The fell is part of the long southern ridge of Caudale Moor and occupies the swath of territory between Ambleside and the Troutbeck valley.

Despite its modest elevation, Wansfell has significant topographic prominence, being linked to the higher fell of Caudale Moor by a col near the Kirkstone Pass road (A592) with a height of around 339.2 metres.

A team including John Barnard surveyed the hill on 18 September 2009 and on 11 February 2010 announced that the summit and col height measurements were 486.9m and 339.2m respectively, and thus it was once again removed from the list of Marilyns.

The popularity of the ascent from Ambleside led to severe erosion which became so bad that the path underwent restoration work in the late 1990s using stone blocks.

The fell is predominantly ascended from Ambleside using the road which leaves the town centre and goes past Stockghyll Force waterfall before bearing right onto the restored footpath which is followed to the summit.