Wainwrights Baggers

Book 4 · The Southern Fells

Bowfell

A 903 m Wainwright in The Southern Fells, with one desk-checked ascent from Old Dungeon Ghyll car park, Great Langdale: 5.1 km and 800 m of climbing.

Explore Bowfell in 3D

Is Bowfell a Wainwright?

Yes. Bowfell is one of the 214 Wainwrights: number 3 of 30 in Book 4, The Southern Fells, of Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells.

Climbing Bowfell from Old Dungeon Ghyll car park, Great Langdale

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Crinkle CragsHarrison StickleLoft CragPike of StickleRossett PikeBP1 km
The route in green, from the car park (P) to the summit (triangle), with the bus stop (B) where it falls on the map and nearby Wainwrights as dots. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

This route climbs Bowfell from the National Trust's Old Dungeon Ghyll car park in Great Langdale. Parking is paid and the car park sits at about 100 m. The Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel bus stop, about 130 m away, is served by the 516.

The line is 5.1 km long and gains about 800 m. The first 1.3 km are almost level. The route crosses Great Langdale Beck at about 190 m and follows a lane for about 900 m before the path begins.

At about 1.35 km the route joins the path OpenStreetMap names The Band, a long path graded mountain hiking with a grass surface on the map. It climbs for 3 km: about 300 m at 2 km, 520 m at 3 km and 620 m at 4 km. The route passes Three Tarns at about 4.4 km and 720 m, then climbs the last 700 m, mostly graded mountain hiking, to the summit cairn at 903 m.

About 3.9 km of the line follows public footpaths and 3.8 km crosses open access land. Two short sections near the car park, about 100 m in all, are on neither in the data.

Bowfell is 903 m high and belongs to the Southern Fells in Book 4.

The GPX file is the same line, from the car park to the summit. Return the same way, or plan another descent with a map before you set out.

Download the GPXFree. The route is © OpenStreetMap contributors and the file is released under the Open Database Licence: you may copy, share and adapt it.

Where Bowfell stands

1 · Eastern2 · Far Eastern3 · Central4 · Southern5 · Northern6 · North Western7 · WesternBowfell
Bowfell among all 214 Wainwright summits, each in its true position.

Nearest Wainwrights

Straight-line distances between summits.

All the fells in The Southern FellsAll 214 Wainwrights

Map and route data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Heights along the route from OS Terrain 50. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (NaPTAN, Bus Open Data Service, Lake District National Park Authority rights of way).

Access land © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Heights, grid references and summit positions come from The Database of British and Irish Hills v18.3, used under CC BY 4.0.