Birketts by Gowbarrow
Key facts
Difficulty profile
Five independent axes, not one score. “Desk” ratings come from maps and guidebooks, not yet walked — treat them as a guide, not a survey.
Conditions on this route
We score every Lakeland Wainwright each morning on cloud, wind, rain and underfoot, and this route crosses 1 of them. The worst summit governs the verdict — a route is only as kind as its roughest top.
Modelled guidance — not a substitute for the mountain forecast or your own judgement. See how every fell ranks today →
☀️ Daylight & turnaround
Daylight is short from October to February — check today’s sunrise and sunset before you set off, and carry a head-torch and spare batteries. On short days, decide your turn-back time before you start.
Why this matters: 78% of Mountain Rescue call-outs come after midday — the day runs out on the way home, not on the way up. See also walking in bad weather and today’s conditions.
1 Green Hill - Gowbarrow Park2 Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit)3 Great Meldrum4 Little Meldrum5 Watermillock Fell (Little Mell Fell South Top)
Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right).
This walk covers about 12.03 km with around 550 m of ascent, taking in 5 summits. The map above shows the line; the elevation profile and stage notes are below.
Access & barriers
Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route? A quick read from the gates and stiles mapped along the way.
- Dog: A stile of unmapped type — a dog may need lifting over.
- Buggy: Stiles or rough going on the route.
- Knees: A sustained ~29% descent around the 9.7 km mark — a little jarring on tired knees.
On the line: 12 gates · 2 stiles (type unmapped)
These are mapped barriers, from OpenStreetMap — coverage in the Lakes is good but not guaranteed complete. Spotted a stile or gate we’ve missed? Tell us (opens in new tab) and we’ll fix it. Barrier data as of 2026-07-26. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Pacing
| Summit | Cumulative | Ascent | Time (fast–steady) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Hill - Gowbarrow Park | 1.7 km | 264 m | 0:47–1:03 |
| Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit) | 2.9 km | 315 m | 1:07–1:28 |
| Great Meldrum | 3.9 km | 353 m | 1:22–1:49 |
| Little Meldrum | 4.9 km | 356 m | 1:34–2:05 |
| Watermillock Fell (Little Mell Fell South Top) | 5.6 km | 366 m | 1:44–2:18 |
| Finish | 12.0 km | 550 m | 3:19–4:25 |
Naismith-based estimate — a fast/steady range. Your pace will vary.
The walk, stage by stage
Start → Green Hill - Gowbarrow Park (1.7 km, 264 m)
Climb of about 264 m over 1.7 km (around 16% average).
Green Hill - Gowbarrow Park → Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit) (1.2 km, 51 m)
About 1.2 km with 51 m of ascent.
Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit) → Great Meldrum (1.0 km, 37 m)
Descent of about 40 m over 1.0 km.
Great Meldrum → Little Meldrum (1.0 km, 3 m)
Descent of about 46 m over 1.0 km.
Little Meldrum → Watermillock Fell (Little Mell Fell South Top) (0.7 km, 11 m)
Undulating section of about 0.7 km.
Watermillock Fell (Little Mell Fell South Top) → Finish (6.5 km, 183 m)
Climb of about 183 m over 6.5 km (around 3% average).
Stage-by-stage field notes coming soon.
Summits bagged (5)
- Green Hill - Gowbarrow Park 439 m · Eastern · Birkett
- Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit) 481 m · Eastern · Wainwright, Birkett, Fellranger, Synge
- Great Meldrum 437 m · Eastern · Birkett, Synge
- Little Meldrum 404 m · Eastern · Birkett, Synge
- Watermillock Fell (Little Mell Fell South Top) 424 m · Eastern · Birkett, Synge
🅿️ Getting there & parking
Positions are approximate. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.
💧 Water, shelter & getting away
💧 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 — an absent marker does not mean the facility isn’t there.
🚌 Buses
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
⚠️ Safety & conditions
- Access: The summits of Little Meldrum and Watermillock Fell (Little Mell Fell South Top) lie outside mapped CRoW open-access land. That records no statutory right of access — it is not a statement that access is forbidden, and permissive access is not recorded in that layer. This line is computed rather than walked, so treat the access as unchecked and look for the courteous way through — how we work this out.
Check live conditions in the “From the fells” panel, on MWIS (opens in new tab) and the Met Office mountain forecast (opens in new tab) before you set off.
Make it easier or harder
Short version: turn back at about 4.9 km (drop to Start) — roughly half the distance.
📚 Maps & guidebooks for Birketts by Gowbarrow
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