Lake District
Grayrigg Pike
478M
1568FT
About Grayrigg Pike
Rising steeply above the Lune Gorge, this grassy outlier marks the eastern edge of the Lake District. The summit offers a distinct perspective on the region, providing a bird’s-eye view of the M6 motorway and railway snaking through the valley below, framed by the massive, velvety slopes of the Howgill Fells.
Key Statistics
Rank
463rd Highest in Region
Parent Range
Far Eastern Fells
Prominence
?
14.8m
Nearest Town
Grayrigg
Geology
Grayrigg Pike sits on the Coniston Group, a foundation of ancient sand and mud compressed into stone. You are trekking over layers of solid sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone.
Classifications
Find It
Latitude
54.3909°N
Longitude
2.6108°W
Did You Know?
- •The name originates from the Old Norse 'grár' meaning grey and 'hryggr' for ridge. While the bulk of the fell is a broad moorland, the 'Pike' refers to this specific, prominent nose that drops away sharply toward the south.
- •This hill is classified as a Synge, a list of Lakeland fells originally documented in the 1920s. It is frequently climbed as part of a circuit around the 'other' Borrowdale—a secluded, glacial valley in Westmorland that sees a fraction of the visitors found in its famous namesake near Keswick.
- •Looking east across the deep trench of the Lune Gorge, the view is dominated by the steep western flanks of the Howgill Fells, specifically the massive bulk of The Calf and the impressive cleft of Black Force waterfall.
- •It is perhaps the only summit in the Lake District where you can accurately time your rest stop by the progress of the Avanti West Coast services as they rattle through the gorge hundreds of metres below.