Haystacks (Buttermere)

About Haystacks (Buttermere)

Haystacks is a rugged, complex summit that punches far above its height. Known for its rocky outcrops and hidden tarns, the terrain is famously non-linear. Expect some light scrambling and interesting route-finding around the top, which offers exceptional perspectives of Great Gable and the Buttermere valley.

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Did You Know?

• •Wainwright loved this spot so much that he requested his ashes be scattered by the shores of Innominate Tarn near the summit. He famously noted that if he were to be found anywhere after death, he’d prefer it to be there than in a "shiny casket in a suburban cemetery."
• •While many climbers chase the 3,000-foot peaks, Wainwright dedicated more pages and drawings to Haystacks in his guides than to many mountains twice its height. He argued that beauty is measured in complexity and character, effectively making this 1,900-foot hill the most famous "underachiever" in geography.
• •The summit plateau is unusual because it contains several permanent tarns at an elevation where water usually drains away immediately. This occurs because the underlying volcanic rock is so non-porous and "basin-like" that it traps rainfall in high-altitude pockets, creating a miniature wetland nearly 2,000 feet up.
• •On the eastern flank lies a small stone shelter that served as a blacksmith's shop for the high-altitude quarry workers in the 1800s. It remains a rare surviving example of industrial archaeology at that elevation, standing as a testament to the extreme conditions Victorian miners endured for mountain minerals.
• •The name actually derives from the Old Norse "stakkr," meaning a columnar rock, combined with the Old English "heah," meaning high. This makes the original meaning "High Rocks," a literal description of the craggy summit cliffs rather than a tribute to dried cattle fodder. It seems the Vikings had a much better grasp of the local geography than the mapmakers who decided this massive slab of volcanic rock looked like a pile of grass.
• •Despite its modest elevation, the undulating summit is a notorious place to lose your bearings in a thick mist; it is entirely possible to complete a full circuit of a rocky outcrop and end up exactly where you started.