Geologically, parts of the Scafell massif are the remnants of a volcano that erupted in the Ordovician period over 400 million years ago.

[2] The volcano is an example of a piecemeal caldera whose collapse, in contrast with a wholesale piston-like subsidence, occurred in a piece-by-piece fashion along faults and whose measurements suggest formation from an eruption of a VEI-7 magnitude, comparable to the Minoan eruption at Santorini in the Greek Aegean in c. 1600 BCE.

This protected area includes Seathwaite Fell, Great Slack, Great End, Long Pike, III Crag, Symonds Knott, Slight Side and Scafell Pike and the area of this SSSI is 1102 hectares.

[3] The wet habitats of Seathwaite Fell support populations of a butterfly called the small mountain ringlet.

[5] The traverse between England's two highest summit's via Mickledore col requires considerable care and caution.