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697 m · Wainwright — Western Fells · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Grey Knotts - a small cairn on a rocky top, fells rolling out to lakes in the Buttermere valley under blue sky
Wainwright — Western FellsAlso a Birkett

Grey Knotts

Grey Knotts at 697m (2,287ft) is the first summit above Honister Pass, a pleasant rocky summit giving fine views of the Gable group and across Borrowdale.

697 m
Height
~4.5–5.5 h
Typical time
+3
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › Grey Knotts

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

697 mWainwright — Western Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+3 bonus Birketts within 3 km Care needed in cloud

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

Modelled guidance for the 697 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 14° to 13°C, gusts to 34 mph, 4.9 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌦️
14° / 13°
💨 34 mph
🌧 4.9 mm (99%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
14° / 11°
💨 31 mph
🌧 10.0 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
12° / 5°
💨 29 mph
🌧 2.8 mm (87%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
13° / 1°
💨 23 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (86%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
13° / 4°
💨 15 mph
🌧 4.5 mm (82%)
Sun 2 Aug
☁️
15° / 6°
💨 19 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (35%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
14° / 6°
💨 16 mph
🌧 0.4 mm (23%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 697 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

About the walk

Key information

Grey Knotts

Grey Knotts - a small cairn on a rocky top, fells rolling out to lakes in the Buttermere valley under blue sky
© Lee McCoy

Grey Knotts at 697m (2,287ft) is the first summit above Honister Pass, a pleasant rocky summit giving fine views of the Gable group and across Borrowdale. Wainwright included it as the ideal starting fell for the Honister ridge circuit — short, satisfying and giving immediate views of the Scafell and Gable groups. The ascent from Honister Hause is very short. Combined naturally with Brandreth and then Green Gable and Great Gable for a full day's circuit.

Routes up Grey Knotts

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

Great Gable from Honister Slate Mine
9.6 km · ~3.1 hr · Hard
The kindest way to England’s most-loved mountain. Honister starts you at 350 m, so the Grey Knotts–Brandreth–Green Gable ridge does most of the climbing for you before the final stony pull onto Great Gable. Four Wainwrights, a summit war memorial and the finest view in Lakeland down into Wasdale — but the top is a broad boulder plateau, and in cloud it is one of the great navigation traps.
Classifications & hill data
Wainwright
Western
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
Nuttall
697 m
Height
2,287 ft
In feet
NY 2172 1256
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Honister Pass (paid, slate mine), about 1.3 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Grey Knotts (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.

1.7 km NNWHonister Crag (Black Star)634 m · Western
2.6 km SWKirk Fell East Top (Kirk Fell North Top)787 m · Western
2.9 km ESEThornythwaite Fell574 m · Southern

Routes over Grey Knotts

Great Gable from Honister Slate MinePlanned
9.61 km · ~690 m ascent · loop · ~3–4 h · Hard
Summits: Great GableGreen GableBrandrethGrey Knotts

⬇️ Download GPX

⚠️ Warnings: The summit plateau in cloud. Gable’s top is a broad sea of boulders with crags on several sides and no handrails. Take a bearing off the summit and follow it precisely — this is where the callouts start.; Do not drift towards the Napes. The southern face is a climbers’ playground of crags and gullies, not a walkers’ descent.; The Windy Gap descent is loose and steep. Take it slowly, especially in the wet.

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.

The View from Grey Knotts

A computed 360° skyline — every visible named top labelled by distance and bearing, from the terrain model in perfect clarity, not photographed. Drag to pan; reveal the far four-nations horizon.

