Eel Crag (Birkett)
Eel Crag (Birkett) at 807m (2,648ft) is a Birkett top beside the Eel Crag cliffs, 0.4 km north-west of the 839 m summit of Crag Hill and 0.6 km south-south-east of Coledale Hause.
Summit conditions on Eel Crag (Birkett)
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 4°C, gusts to 67 mph, 7.9 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.
The forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →
Routes up Eel Crag (Birkett)
Choose the way up before the car park: these two routes start from two places, and the last two rows give the parking and bus at each route’s own start. Full maps further down.
| Compared | Newlands Hause to the Coledale Tops | High Snockrigg, Eel Crag & Lad Hows |
|---|---|---|
| Starts from | Newlands Hause | High Snockrigg (verge) |
| Distance and climb | 11.4 km, 1,107 m of climb | 15.69 km, 1,446 m of climb |
| Time, fast to steady | ~4–5½ h | ~5½–7½ h |
| Scrambling | Not mentioned in the route’s notes | Not mentioned in the route’s notes |
| Exposure | Not assessed | Not assessed |
| Navigation | Hard | Moderate |
| Steepest stretch | Descent of about 43% at 9.4 km (Severe) | Descent of about 43% at 10.6 km (Severe) |
| After the summit | Over Wandope, Thirdgill Head Man and Whiteless Pike | Over Grasmoor and Lad Hows |
| Walked or planned | Planned: drawn, not yet walked | Planned: drawn, not yet walked |
| Car park at the start | Newlands Hause car park (free) | High Snockrigg (verge) |
| Bus to the start | 77, 2.2 km walk from Buttermere Youth Hostel (near). Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. | 77 at the start. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. |
Times run from fast to steady pace (Naismith’s rule). Scrambling quotes each route’s own notes; “not mentioned” means they do not say, not that the ground has none. Each route’s page has its map, stages and GPX.
Distance, climb and the steepest stretch are measured from each route’s GPX track; the other grades are set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap, and each route page says which. How we check →
How hard is Eel Crag (Birkett)?
The shortest way up we hold is Newlands Hause to the Coledale Tops — 11.4 km, 1107 m of ascent, ~4–5½ h. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.
All axes: steepness: Severe · navigation: Hard · length: Moderate · terrain: Not assessed · 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 807 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Full 7-day forecast
Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)
Parking & buses for Eel Crag (Birkett)
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
4 more places to park near Eel Crag (Birkett)
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 77 stops at Buttermere Youth Hostel (near), a 250 m walk from the start of High Snockrigg, Eel Crag & Lad Hows — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: steepness). Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. It returns on 22 March 2027. Confirmed with the operator: its last day on 29 August 2026, its return on 16 October 2026. The last bus is 18:21 towards Keswick (77), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Hazards on Eel Crag (Birkett)
Notes from a planned route, not walked: High Snockrigg, Eel Crag & Lad Hows
If you need to get off (the leg from Crag Hill): If the wind is dangerously high, completely ignore this short out-and-back spur to the Birkett. Stay well back from the northern crags and take the path west towards the col below Grasmoor.
Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: the note for the leg that reaches Eel Crag (Birkett).
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
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).
Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.
Birketts within 3 km of Eel Crag (Birkett)
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Eel Crag (Birkett)
Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked
The start is the free car park at Newlands Hause, the top of the Newlands Pass road between Buttermere and Newlands. No bus stop is mapped within about 1.5 km.
Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked
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.
On the hill: terrain and water on Eel Crag (Birkett)
Water & shelter on the way up
On the High Snockrigg, Eel Crag & Lad Hows route:
On the Newlands Hause to the Coledale Tops route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
About Eel Crag (Birkett)
My Strava hikes over Eel Crag (Birkett)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- My knees didn't like that (opens in new tab) — 19.0 km · 1421 m ascent · 5h 33m moving · 16 May 2026
Data from Strava.
Classifications & hill data
Is Eel Crag (Birkett) a Wainwright?
Eel Crag (Birkett) is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list.
Selected lists
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 →
Places to stay near this fell
- Bridge Hotel (opens in new tab) hotelabout 0.0 km
We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).