It has a moderate height of 576 metres (1,890 feet), and lies in the quieter eastern high ground between Ullswater and Haweswater Reservoir.

When Alfred Wainwright wrote his pictorial guide to the Far Eastern Fells in the 1950s The Nab, as part of the Martindale Deer Forest was strictly out of bounds.

He wrote in the chapter on The Nab: Keep Out notices, barricaded gates and miles of barbed wire must convey the impression even to the dullest witted walker that there is no welcome hereThe Nab is open access under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 although this is part of the red deer conservation area and this fell is a sanctuary for the animals away from people.

Anybody approaching from the north will see 'The Bungalow' in Martindale which was formerly a shooting lodge built in 1910 by the Earl of Lonsdale for the visiting Kaiser Wilhelm and is now a holiday cottage available to rent.

Most walkers who reach the summit of The Nab do not risk the wrath of the Dalemain Estate and avoid Martindale altogether, attaining the highest point by approaching and leaving along the boggy ridge which links with the neighbouring fell of Rest Dodd.