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807 m · Birkett — North Western (not a Wainwright summit) · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Birkett — North Western (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Eel Crag (Birkett)

Eel Crag at 839m (2,752ft) — known locally as Crag Hill — is the eastern summit of the Grasmoor range, its broad top giving outstanding views of the Coledale and Newlands valleys below.

807 m
Height
+9
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →

Home › Fells › Eel Crag (Birkett)

Written and walked by Lee McCoy

807 mBirkett — North Western (not a Wainwright summit)+9 bonus Birketts within 3 km

Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast

Modelled guidance for the 807 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Sat 12 Sep): 12° to 6°C, gusts to 54 mph, 20.8 mm of rain forecast.

Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
12° / 6°
💨 54 mph
🌧 20.8 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
🌦️
12° / 8°
💨 17 mph
🌧 0.1 mm (6%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌦️
14° / 11°
💨 38 mph
🌧 6.3 mm (100%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌧️
13° / 8°
💨 38 mph
🌧 16.4 mm (98%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌧️
9° / 7°
💨 29 mph
🌧 7.4 mm (70%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌧️
9° / 7°
💨 35 mph
🌧 23.3 mm (100%)
Fri 18 Sep
🌧️
10° / 7°
💨 37 mph
🌧 13.4 mm (92%)

Forecast snapshot from 12 Sep 2026, 18:50 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 807 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Eel Crag (Birkett) at a glance

Eel Crag (Birkett)

Eel Crag at 839m (2,752ft) — known locally as Crag Hill — is the eastern summit of the Grasmoor range, its broad top giving outstanding views of the Coledale and Newlands valleys below. Wainwright described the Coledale Horseshoe — taking in Grisedale Pike, Hopegill Head, Sand Hill, Eel Crag, Sail and Causey Pike — as one of the great circular walks of the Lake District. The summit gives a superb view of the Helvellyn range to the east and south to the Scafells. The descent to Coledale Hause is an excellent route connecting to the rest of the horseshoe circuit.

Field notes

Summitting this flat, rocky top wasn't too much of a challenge from my visit of Wandope. You've made much of the elevation already. It's a steady climb. Half way up, as you can see from my route, it was clear where I suddenly had the realisation that I could safely cut the corner off and try and catch the Birkett of the same name. There's nothing damaging about that decision as it was mostly bare rock. What has annoyed me was that I'm actually sure I made it to that top, but my GPS says different. If you wanted to come up directly Coledale Hause you'd definitely bag it, but I'm not sure if that outcome is worth the effort. Instead go the way I did, it's much more of a stroll.

Routes up Eel Crag (Birkett)

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

High Snockrigg, Eel Crag & Lad Hows
15.7 km · ~5.5 hr
A big north-western day — seven tops from High Snockrigg over Whiteless Pike to Crag Hill, 15.7 km and 1,399 m, with one stage averaging 22%. About 5.5 hours.

Classifications & hill data

Birkett
807 m
Height
2,648 ft
In feet
NY 1902 2068
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Eel Crag (Birkett) a Wainwright?

Eel Crag (Birkett) is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list.

Where do you park for Eel Crag (Birkett)?

We hold no car park within 2.5 km of the summit, so there is no short walk-in to recommend here. We only look within 2.5 km, measured straight-line: over longer distances a road may cross a pass and the drive bears no relation to the line.

How hard is Eel Crag (Birkett)?

The shortest way up we hold is High Snockrigg, Eel Crag & Lad Hows — 15.7 km, 1399 m of ascent, about 5.5 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.

All axes: steepness: Severe · exposure: Hard · length: Hard · terrain: Moderate · navigation: Moderate.

My hikes over Eel Crag (Birkett) (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.

Parking & buses for Eel Crag (Birkett)

Best parking to hike Eel Crag (Birkett)

Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).

Knott Rigg (layby) — 2.6 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Knott Rigg (0.8 km), Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top) (0.8 km), Ard Crags (1.3 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Ard Crags (layby) — 2.7 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Ard Crags (0.8 km), Scar Crags (1.3 km), Causey Pike (1.4 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Robinson (layby) — 3.0 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Robinson (1.1 km), Knott Rigg (1.2 km), High Snockrigg (1.2 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions Something changed here?
Lad Hows (layby) — 3.1 km from summit (straight line)
1.2 km from Lad Hows.
Directions Something changed here?
Crummock Water, Cinderdale Common (free) — 3.1 km from summit (straight line)
Roadside common by Crummock Water - Rannerdale Knotts and Whiteless Pike.
Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate — zoom the map to confirm. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.

