The North Western Fells

Whiteside

Whiteside summit, looking east along the ridge towards Grisedale Pike, Hopegill Head, and Sand Hill.
Photograph taken: 9th June 2017

Whiteside summit, looking east along the ridge towards Grisedale Pike, Hopegill Head, and Sand Hill.
Photograph taken: 9th June 2017
The remains of the west cairn, marked on the Ordnance Survey map and mentioned by Wainwright as “worth a visit” where “Loweswater and Crummock Water are both seen in a comprehensive valley view.”
Photograph taken: 29th June 2025
Looking back along the ridge above Gasgale Crags to Whiteside, it's clear to see that the east top (719m) is the highest point on the fell and 12m higher than the accepted summit and Wainwright top.
Photograph taken: 29th June 2025

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Location map for Whiteside (west top)

Wainwright top at Whiteside (west top)

Context

Whiteside (west top) is a Wainwright in The North Western Fells area of the Lake District National Park.

Location

Grid Ref: NY 17045 21948
BNG e,n: 317045,521948
Lat/long: 54.585895,-3.285135
GeoJSON: [-3.285135,54.585895]
///W3W: unwound.depending.asset
Feature: cairn on rock outcrop

Elevation

Height: 707m / 2,320ft
Drop: 18.0m
Rank: 84 / 214

Details

Locating Wainwright tops

It's easy to make the mistake of thinking that the Wainwright top is at the true summit of a fell. For many fells in the 214, this is not the case. Wainwright often chose a top because of its aspect or view rather than its height. This is what sometimes makes finding the Wainwright tops so confusing.

Locating a top is also complicated by the fact that features change over time. Cairns come and go, some grow and some shrink, fence posts are added or removed. Although the summit sketches in Wainwright's guides and the photographs in this guide are useful aids for identification, the features shown are subject to change, especially on popular fells. See Fleetwith Pike for an example of how cairns change.

Important: The accuracy of GPS on smartphones is ±5m at best but could be as much as 8m out. Please bear this in mind when using the location data.

Notes

Wainwright: “The cairn is well sited at the end of the ridge, just above the steepening drop to Crummock Water, and on the edge of an abrupt downfall of crags. But there is little doubt that this is not the highest point of the fell…” The true summit of the fell is at the east top.

True summit (east top)

Grid Ref: NY 17511 22103
///W3W: sympathy.magazines.baroness

Route planning

Fells

Hopegill Head: 1.6km; 118m; 30min

Details

There is one viable route from Whiteside

The Wainwright guides indicate “ridge routes” from each fell and although this is useful, it doesn't always allow for effective route planning. The routes shown here are the Wainwright ridge routes (indicated with ) plus any other viable routes (indicated with ), not necessarily linked by a ridge. This list provides a more comprehensive network of potential routes that can be used when planning days out on the fells.

All routes have been plotted in the OS Maps app. The distance, ascent and time values are those given for the plotted routes. Time values are for moderately fit walkers without breaks. They should therefore be considered minimum values for the purposes of route planning.

Classification

DoBIH No

2418

Local

Birkett, Fellranger, Synge, Wainwright

Birkett: Lake District hills over 1,000ft listed in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells. There are 541 Birketts, 211 are also Wainwrights.
Fellranger: Lake District hills included in Mark Richards' Fellranger walking series, a set of eight volumes inspired by the Wainwright guides. There are 230 Fellrangers, 209 are also Wainwrights. This is a curated list, not based on height criteria.
Synge: Lake District hills over 300m listed in Tim Synge's The Lakeland Summits. The book aims to list every significant summit over 300m in height within the National Park, 646 in total. It includes all 214 fells in Wainwright's Pictorial Guides, including Castle Crag at 290m.
Wainwright: Lake District hills included in volumes 1-7 of Wainwright's A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. There are 214 Wainwrights in all. This is a curated list, not based on height criteria.

National

Nuttall

Nuttall: Hills in England and Wales that are at least 2,000 feet (610m) high and with a drop of at least 15m on all sides, as published in the two volumes of The Mountains of England and Wales by John and Anne Nuttall. There are 169 Nuttalls in the Lake District, 114 are also Wainwrights.

Geology

Bedrock

Kirk Stile Formation

BGS code

KST

Type

Sedimentary (marine)

Age

458.4 – 477.7 Ma

Period

Ordovician

Parent

Skiddaw Group

Details

Members, formations and groups

Member: A smaller unit of rock that shares common charateristics and features, often used in geology to describe specific layers within a formation.
Formation: A larger unit of rock that is distinct from other formations above and below. A formation may include two or more members.
Group: A stratigraphic unit that includes two or more associated formations that are usually contiguous or contain significant features in common.
Suite: A geological unit containing intrusive, highly deformed, or metamorthic rocks of the same type, lacking discernable stratification.
Complex: A geological unit containing intrusive, highly deformed, or metamorthic rocks of different types, lacking discernable stratification.

Notes

These sedimentary rocks are marine in origin. They comprise coarse- to fine-grained slurries of debris from the continental shelf flowing into a deep-sea environment, forming distinctively graded beds. They form thinly laminated to very thinly bedded dark grey siltstones and mudstones. They are underlain by the Loweswater Formation and overlain by the Eycott Volcanic Group.

Daylight

Tuesday, 9th June 2026

Daylight

17 hours 13 minutes

Dawn