It is situated between Great Gable and Pillar on the long ring of fells surrounding the valley of Ennerdale, and also stands over Wasdale to the south.

However, it is separated from its two higher neighbours by the low passes of Black Sail and Beck Head, giving it a high relative height and making it a Marilyn, the thirteenth highest in the Lake District.

The Western Fells occupy a triangular sector of the Lake District, bordered by the River Cocker to the north-east and Wasdale to the south-east.

Although some sections of the 'fence' are actually stone walls, that running over the top of Kirk Fell is only a remnant, marked by occasional posts.

Although prominently named on Ordnance Survey maps, Beckhead Tarn is a small shallow pool with a bed of peat and submerged flags.

[2] The summit plateau of Kirk Fell assumes a 'figure of eight' shape in plan, the narrow waist squeezed between Illgill Head and Baysoar Slack.

[2] The summit area consists of drift deposits overlying the plagioclase-phyric andesite lavas and subordinate sills of the Birker Fell Formation.

The northern crags expose some granophyric granite of the Ennerdale Intrusion, together with the bedded breccias, sandstones and tuffs of the Round How Member.

[1] A path of sorts ascends direct from the village of Wasdale Head to the summit, the way being in Wainwright's words a relentless and unremitting treadmill, a turf clutching crawl, not a walk.

On 3 June 2022 Mitchell Dixon, Jordan Mcguirk and Matty Todd (All local to Cumbria) become the first known trio to climb the nose of Kirk fell repeatedly until they accumulated the same altitude as Mt Everest.