drag to pan · arrow keys
Computed 360-degree skyline from Grey Knotts36 labelled tops shown (6 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWScafell Pike · 5 kmHelvellyn · 13 kmIll Crag · 5 kmSkiddaw · 17 kmGreat End · 4 kmBowfell · 7 kmGreat Gable · 2 kmPillar · 5 kmHigh Crag · 13 kmRaise · 14 kmFairfield · 14 kmBlencathra · 18 kmGreat Dodd · 15 kmGrasmoor · 9 kmStybarrow Dodd · 14 kmScoat Fell · 6 kmCrag Hill · 8 kmRed Pike · 6 kmPike de Bield · 6 kmHigh Stile · 6 kmGrisedale Pike · 10 kmGlaramara · 4 kmRed Screes · 18 kmWetherlam · 14 kmHigh Raise · 7 kmJenkin Hill · 16 kmHindscarth · 4 kmClough Head · 15 kmRed Beck Top · 4 kmMungrisdale Common · 19 kmBlake Fell · 13 kmKirk Fell · 3 kmGreen Gable · 2 kmCrag Fell · 12 kmBrandreth · 1 kmFleetwith Pike · 2 kmBroad Crag · 5 kmEsk Pike · 5 kmSkiddaw Little Man · 16 kmDollywaggon Pike · 13 kmDove Crag · 16 kmLooking Steads · 4 kmWandope · 8 kmSail · 8 kmDale Head · 3 kmHigh Crag · 4 kmLow White Stones · 7 kmLonscale Fell · 16 kmYoke · 23 kmHigh House Tarn Top · 4 kmCalfhow Pike · 14 kmKirk Fell East Top · 3 kmSouther Fell · 22 kmPillar Rock · 5 kmThirdgill Head Man · 8 kmLooking Stead · 3 kmHaystacks · 2 kmBleaberry Fell · 10 kmCarling Knott · 13 kmWatendlath Fell · 8 kmMellbreak · 9 kmLingmell · 8 kmLow Fell · 13 kmDarling Fell · 13 kmMerrick · 108 km · a rare clear dayCairnsmore of Carsphairn · 106 km · a rare clear dayCairnsmore of Fleet · 90 km · a rare clear dayDivis · 182 km · a handful of days a yearBeneraird · 127 km · a handful of days a yearAgnew's Hill · 180 km · a handful of days a year
What you can see from Grey Knotts, by direction
  • North: Crag Hill (8 km), Grisedale Pike (10 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (16 km), Skiddaw Little Man (16 km), Skiddaw South Top (17 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (17 km), Skiddaw (17 km)
  • North-east: Stybarrow Dodd (14 km), Great Dodd (15 km), Green Side (15 km), Knowe Crags (17 km), Gategill Fell Top (18 km), Blencathra (18 km), Atkinson Pike (19 km)
  • East: Helvellyn Lower Man (12 km), Nethermost Pike (13 km), High Crag (13 km), White Side (13 km), Helvellyn (13 km), Dollywaggon Pike (13 km), Raise (14 km), Cofa Pike (14 km), Fairfield (14 km), St Sunday Crag (15 km), Dove Crag (16 km)
  • South-east: Bowfell (7 km)
  • South: Great Gable (2 km), Great End (4 km), Broad Crag (5 km), Ill Crag (5 km), Scafell Pike (5 km), Esk Pike (5 km), Pike de Bield (6 km)
  • West: Pillar (5 km), Black Crag (5 km), Red Pike (6 km), Scoat Fell (6 km)
  • North-west: High Stile (5 km), High Stile (6 km), Grasmoor (9 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Merrick (108 km, Scotland), Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (106 km, Scotland), Cairnsmore of Fleet (90 km, Scotland), Corserine (104 km, Scotland), Lamachan Hill (101 km, Scotland), Divis (182 km, Ireland), Beneraird (127 km, Scotland), Cairnharrow (81 km, Scotland).

Computed from terrain in perfect clarity, not photographed · distances are straight-line.

Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

What you can see from Grey Knotts

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
60Wainwrights in view+19 marginal
109 kmFurthest sightlineMerrick · possible under favourable refraction
—Sea in viewnone from here

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Scotland.

Far horizons
  • Merrick ScotlandNW · 109 km clear
All 60 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Brandreth, Base Brown, Green Gable, Fleetwith Pike, Great Gable, Haystacks (Buttermere), Seathwaite Fell (Wainwright summit), Dale Head, Kirk Fell, Glaramara, High Crag (Buttermere), Hindscarth, High Spy, Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, Great End, Allen Crags, Pillar, Robinson, Scafell Pike, Esk Pike, High Stile, Red Pike (Wasdale), Sergeant's Crag, Eagle Crag, Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Bowfell, High Raise (High White Stones), Whiteless Pike, Rannerdale Knotts, Wandope, Sail, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), High Tove, Armboth Fell (Armboth Fell South Top), Grasmoor, High Seat, Mellbreak (Mellbreak South Top), Bleaberry Fell, Pike of Blisco, Grisedale Pike, Hen Comb, Walla Crag, Crag Fell, Blake Fell, Low Fell, Grike, Wetherlam, Great Rigg, Fairfield, Fellbarrow - Mosser Fell, Heron Pike (Rydal), Dove Crag, Skiddaw Little Man, Lonscale Fell, High Pike (Scandale), Skiddaw, Red Screes, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Carrock Fell

