The Western Fells

Haystacks

Haystacks (northern) summit, looking north with the Grasmoor massif on the left and Robinson on the right. Skiddaw and Skiddaw Little Man appear in the distance.
Photograph taken: 6th August 2025

Haystacks (northern) summit, looking north with the Grasmoor massif on the left and Robinson on the right. Skiddaw and Skiddaw Little Man appear in the distance.
Photograph taken: 6th August 2025
Looking along the summit ridge at Haystacks from the south top to the north top, with Robinson prominent in the middle distance. The DoBIH records the southern top as being about 2m higher than the Wainwright top. The metal fence post at the southern top, shown in this photograph, has now gone.
Photograph taken: 8th July 2019
The summit tarn at Haystacks, looking north-west to Seat and High Crag with Ennerdale and Ennerdale Water on the left and a glimpse of Crummock Water on the right.
Photograph taken: 6th August 2025
Innominate Tarn, looking south-east with the awesome backdrop of Green Gable, Great Gable, Kirk Fell, and Scafell Pike appearing in the distance. Wainwright's ashes were scattered here in 1991.
Photograph taken: 6th August 2025

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Location map for Haystacks

Wainwright top at Haystacks

Context

Haystacks is a Wainwright in The Western Fells area of the Lake District National Park.

Location

Grid Ref: NY 19336 13204
BNG e,n: 319336,513204
Lat/long: 54.507704,-3.247295
GeoJSON: [-3.247295,54.507704]
///W3W: beside.circus.rots
Feature: metal post at north end of summit ridge

Elevation

Height: 597m / 1,959ft
Drop: 78.0m
Rank: 131 / 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

The Wainwright top at Haystacks is the northern top of the summit ridge, marked with a metal fence post. Its forward position gives it the best views. The southern top (now without fence post) is higher by 2m and is the true summit. The two tops are just 50m apart, and connected by a rocky ridge, so bagging both is not a problem.

True summit (south top)

Grid Ref: NY 19335 13151
///W3W: tadpoles.student.garage

Route planning

Fells

Brandreth: 2.9km; 248m; 58min
Fleetwith Pike: 3.5km; 247m; 1hr 5min
High Crag: 1.8km; 327m; 53min

Details

There are 3 viable routes from Haystacks

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.

Notes

The descent from Haystacks summit to Scarth Gap is quite technical and requires some hand on rock. The climb from Scarth Gap to High Crag is partly over loose scree. Walking poles may be helpful. The routes to Brandreth and Fleetwith Pike present no significant problems.

Classification

DoBIH No

2457

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

Dewey, Dodd, Trail 100

Dewey: Hills in England, Wales, and the Isle of Man that are at least 500m high and less than 609.6m (2,000ft) with a drop of at least 30m on all sides. There are 31 Wainwrights in this class.
Dodd: Hills in Scotland, England, Wales, the Isle of Man, and Ireland between 500m and 599.9m high with a drop of at least 30m on all sides. There are 29 Wainwrights in this class.
Trail 100: A curated list of 100 British hills published in Trail Magazine. “…a collection of the 100 peaks that all hillwalkers must climb at least once in their lifetime.” The Trail 100 includes 24 Wainwrights.

Notes

Wainwright's single word name for this fell appears on Harvey maps but Ordnance Survey maps display the two word name “Hay Stacks”. Bill Birkett and Mark Richards agree with Wainwright while Tim Synge goes with the OS.

Geology

Bedrock

Haystacks Andesite Member

BGS code

HAYS

Type

Igneous (extrusive)

Age

449.0 – 458.4 Ma

Period

Ordovician

Parent

Birker Fell Andesite Formation ➔
Borrowdale Volcanic 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 igneous rocks are volcanic in origin. Poor in silica, they form fluid flows of lava with feeder dykes and sills. They are andesite lavas with flow banding and columnar jointing, interwoven with massive and bedded breccias in the upper part of unit.

Daylight

Tuesday, 9th June 2026

Daylight

17 hours 12 minutes

Dawn