Whitfell
Whitfell at 573m (1,881ft) is a Marilyn on the remote moorland above the Duddon estuary in west Cumbria, giving outstanding views south across Morecambe Bay and west to the Irish Sea. Wainwright included it in his Outlying Fells guide.
Summit conditions on Whitfell
On the summit on Thursday 29 October: 10° to 8°C, gusts to 28 mph, 0.1 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.
The forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →
Routes up Whitfell
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Buck Barrow, Whitfell and Burn Moor on the western fells — 14.3 km and 662 m, the steepest sustained descent about 19%. The difficulty is the ground and the navigation, both rated hard: open, trackless ground. About 3¾–5½ hours.
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 →
How hard is Whitfell?
The shortest way up we hold is Around Sele Bottom — 14.26 km, 662 m of ascent, ~3¾–5½ h. On our scale its hardest axes are distance, terrain and navigation — Hard.
All axes: length: Hard · terrain: Hard · navigation: Hard · steepness: Moderate · exposure: Not assessed.
These are the route page’s grades, set by the rules on how we grade: length and steepness measured from its GPX track, the others set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap. The route page says which. How we check →
Conditions and 7-day summit forecast
Modelled for the 573 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Full 7-day forecast
Taken 29 October 2026, 09:00 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)
Parking & buses for Whitfell
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
2 more places to park near Whitfell
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 nearest bus stop we hold is the 505 at Coniston, outside John Ruskin School, 20.4 km of walking from the start — no bus route we hold serves it.
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Hazards on Whitfell
Notes from a planned route, not walked: Around Sele Bottom
If you need to get off (the leg from Buck Barrow): Do not drop into the trackless morass of Sele Bottom. No way off the horseshoe has been checked for this guide; if you need to cut the day short, retrace the route.
Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: the note for the leg that reaches Whitfell.
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.
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
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).
Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.
Birketts within 3 km of Whitfell
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Whitfell
Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked
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 Whitfell
Classifications & hill data
Is Whitfell a Wainwright?
Whitfell is one of Wainwright's Outlying Fells, not one of the 214 in the Pictorial Guides. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Fellranger list and the Marilyn list.
Selected lists
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 →