Yewbarrow
Yewbarrow at 628m (2,058ft) is a magnificent, narrow ridge above Wasdale Head, its twin rocky summits and dramatic profile making it one of the most distinctive fells in the Western Fells.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 629 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 14° to 13°C, gusts to 34 mph, 5.4 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 629 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
About the walk
Yewbarrow
Routes up Yewbarrow
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Map & nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: Wasdale Head (NT car park), about 2.0 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Yewbarrow (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.
Routes over Yewbarrow
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass.
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass.
The View from Yewbarrow
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.
What you can see from Yewbarrow, by direction
- North: Pillar (4 km), Robinson (9 km)
- North-east: Great Gable (4 km), Fleetwith Pike (7 km), Hindscarth (9 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (21 km), Skiddaw Little Man (22 km), Skiddaw South Top (22 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (22 km), Skiddaw (22 km)
- East: Lingmell (4 km), Scafell Pike (4 km), Broad Crag (5 km), Ill Crag (5 km), Great End (5 km), Red Beck Top (7 km), Looking Steads (7 km), Glaramara (8 km), Combe Head (8 km), Low White Stones (11 km), High Crag (18 km), Nethermost Pike (18 km), Fairfield (19 km), Hart Crag (20 km)
- South-east: Scafell (4 km), Slight Side (5 km), Harter Fell (10 km), Brim Fell (14 km), Dow Crag (14 km), Buck Pike (14 km), The Old Man of Coniston (14 km), Brown Pike (15 km), Walna Scar (15 km), White Pike (15 km), White Maiden (15 km)
- South: Illgill Head (4 km), Black Combe (23 km)
- West: Seatallan (3 km)
- North-west: Haycock (4 km), Caw Fell (5 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (164 km, Wales), Carnedd Llewelyn (152 km, Wales), Snaefell (80 km, Isle of Man), Moel Siabod (161 km, Wales), Mynydd Mawr (166 km, Wales), South Barrule (97 km, Isle of Man), Yr Eifl (183 km, Wales), Gyrn Ddu (179 km, Wales).
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 (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.
What you can see from Yewbarrow
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales and the Isle of Man.
- Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) Wales
- Carnedd Llewelyn Wales
- Snaefell Isle of Man
- Irish Sea open water
All 27 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Red Pike (Wasdale), Middle Fell, Kirk Fell, Seatallan, Pillar, Lingmell, Haycock, Scafell, Great Gable, Scafell Pike, Caw Fell, Slight Side, Great End, Whin Rigg (Wasdale), Fleetwith Pike, Glaramara, Robinson, Hindscarth, Harter Fell (Eskdale), Green Crag, Brim Fell, Dow Crag, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Nethermost Pike, Carl Side, Skiddaw Little Man, Skiddaw
How Yewbarrow’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 Yewbarrow
Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).
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 Extended Mosedale Horseshoe route:
💧 Treat water from the fell before you drink it. A mapped point is usually a tap or public supply, but never drink untreated from a beck, stream or tarn — even clear-looking hill water can carry giardia or cryptosporidium from livestock or a carcass upstream and leave you seriously ill. Run it through a filter or purifier (a LifeStraw, Sawyer Squeeze or HydraPak) or bring it to a rolling boil first.
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
Buses to Yewbarrow from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere
No regular bus serves the start points for this fell — this is one for the car (or a long approach from the nearest served valley). The nearest hubs are Penrith (X4/X5 & 508), Ambleside and Windermere (555, 505, 516).
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
Hazard & Incident Information for Yewbarrow
A steep-sided whaleback above Wasdale, defended at both ends by rock. Its modest height belies a real little mountain: the traverse involves a scramble down (or up) Stirrup Crag at the north end and steep rocky ground at the south, with the badly eroded Dore Head screes alongside. Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team is called here regularly — to scramblers who become cragfast on Stirrup Crag and to walkers taking tumbling falls on the steep, loose ground.
- Stirrup Crag (north top scramble): The north end drops in a steep set of ledges and chimneys — a genuine scramble that catches people out, especially as a descent. Walkers regularly become cragfast here unable to climb down, and falls have caused head and leg injuries. Tackle it only if you are comfortable scrambling on steep rock; if in doubt, avoid the traverse and return the way you came.
- Dore Head screes: The steep scree slope off Dore Head (toward Mosedale) is severely eroded, loose and unpleasant — once a scree run, now a notorious leg-breaker. The steep ground beside it has left walkers cragfast. Avoid it as a descent; safer ground exists, and the screes are best left alone.
- Steep eastern and southern flanks (Great Door / Bell Rib): Yewbarrow is steep and craggy on its Over Beck side and at the southern end around Bell Rib and the Great Door notch. Keep to the path along the crest and don't be drawn onto steep rock looking for a way down.
Most common causes: Scramblers becoming cragfast or falling on Stirrup Crag · Tumbling falls and injuries on the steep, loose ground at both ends · Slips and broken ankles on the eroded Dore Head screes · Walkers committing to the traverse without realising it involves scrambling
Local Mountain Rescue: Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab) · Reviewed 13 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.
Navigating Yewbarrow in cloud
Care neededWalkable ground sits close to a lethal drop — in cloud it’s easy to walk straight onto steep ground. Take care in poor visibility — 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 Yewbarrow 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 Yewbarrow
- Base Brown
- Blake Fell
- Brandreth
- Buckbarrow
- Burnbank Fell
- Caw Fell
- Crag Fell
- Fellbarrow - Mosser Fell
- Fleetwith Pike
- Gavel Fell
- Great Borne
- Great Gable
- Green Gable
- Grey Knotts
- Grike
- Haycock
- Haystacks (Buttermere)
- Hen Comb
- High Crag (Buttermere)
- High Stile
- Kirk Fell
- Lank Rigg
- Low Fell
- Mellbreak (Mellbreak South Top)
- Middle Fell
- Pillar
- Red Pike (Buttermere)
- Red Pike (Wasdale)
- Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell)
- Seatallan
- Starling Dodd
- Steeple
Maps & guidebooks for Yewbarrow
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