Tip: pan and zoom the interactive map at the top of this page to spot other potential parking near your route.

Vehicles are left entirely at their owner’s risk. We list places people park; we cannot vouch for any of them. Judge it on the day: take valuables with you, leave nothing on show, and if a spot feels wrong when you get there, park somewhere else.

Getting to Eel Crag (Birkett) by bus

The 77 stops at Buttermere Youth Hostel (near), 250 m from the start of High Snockrigg, Eel Crag & Lad Hows. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day, and it is not daily before then — a bus on 31 of the 56 days from 7 September. We don’t know when it returns. Confirmed with the operator, 29 August 2026. The last bus is 18:21 towards Keswick (77), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 77 / 77A “Honister Rambler”
Keswick – Portinscale – Hawse End (Catbells) – Grange – Seatoller – Honister Pass – Buttermere – Lorton – Whinlatter – Keswick (circular)
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 from Windermere/Ambleside or X4/X5 from Penrith)
Seasonal (roughly Easter–October). Brilliant for the North Western fells: Catbells, Dale Head from Honister, the Buttermere fells and Whinlatter.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Hazards on Eel Crag (Birkett)

No hazard card for this fell. The usual open-fell rules apply: check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected.

Map & nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.

Nearest parking: Knott Rigg (layby), about 2.6 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Eel Crag (Birkett) (within 3 km)

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits — detour to them on this walk and they are pure profit. Distances are straight-line; allow extra for terrain.

1.2 km NNWSand Hill756 m · North Western
1.3 km SSWThirdgill Head Man734 m · North Western
1.4 km NNEHobcarton Crag (Hobcarton Head)738 m · North Western
1.8 km SSEIll Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)546 m · North Western
1.9 km NWGasgale Crags703 m · North Western
2.1 km NWWhiteside East Top (Whiteside) (Gasgale Crags)719 m · North Western
2.1 km NNWLadyside Pike704 m · North Western
2.3 km SWLad Hows426 m · North Western
2.8 km NHobcarton End634 m · North Western

Routes over Eel Crag (Birkett)

High Snockrigg, Eel Crag & Lad HowsPlanned
15.69 km · ~1399 m ascent · loop · ~5.5–7.5 h
Summits: High SnockriggWhiteless PikeThirdgill Head ManCrag Hill (Eel Crag)Eel Crag (Birkett)GrasmoorLad Hows

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

✎️ Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet.

A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & 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:

🛖 map (9 m)🛖 map (52 m)🚌 Mountain Road junction (11 m)🚌 Bridge Hotel (133 m)🚌 The Fish Hotel (184 m)🚌 Buttermere Youth Hostel (N bound) (209 m)⛺ Syke Farm Campsite (355 m)

On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.

Places to stay near this fell

Bridge Hotel hotel

about 0.0 km from the start, in a straight line

It is 20 m from where all five Buttermere routes begin and it is the only hotel in the valley that says it takes dogs, in a cluster where three of the other four beds state a pet restriction. It also states its own size - "21 EN-SUITE BEDROOMS AND 6 SELF-CATERING APARTMENTS" - and its own food and ales, so a party coming off Red Pike at six can eat and sleep without moving the car. Set against that: only its home page is in the cache and that page answers nothing about parking, drying, children or family rooms, and it publishes no email and no phone at all, so this is a place you book online or ring on OSM's number, not one you email.

The bedrooms are deliberately unwired - no television, no radio, and no mobile signal to lose.

  • Dogs “A true dog-friendly hotel in the Lake District”
  • Evening meal “Exceptionally friendly and professional service, homemade food, carefully selected local real ales with our staff who naturally go the extra mile to ensure your needs meet your expectations.”

Worth knowing before you book

These places state on their own site that they do not take children.

What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap.

Other fells near Eel Crag (Birkett)