Wainwrights Baggers

Book 6 · The North Western Fells

High Spy

A 653 m Wainwright in The North Western Fells, with one desk-checked ascent from Rosthwaite, Borrowdale: 3.9 km and 580 m of climbing.

Explore High Spy in 3D

Is High Spy a Wainwright?

Yes. High Spy is one of the 214 Wainwrights: number 13 of 29 in Book 6, The North Western Fells, of Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells.

Climbing High Spy from Rosthwaite, Borrowdale

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Castle CragBP500 m
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 High Spy from the National Trust's car park in Rosthwaite. Parking is paid, the car park has room for about 20 cars, and it sits at about 90 m. The General Store bus stop, about 80 m away, is served by the 77 and 78. The Dale Head route follows the same line for its first 3 km, well past Tongue Gill.

The line is 3.9 km long and gains about 580 m. For the first kilometre it stays level, close to 90 m, on a short lane and then a track that crosses the River Derwent at about 0.8 km.

The climbing begins at about 1 km. The path, graded hiking by OpenStreetMap, rises to about 200 m by 1.5 km, and a short section graded mountain hiking follows. The route crosses Lavery Gill at about 1.7 km and Tongue Gill at 2.4 km. The steepest part comes between 2 km and 3 km, from about 230 m to 500 m. The last 900 m rise more gently to a summit cairn at 653 m.

About 2.2 km of the line follows public footpaths and bridleways, and 2.4 km crosses open access land. About 590 m are on neither in the data, mostly the path between 0.9 km and 1.4 km, with short pieces where the lane meets the track and at 1.5 km.

High Spy is 653 m high, 113th of the 214 Wainwrights by height, and belongs to the North Western Fells in Book 6.

The GPX file is the same line, from the car park to the summit. Return the same way, or plan a longer walk 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 High Spy stands

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

Nearest Wainwrights

Straight-line distances between summits.

All the fells in The North Western 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.