High Stile: Height (806.2m), Walks and Buttermere Views

High Stile is the highest point of the ridge linking Red Pike and High Crag above Buttermere. At 806.2 metres, it combines a broad, rocky summit with a much sterner face towards the lake, where crags frame deep combs. Walkers value it both as the centrepiece of a substantial ridge walk and as a viewpoint between the Buttermere valley and Ennerdale.

The high point of the Buttermere ridge

High Stile stands between Red Pike to the north-west and High Crag to the south-east, forming the highest of three linked Wainwright summits. The ridge separates Buttermere from Ennerdale, giving the fell two quite different settings: the inhabited valley and lakes on one side, and the long, largely wooded dale on the other. From Buttermere, its craggy northern slopes are a defining part of the skyline.

The summit is not a neat cone. It is a broad, stony crest, with broken ground and substantial crags below its northern side. Bleaberry Tarn occupies the corrie between Red Pike and High Stile, while Burtness Comb cuts into the ground between High Stile and High Crag. These glacial hollows help explain the ridge's strongly sculpted appearance when seen from the valley.

High Stile in the Western Fells

High Stile appears in The Western Fells, the seventh book of Alfred Wainwright's Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. Its measured height is 806.2 metres, or 2,645 feet, placing it 30th among the 214 Wainwrights. The summit grid reference is NY167147. Within this western group, it belongs to the prominent ridge along the southern side of the Buttermere valley.

Red Pike and High Crag are its immediate ridge companions. Pillar and Steeple lie across Ennerdale, rather than on the same ridge, an important distinction when looking at neighbouring summits on a map. Walking High Stile with Red Pike and High Crag is a well-established Lakeland outing: much of its appeal comes from experiencing the connections between the three fells, not simply reaching the highest point.

Views and the character of the walking

The outlook brings together several contrasting Lakeland landscapes. Buttermere and Crummock Water sit below the ridge, with Grasmoor prominent across the valley. In the other direction, Ennerdale opens beneath the northern slopes of the Pillar group. In clear conditions, the wider prospect includes Great Gable and the Scafell range.

This is substantial fell country, with steep approaches, rough ground and exposed crag edges. The broad summit can also make navigation less straightforward in cloud than its appearance on a clear day suggests. High Stile rewards time spent looking across both sides of the ridge; its character lies as much in the combs and neighbouring fells as in the summit itself.

Where High Stile stands

Summit at grid reference NY167147 · open full map

The real High Stile

Walking High Stile

We make artwork, not route guides — these are the guides we'd point a friend to:

• High Stile Ridge (masarnenramblers.com)
• High Crag & High Stile - Walking the Cumbrian Mountains (josweeney.net)
• The High Stile Ridge (pawsexplorenorth.co.uk)

Weather on High Stile

Conditions estimated at summit height (806 m) via Open-Meteo. For a walker's forecast, use the Mountain Weather Information Service.

High Stile on your wall

A painting of High Stile can bring back the shape of a familiar day above Buttermere: the broken northern crags, the long ridge and the changing light across the combs. As a print or canvas, that recognisable skyline gives a room a lasting connection to the western Lakes.

Own “Sunlit Ridge on High Stile” — our painting of High Stile → or browse all Fells & Mountains artwork

Neighbouring Wainwrights in The Western Fells

• Red Pike (Buttermere) 755 m
• High Crag 745 m
• Pillar 892 m
• Steeple 819 m

Part of our guide to all 214 Wainwrights — see the full index.