Red Pike (Buttermere): Height, Walks and Summit Views

Red Pike (Buttermere) stands at the western end of the High Stile ridge, its reddish summit rising above the corrie of Bleaberry Tarn. At 755.3m, it offers a strong contrast between steep, broken ground on the Buttermere side and broader slopes towards the west. Walkers value it both as a summit in its own right and as part of the sustained high-level walk linking High Stile and High Crag.

A red summit above Bleaberry Tarn

Red Pike is one of the defining fells above Buttermere, forming the western end of the principal High Stile ridge. Its name reflects the reddish colouring of its summit rock, a distinctive feature among the surrounding crags and screes. The top has a rounded outline when seen from some directions, but the ground beneath it is far from gentle. On the Buttermere side, steep slopes fall into the corrie holding Bleaberry Tarn, with Chapel Crags forming part of its rocky enclosure.

The tarn drains through Sourmilk Gill, whose white water is a familiar sight above the valley. Together, the summit, corrie and beck give Red Pike a particularly recognisable profile. It is a fell best understood in relation to the water and rock below it, rather than simply as a point along a ridge.

Red Pike in the Western Fells

At 755.3 metres, or 2,478 feet, Red Pike ranks 62nd among the 214 Wainwrights. It appears in The Western Fells, the seventh volume of Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. The Buttermere qualifier matters: there is another Wainwright called Red Pike above Wasdale, and the two are separate summits.

High Stile lies along the ridge to the south-east, with High Crag beyond it. To the west, the upland continues towards Starling Dodd and Great Borne, while Ennerdale lies on the southern side of the range. This position places Red Pike between two markedly different Lakeland valleys: the villages, roads and lakeside farmland around Buttermere, and the largely roadless upper reaches of Ennerdale.

Summit views and the High Stile ridge walk

The summit outlook takes in Crummock Water and Buttermere, with the Grasmoor group prominent across the valley. Ennerdale Water lies on the other side of the ridge, and the wider panorama extends across the western fells. Clear conditions reveal how closely the lakes and their dividing ridges fit together; cloud can reduce that expansive view to the immediate red rock and neighbouring slopes.

Red Pike is particularly well known as part of the High Stile ridge walk, linking three Wainwright summits above Buttermere. It also attracts walkers making a shorter outing to the summit and Bleaberry Tarn. Shorter does not mean easy: the steep, loose ground above the tarn deserves care, and the full ridge is an exposed mountain walk requiring suitable weather, equipment and navigation.

Where Red Pike (Buttermere) stands

Summit at grid reference NY160154 · open full map

The real Red Pike (Buttermere)

Walking Red Pike (Buttermere)

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

• High Stile Range - Cumbria (visitlakedistrict.com)
• Red Pike (Buttermere) - Hewitt (walkhighlands) (walkhighlands.co.uk)
• Buttermere and Haystacks Circular, Cumbria, England (alltrails.com)

Weather on Red Pike (Buttermere)

Conditions estimated at summit height (755 m) via Open-Meteo. For a walker's forecast, use the Mountain Weather Information Service.

Red Pike (Buttermere) on your wall

A painting of Red Pike can bring back more than the summit view: the colour of the rock, the dark water of Bleaberry Tarn, or cloud lifting from High Stile. On a wall at home, those familiar shapes keep a day above Buttermere close.

Own “Sunlit Red Pike Ridge Ascent” — our painting of Red Pike (Buttermere) → or browse all Fells & Mountains artwork

Neighbouring Wainwrights in The Western Fells

• High Stile 806 m
• Starling Dodd 633 m
• High Crag 745 m
• Steeple 819 m

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