hikes.guideLake District

Crook Crag

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469 mBirkett — Southern (not a Wainwright summit)+6 bonus Birketts within 3 km

Crook Crag at 469m (1,539ft) is a rocky fell top on the Birker Fell moors between Eskdale and the Duddon, 0.5 km north of Green Crag, its craggy summit giving fine views across to the Coniston Fells and south to the coast.

Summit conditions on Crook Crag

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 43 mph, 2.2 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.

Full 7-day summit forecast ↓

The forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Routes up Crook Crag

Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.

12.03 km · ~544 m ascent · ~3¼–4½ h · loop · 5 summits
Moderate effort Hard: terrain
Park: Devoke Water turning, Birker Fell road (verge) (free)

A wild, trackless round over the knobbly tops of Birker Fell, in the empty south-western corner of the Lakes that most walkers never reach.

Distance and climb are measured from the route’s GPX track, and the time from them by Naismith’s rule; the route page says what each grade rests on. How we check →

How hard is Crook Crag?

The shortest way up we hold is Green Crag & Great Whinscale — the wild Birker Fell round — 12.03 km, 544 m of ascent, ~3¼–4½ h. On our scale its hardest axis is terrain — Hard.

All axes: terrain: Hard · length: Moderate · steepness: Moderate · navigation: Moderate · exposure: Not assessed.

These are the route page’s grades, set by the rules on how we grade: length and steepness measured from its GPX track, the others set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap. The route page says which. How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 469 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast
Tue 27 Oct
12° / 6°
43 mph
2.2 mm (100%)
Wed 28 Oct
10° / 7°
39 mph
4.6 mm (100%)
Thu 29 Oct
10° / 8°
24 mph
0.5 mm (26%)
Fri 30 Oct
9° / 7°
24 mph
0.0 mm (31%)
Sat 31 Oct
11° / 2°
8 mph
0.0 mm (25%)
Sun 1 Nov
10° / 1°
8 mph
0.0 mm (12%)
Mon 2 Nov
8° / 1°
19 mph
0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 08:13 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Parking & buses for Crook Crag

Parking

Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.

Devoke Water turning, Birker Fell road (verge) — at the start of Green Crag & Great Whinscale — the wild Birker Fell round
Rough free parking by the bridleway to Devoke Water for the Birker Fell group.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Wha House, Eskdale (NT, free) — 2.2 km from summit (straight line)
Upper Eskdale - Slight Side, Harter Fell and the Scafell approaches.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Goat Crag, south-east (layby) — 2.4 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Green Crag, Harter Fell (Eskdale) and Hard Knott — the 'Alternative Hardknott Round (Green Crag, Harter Fell & Hard Knott)' route starts 204 m away. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
3 more places to park near Crook Crag
Goat Crag (layby) — 2.6 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Green Crag, Harter Fell (Eskdale) and Hard Knott — the 'Alternative Hardknott Round (Green Crag, Harter Fell & Hard Knott)' route starts 25 m away. Free (OSM-tagged). Grass surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Roadside parking for Horsehow Crags south (free) — 2.7 km from summit (straight line)
Approx 8 spaces. 1.1 km from Horsehow Crags. Added from the 5 August 2026 OSM candidate review.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
St Catherine's Church, Eskdale — 2.8 km from summit (straight line)
Beside St Catherine's Church, by the Esk about 0.8 km south of Boot. The 'Boat How, Illgill Head & Whin Rigg' route starts at Dalegarth station, 0.9 km on foot. St Catherine's Church; payment required. The short way from here to Stanley Ghyll crosses the Esk on the stepping stones beside the church; when the river is up, go round by Trough House Bridge.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?

Positions are approximate.

Vehicles are left at their owner’s risk: we list places people park and cannot vouch for any of them. Take valuables with you and leave nothing on show.

Buses

The nearest bus stop we hold is the 505 at Coniston, outside The Ruskin Centre, 17.3 km of walking from the start — no bus route we hold serves it.

Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat

Hazards on Crook Crag

Notes from a planned route, not walked: Green Crag & Great Whinscale — the wild Birker Fell round

If you need to get off (the leg from Great Whinscale): Abort the route and head north/north-west back across the moorland toward your ascent path, purposely skirting around the deeper mosses to the east.

Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: the note for the leg that reaches Crook Crag.

We have not written a hazard card for this fell yet, and that is not a sign that it is low-hazard. Read the warnings on the route pages that climb it, check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected. The National Park Authority’s What to pack page, AdventureSmart’s hill walking kit list and Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s safety page are linked from our what to carry guide.

If you need Mountain Rescue

Dial 999 or 112 and ask for the Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Before you call, have ready: where you are (a grid reference if you can – the OS Locate app shows yours on your phone), what has happened, how many of you there are, and your mobile number.

Then stay where you are until the rescue team contacts you.

If you cannot make a voice call because of a hearing or speech impairment, emergency SMS works only if you have registered first: text “register” to 999.

From Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s guidance on calling them out (opens in new tab) (read 26 October 2026).

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).

Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.

Birketts within 3 km of Crook Crag

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.

0.3 km NWGreat Whinscale427 m · Southern
1.0 km SSWBroad Crag - Birker Fell372 m · Southern
1.2 km NKepple Crag328 m · Southern
1.4 km SSEBirker Fell - White How444 m · Southern
1.6 km SWBirker Fell - Great Crag333 m · Southern
2.7 km NEDemming Crag525 m · Southern

Routes over Crook Crag

12.03 km · ~544 m ascent · loop · ~3¼–4½ h
Moderate effort Hard: terrain

Park on the verge at the Devoke Water turning on the Birker Fell road between Ulpha and Eskdale — a narrow, remote fell road, so come prepared and don't rely on a phone signal. It's a long walk in across open moor to the first top.

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Best season: Best after a dry spell and in clear weather — Birker Moor is rough, boggy and pathless in places, and easy to misread in low cloud.

Route guide: Green Crag & Great Whinscale — the wild Birker Fell round →

Every line here is a guide, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate for yourself and carry a map and compass. How to use this guide.

About Crook Crag

Our Birker Fell round from the Devoke Water turning on the Birker Fell road takes it second, after Great Whinscale. A pleasant outing in fell country.

Classifications & hill data

Is Crook Crag a Wainwright?

Crook Crag is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.

Selected lists

469 m
Height
1,539 ft
In feet
SD 2000 9874
Grid ref

This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.

Lists, height and summit position from the Database of British and Irish Hills; the feet are converted from its metres and the grid reference from that position. How we check →

Other fells near Crook Crag