 712 m of ascent, which is a comfortable half day.

The complication is the forest rather than the fell. Forestry tracks come and go with felling, junctions look alike, and the Wainwright top at Brown How is easy to walk past on a wooded shoulder. It is a good choice when the high fells are in cloud, and a place to have the map out more often than the gradient suggests.

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 517 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast

Tue 27 Oct

12° / 7°

60 mph

6.7 mm (100%)

Wed 28 Oct

10° / 7°

44 mph

5.1 mm (100%)

Thu 29 Oct

10° / 6°

21 mph

0.4 mm (67%)

Fri 30 Oct

10° / 6°

15 mph

0.2 mm (12%)

Sat 31 Oct

9° / 3°

7 mph

5.4 mm (8%)

Sun 1 Nov

8° / 0°

15 mph

0.4 mm (2%)

Mon 2 Nov

7° / -1°

5 mph

0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 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 Whinlatter (Brown How)

Parking

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

Spout Force, Whinlatter (free) — at the start of Whinlatter Loop

Small car park for Spout Force and the Whinlatter northern fells.

Directions Something changed here?

Hobcarton (free) — 0.6 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Whinlatter (Brown How - Whinlatter) (0.6 km), Whinlatter Top (0.7 km), Hobcarton End (1.1 km). Free (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Whinlatter Top (verge) — 0.7 km from summit (straight line)

0.4 km from Whinlatter Top. Gravel verge.

Directions Something changed here?

2 more places to park near Whinlatter (Brown How)

Spout Force Waterfall (free) — 1.0 km from summit (straight line)

Walking base for Kirk Fell (Lorton), Graystones (Graystones North Top), Graystones and Broom Fell — the 'Kirk Fell and Broom Fell' route starts 473 m away. Also serves 'Whinlatter Loop'. Free (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Roadside parking for Graystones (free) — 1.1 km from summit (straight line)

0.8 km from Graystones. Added from the 5 August 2026 OSM candidate review.

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

The 77 stops at Lorton Winder Hall (near). From there it is 2.5 km and 150 m of ascent to the start of Whinlatter Loop — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: steepness) — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 18.5 km in all, with the walk. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. It returns on 22 March 2027. Confirmed with the operator: its last day on 29 August 2026, its return on 16 October 2026. As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Keswick (77): Tuesday to Sunday 17:56. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 77 / 77A “Honister Rambler”

Keswick – Portinscale – Hawes 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 (Summer 2026 timetable: 23 March to 1 November 2026). Brilliant for the North Western fells: Catbells, Dale Head from Honister, the Buttermere fells and Whinlatter.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

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

Hazards on Whinlatter (Brown How)

Notes from the Whinlatter Loop route

Forestry England posts felling areas and path diversions at Whinlatter on its Whinlatter updates page (last read 7 Oct 2026). Check it before you go, and follow the signs on the day.

If you need to get off (the leg from Whinlatter Top): Push forward to begin the descent; do not drop north directly into the steep ravine of Aiken Beck.

Quoted from the route page: its warnings and the note for the leg that reaches Whinlatter (Brown How - Whinlatter).

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

Fewer traps in cloud

Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of near-level ground around the summit. This top is in the lowest of the index’s four bands, and a low band never means “safe”: carry map and compass and know how to use them.

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 Whinlatter (Brown How) 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 Whinlatter (Brown How)

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

0.6 km ESEWhinlatter Top525 m · North Western

1.5 km ETarbarrel Moss493 m · North Western

1.7 km SSEHobcarton End634 m · North Western

1.8 km NWGraystones455 m · North Western

1.9 km SWSwinside509 m · North Western

2.0 km ENEUllister Hill525 m · North Western

2.3 km ENESeat How (Thornthwaite)495 m · North Western

2.3 km NWKirk Fell (Lorton)437 m · North Western

2.5 km SSWLadyside Pike704 m · North Western

Routes over Whinlatter (Brown How)

Whinlatter Loop

13.56 km · ~712 m ascent · loop · ~3¾–5¼ h

Moderate effort Severe: steepness

Summits: Graystones Graystones (Graystones North Top)Broom Fell Lord's Seat Barf Whinlatter TopWhinlatter (Brown How - Whinlatter)

Forestry England says (updated 1 Oct 2026) that the Lord's Seat and Barf trails are diverted: follow the diversion signs. This route's GPX has not been checked against the diversion. Forestry England: Whinlatter updates (read 7 Oct 2026)

Download GPX Walked by Lee, May 2025

Warnings: Forestry England posts felling areas and path diversions at Whinlatter on its Whinlatter updates page (last read 7 Oct 2026). Check it before you go, and follow the signs on the day.

Route guide: Whinlatter Loop →

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.

About Whinlatter (Brown How)

Whinlatter (Brown How), a Lake District fell — Photo: Mick Knapton, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Its highest ground is Whinlatter Top (525m), a Birkett 0.6 km to the east-south-east. The Whinlatter Forest Park below offers excellent waymarked cycling and walking trails. Most naturally combined with Lord's Seat for a circuit of the Whinlatter fells.

My Strava hikes over Whinlatter (Brown How)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

A bit wet and windy doing the Whinlater loop (opens in new tab) — 13.3 km · 776 m ascent · 3h 12m moving · 31 May 2025

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is Whinlatter (Brown How) a Wainwright?

