England · Yorkshire Dales National Park

Fountains Fell South Top

Fountains Fell South Top, 663 m, North Yorkshire
Fountains Fell South Top, 663 m, North Yorkshire. Photo by Dave Dunford, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Height
663.4 m · 2,177 ft
Grid reference
SD 86893 70796
Coordinates
54.13285, -2.20209
County / area
North Yorkshire
OS Landranger
98
OS Explorer
OL2S OL2W OL30S
Summit feature
tiny cairn
Key col
SD 8656 7123 (647.2 m)

About Fountains Fell South Top

Fountains Fell South Top is the subsidiary summit of Fountains Fell in the Yorkshire Dales, reaching 662 m and qualifying as a Nuttall.

The parent summit to the north stands at 668 m with 243 m of prominence, making it a Marilyn, and a third top further south reaches 610 m, the most southerly 2,000 ft summit in the Pennines. The fell's eastern slopes form part of the National Trust's Malham Tarn and Moor estate.

Background written from facts in the Wikipedia article on Fountains Fell (CC BY-SA 4.0). Heights, prominence and grid references come from the Database of British & Irish Hills, not from Wikipedia.

Access rights here

Conditional Right to roam: Right to roam only on mapped CRoW open access land.

Permission needed Wild camping: Needs the landowner's permission — the Dartmoor commons are the only exception in England.

General position for England — local byelaws, seasonal restrictions and closures can override it. Full details: access rights in England ·check another location.

Daylight at this summit today

Sunrise
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Sunset
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Daylight
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Civil twilight ends
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Computed astronomically for 54.133, -2.202. Plan your finish with the daylight safety planner.

Summit weather live

Loading forecast for the summit (663 m)…

Forecast adjusted to summit altitude. Weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0).

Finding the summit

Surveyor's note

ground 15m S at SD 86889 70779 is lower.

The recorded summit point is tiny cairn. That distinction matters on broad or flat tops, where the obvious cairn is not always the true high point.

Survey method
Abney level
Record revised
19-Oct-18
Drop measured from
SD 8656 7123 · 647.2 m

Survey notes are field observations recorded in the Database of British & Irish Hills (v18.3, CC BY 4.0) by the hill-surveying community.

Long-distance paths past this hill

One waymarked long-distance route runs within 2.5 km of the summit — useful if you are linking this hill into a longer walk, or want a made path for the approach.

RouteTotal lengthFrom summit
Pennine Way411 km0.7 km

Route lines © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); distance from the summit computed by OpenFell.

Reaching Fountains Fell South Top by train

One National Rail station sits within 8 km of the summit — close enough to make a car-free day of it. Distances are straight lines, not walking routes.

StationFrom summitSummit lies
Horton-In-Ribblesdale6.8 kmE of the station

Each station page lists every hill in its reach, long-distance paths from the door and a live-times link — see all stations with hills in reach. Station positions from NaPTAN (OGL v3.0).

Get food nearby

3 places to eat or drink within 10 km of the summit, rated under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (Scotland runs its own Food Hygiene Information Scheme, a pass/fail equivalent).

Rated places to eat within 10 km of Fountains Fell South Top
PlaceTypeRatingDistance
The Queens ArmsPub/bar/nightclub4 out of 55 km · NE
The Golden Lion HotelPub/bar/nightclub5 out of 56.1 km · W
Knight Stainforth Caravan SiteRestaurant/Cafe/Canteen5 out of 56.5 km · SW

Classifications and ratings are the local authority's own and can be coarse — this is a lead, not a guarantee of opening hours or that food is served to non-residents. Follow a name through to the official rating page to check, and confirm before you rely on it.

Food hygiene data from the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland (Open Government Licence v3.0). Distances and directions computed by OpenFell from the summit.

Which hill this one belongs to

Fountains Fell South Top is not counted as an independent hill in its own right. In prominence terms it belongs to Fountains Fell (668 m) — the nearest Marilyn you can reach from this summit without first dropping below its key col, 647 m.

Grouping is by prominence alone: a summit belongs to the nearest higher Marilyn it connects to without a deeper intervening col. Over a large massif that can gather hills no one would walk in a single day, and which few would describe as parts of the same mountain — it is a measure of independence, not a suggested route.

Nearest listed peaks

PeakHeightDistance
Fountains Fell667.8 m0.9 km
Darnbrook Fell624 m2.5 km
Pen-y-ghent694.1 m4 km
Plover Hill679.9 m4.8 km
Parson's Pulpit538 m5.3 km
Grizedales553 m6.5 km