Wainwrights Baggers

Book 1 · The Eastern Fells

Helvellyn

A 950 m Wainwright in The Eastern Fells, with one desk-checked ascent from Swirls car park, Thirlmere: 3.6 km and 740 m of climbing.

Explore Helvellyn in 3D

Is Helvellyn a Wainwright?

Yes. Helvellyn is one of the 214 Wainwrights: number 17 of 35 in Book 1, The Eastern Fells, of Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. At 3,116 ft it is one of only four Wainwrights over 3,000 ft.

Climbing Helvellyn from Swirls car park, Thirlmere

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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 Helvellyn from Swirls car park on the Thirlmere side of the fell. Parking is paid and the car park sits at about 220 m. A bus stop on the other side of the road, about 85 m away, is served by the 555 and 559.

The line is 3.6 km long and gains about 740 m. It crosses Helvellyn Gill within the first 60 m and then follows a single long path for almost 3 km. OpenStreetMap grades that path hiking, the easiest of its mountain grades, and 3.3 km of the 3.6 km are public footpaths or bridleways in the rights of way data.

The climb is steady rather than broken. The path passes 400 m just before the first kilometre and 770 m at the second. Around 2.3 km it levels off for a few hundred metres at about 850 m. The last 550 m follow a bridleway along the top to the summit, rising gently from about 900 m to 950 m.

The summit has a cairn and a shelter on the map. Almost the whole line, 3.4 km of it, crosses open access land. Helvellyn is one of only four Wainwrights over 3,000 ft.

The GPX file is the same line, from the car park to the summit. The quickest way back is the same path; any other descent needs its own planning with a map.

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 Helvellyn stands

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

Nearest Wainwrights

Straight-line distances between summits.

All the fells in The Eastern 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.