Yoadcastle
Yoadcastle (494 m / 1,621 ft) is the rocky high point of Wainwright's Devoke Water round in The Outlying Fells of Lakeland. Its twin, Woodend Height, sits 0.2 km to the north.
Summit conditions on Yoadcastle
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 49 mph, 1.7 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 Yoadcastle
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 | Birketts Around Devoke Water | Ulpha Birketts |
|---|---|---|
| Starts from | Birker Fell Road (Devoke Water) | The Pike (layby) |
| Distance and climb | 8.89 km, 415 m of climb | 16 km, 778 m of climb |
| Time, fast to steady | ~2¼–3½ h | ~4½–6 h |
| Scrambling | Not mentioned in the route’s notes | Hands for a few steps: Yoadcastle's summit tor (about km 6.9). |
| Exposure | Not assessed | Not assessed |
| Navigation | Hard | Hard |
| Steepest stretch | Descent of about 17% at 5.7 km (Moderate) | Climb of about 27% at 4.0 km (Hard) |
| After the summit | Over Water Crag and Rough Crag (Birker Moor) | Over White Pike (Birkby Fell) and Stainton Pike |
| Walked or planned | Planned: drawn, not yet walked | Planned: drawn, not yet walked |
| Car park at the start | Devoke Water turning, Birker Fell road (verge) (free) | The Pike (layby) (free) |
| Bus to the start | Nearest stop 17.3 km on foot | Nearest stop 13.4 km on foot |
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 →
How hard is Yoadcastle?
The shortest way up we hold is Birketts Around Devoke Water — 8.89 km, 415 m of ascent, ~2¼–3½ h. On our scale its hardest axis is navigation — Hard.
All axes: navigation: Hard · length: Moderate · steepness: Moderate · terrain: Not assessed · 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 494 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Full 7-day forecast
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)
Parking & buses for Yoadcastle
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
3 more places to park near Yoadcastle
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 The Ruskin Centre, 13.4 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 Yoadcastle
Notes from a planned route, not walked: Birketts Around Devoke Water
If you need to get off (the leg from Woodend Height): Simply step back down off the rocky crown to the grassy saddle and descend northwards towards the Devoke Water track.
Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: the note for the leg that reaches Yoadcastle.
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 Yoadcastle
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Yoadcastle
Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked
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 Yoadcastle
Classifications & hill data
Is Yoadcastle a Wainwright?
Yoadcastle 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 and the Fellranger 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 →