High Street: 828.5m, Walks and Far Eastern Fell Views

High Street is the highest of the Far Eastern Fells, but its broad summit gives little warning of the steep, craggy ground on its eastern side. Above Mardale, long ridges and deep corries lend it a much stronger profile than its grassy top suggests. Walkers value that contrast, along with the extensive outlook and the history of a fell once used for horse racing.

A broad summit above Mardale

At 828.5 metres (2,718 feet), High Street ranks 25th among the 214 Wainwrights. Its summit, at grid reference NY441111, is marked by a triangulation pillar beside a dry-stone wall. This is a spacious upland top rather than a narrow peak: grass, stone and open sky are the immediate surroundings.

The eastern face has a different character. Here, crags and steep slopes overlook the glacial hollows above Mardale, with Blea Water lying beneath the fell. The ridge of Rough Crag and Long Stile provides one of High Street’s most recognisable profiles. The contrast between these broken eastern slopes and the broad summit is central to understanding the fell; it can look quite different depending on where you stand.

From the upper ground, the outlook extends towards the Helvellyn range and the central Lakeland fells, with the Pennines visible to the east in clear conditions. Nearby ridges overlap across the foreground, giving a strong sense of the scale of this eastern upland country.

The roof of the Far Eastern Fells

High Street belongs to Alfred Wainwright’s Book Two, The Far Eastern Fells, and is the highest fell in that volume. It stands within the extensive network of ridges between Ullswater, Haweswater and the valleys farther south. This is country well suited to longer fell days, with several summits connected by high ground.

Its neighbouring Wainwrights include Mardale Ill Bell, The Knott, Kidsty Pike and Rampsgill Head. Together they help explain why High Street is often approached as part of a wider round rather than treated as an isolated summit. Mardale Head, at the southern end of Haweswater, is a familiar starting area for walks here, though the different approaches vary considerably in length and character.

A Roman road and Racecourse Hill

The fell takes its name from the Roman road that crossed this high ground. That association gives High Street an unusually direct connection between its name and the history of travel through the Lakes: the ridge was a line of passage long before recreational fell walking.

The summit area is also known as Racecourse Hill. Local gatherings here included horse racing, making practical use of the unusually broad, open top. That history is worth remembering on a quiet visit: ground that now feels remote once served as a meeting place for neighbouring communities.

Where High Street stands

Summit at grid reference NY441111 · open full map

The real High Street

Walking High Street

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

• High Street Ridge (where2walk.co.uk)
• Lake District Walk: High Street (Racecourse Hill), and a few ... (walklakes.co.uk)
• High Street & High Raise walk (lonewalker.net)

Weather on High Street

Conditions estimated at summit height (828 m) via Open-Meteo. For a walker's forecast, use the Mountain Weather Information Service.

High Street on your wall

A painting of High Street can bring back more than the summit: the long pull above Mardale, the dark crags over Blea Water, or the spacious ridge under changing cloud. On paper or canvas, those familiar shapes offer a lasting connection to days on the fell.

Own “Sunlight Over High Street Crags” — our painting of High Street → or browse all Fells & Mountains artwork

Neighbouring Wainwrights in The Far Eastern Fells

• Mardale Ill Bell 760 m
• The Knott 739 m
• Kidsty Pike 781 m
• Rampsgill Head 792 m

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