Whinlatter (Brown How) is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.

Selected lists

517 m

Height

1,696 ft

In feet

NY 1911 2513

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 Whinlatter (Brown How)

The 360° skyline from Whinlatter (Brown How)

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-east: Skiddaw South Top (8 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (8 km), Skiddaw (8 km), Skiddaw North Top (8 km), Broad End (8 km), Great Sca Fell (13 km)
East: Skiddaw Little Man (8 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (8 km), Jenkin Hill (9 km), Knowe Crags (12 km), Gategill Fell Top (13 km), Blencathra (14 km), Atkinson Pike (14 km), Clough Head (14 km), Little Dodd (15 km), Watson's Dodd (16 km), Great Dodd (16 km), Randerside (16 km), Stybarrow Dodd (16 km)
South-east: Low Saddle (15 km), Coldbarrow Fell (16 km), Ullscarf (16 km), White Side (17 km), Raise (17 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (18 km), Helvellyn (18 km), Catstye Cam (18 km), Nethermost Pike (19 km), High Crag (19 km), Dollywaggon Pike (20 km), Seat Sandal (20 km), Fairfield (21 km), Great Rigg (22 km)
South: Grisedale Pike (3 km), Sand Hill (3 km), Eel Crag (4 km), Crag Hill (5 km), Grasmoor (5 km)
South-west: Gasgale Crags (3 km), Whiteside (4 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Slieve Donard (180 km, Ireland), Merrick (97 km, Scotland), Snaefell (88 km, Isle of Man), Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (94 km, Scotland), Cairnsmore of Fleet (81 km, Scotland), Corserine (93 km, Scotland), Lamachan Hill (92 km, Scotland), Tinto (112 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 Whinlatter (Brown How)

Whinlatter (Brown How) waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 August, when the sun is up for 26 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 05:50 against an almanac sunrise of 05:24. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the east-north-east from here (61.7°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 2.93°.

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	04:40 BST ±5.0 min	04:37	+3 min
Equinox	06:15 GMT ±5.0 min	06:16	-1 min
Midwinter	08:38 GMT ±5.0 min	08:34	+4 min

A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean -0.26°).

Last light — when the sun leaves Whinlatter (Brown How)

Whinlatter (Brown How) 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 5 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	21:59 BST ±5.0 min	21:54	+5 min
Equinox	18:32 GMT ±5.0 min	18:27	+5 min
Midwinter	15:50 GMT ±5.0 min	15:49	+1 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 Whinlatter (Brown How)

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

40Wainwrights in view+8 marginal

185 kmFurthest sightlineSlieve Binnian · possible under favourable refraction

2Sea in viewIrish Sea, Solway Firth

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

Far horizons

Slieve Binnian Northern IrelandWSW · 185 km clear
Slieve Donard Northern IrelandWSW · 180 km clear
Merrick ScotlandNW · 98 km clear
Snaefell Isle of ManWSW · 88 km clear
Criffel ScotlandNNW · 44 km distant
Solway Firth bay/estuaryNW · 33 km in view
Irish Sea open waterW · 26 km in view

All 40 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Lord's Seat, Broom Fell, Grisedale Pike, Hopegill Head, Ling Fell, Whiteside (Whiteside West Top), Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Grasmoor, Causey Pike, Low Fell, Fellbarrow - Mosser Fell, Ullock Pike, Long Side, Carl Side, Skiddaw, Skiddaw Little Man, Latrigg, Burnbank Fell, Lonscale Fell, Blake Fell, Gavel Fell, Binsey, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, Great Sca Fell, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Clough Head, Ullscarf, White Side, Raise, Helvellyn, Catstye Cam, Nethermost Pike, Dollywaggon Pike, Seat Sandal, Great Mell Fell, Fairfield, Great Rigg, Little Mell Fell, Heron Pike (Rydal)

How the view from Whinlatter (Brown How) 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 Whinlatter (Brown How). 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

Croftlands Cottages (opens in new tab) guest houseabout 4.7 km
Embleton Spa Hotel (opens in new tab) hotelabout 4.8 km
High Swinside Holiday Cottages (opens in new tab)about 1.4 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 Whinlatter (Brown How)

Is Whinlatter an easy walk? Answered above.

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

Whinlatter (Brown How)

Summit conditions on Whinlatter (Brown How)

Wind on the top

Rain, and the becks

Routes up Whinlatter (Brown How)

Is Whinlatter an easy walk?

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Parking & buses for Whinlatter (Brown How)

Parking

Buses

Hazards on Whinlatter (Brown How)

Notes from the Whinlatter Loop route

Navigating in cloud

If you need Mountain Rescue

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Birketts within 3 km of Whinlatter (Brown How)

Routes over Whinlatter (Brown How)

About Whinlatter (Brown How)

My Strava hikes over Whinlatter (Brown How)

Classifications & hill data

Is Whinlatter (Brown How) a Wainwright?

Selected lists

The view from Whinlatter (Brown How)

The 360° skyline from Whinlatter (Brown How)

Sunrise and sunset on Whinlatter (Brown How)

Last light — when the sun leaves Whinlatter (Brown How)

What you can see from Whinlatter (Brown How)

Places to stay near this fell

Frequently asked questions about Whinlatter (Brown How)

Other fells near Whinlatter (Brown How)