How Grey Knotts’s view compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

Sightlines from a bare-earth terrain model (forests and buildings not included), corrected for the Earth’s curvature and average atmospheric refraction. “Distant” sightlines and any over 100 km depend on exceptionally clear air. Modelled from Copernicus GLO-30 open elevation data — a guide to the view, not a guarantee of any single one.

Best parking to hike Grey Knotts

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

Honister Pass (paid, slate mine) — 1.3 km from summit (straight line)
Pay & display at the top of the pass — Dale Head, Fleetwith Pike, Grey Knotts with minimal ascent.
Directions
🚺 Public toilets (61m) — Free🚺 Public toilets (1787m) — Free☕ Sky Hi Cafe
Seathwaite Farm, Borrowdale (free verge) — 1.8 km from summit (straight line)
Free verge parking on the Seathwaite lane — the honeypot start for the Scafells, Great Gable and Glaramara. Arrive very early.
Directions
🚺 Public toilets (1002m) — Free

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.

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Great Gable from Honister Slate Mine route:

🚌 Honister Youth Hostel / Slate Quarry (E) (88 m)🚌 map (91 m)⛺ Honister Pass YHA (39 m)

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

Buses to Grey Knotts from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

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.
Stagecoach 78 “Borrowdale Rambler”
Keswick – Lodore – Grange – Rosthwaite – Seatoller
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 or X4/X5)
Year-round, frequent in season. Serves all the Borrowdale starts — Glaramara, the Scafells and Great Gable via Seathwaite (alight Seatoller, 20 min walk up the lane).

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

My hikes over Grey Knotts (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

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

Hazard & Incident Information for Grey Knotts

Hazard: Moderate

A rocky, knoll-topped fell above Honister, gentle and boggy on its western side but rugged on the east, where steep crags — Raven Crag (Gillercombe Buttress) — fall into the deep bowl of Gillercomb above Seathwaite. The steep, loose, rocky descent to Borrowdale has sudden drop-offs, the twin rocky summit knolls and boggy plateau need care in mist, and old graphite mine workings lie on the Seathwaite approach. Keswick Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.

  • Eastern crags above Gillercomb (Raven Crag): The eastern (Borrowdale) side is all crag — Raven Crag / Gillercombe Buttress — dropping into Gillercomb. The steep, rocky, loose descent toward Seathwaite has sudden drop-offs. Keep back from the eastern edge in cloud, and take the steep descent slowly and on the correct line.
  • Rocky knoll summit & navigation: The top is a cluster of rocky knolls, easy to confuse in mist, on a boggy plateau shared with Brandreth (follow the fence line, correct side). Take a compass bearing to pick the right summit and the right way off.
  • Old graphite mine workings (Seathwaite side): Disused graphite mine workings lie on the Seathwaite approach. Keep clear of openings and spoil, and don't explore old levels.
Who should attempt this fell: From Honister Grey Knotts is a short, easy walk, but its eastern side is steep and crag-bound above Gillercomb — keep back from the edge and take the rocky, loose Seathwaite descent carefully on the right line. Navigate the knolly summit and boggy plateau by compass in cloud (the fence is a useful handrail), keep clear of the old mine workings, and treat the steep ground as full winter terrain when iced.

Most common causes: Walkers straying onto the eastern crags or the steep loose Seathwaite descent · Navigation errors among the rocky knolls and on the boggy plateau in cloud · Slips on the steep, rocky, loose Borrowdale-side ground · Mishaps around the old graphite mine workings

Local Mountain Rescue: Keswick Mountain Rescue Team · Reviewed 14 Jun 2026

Safety: Hazard guidance compiled from published Mountain Rescue reports and well-documented accident history - editorial background, not a live feed of callouts. Always check current conditions, carry proper navigation equipment, and seek qualified instruction before heading onto the fells. In an emergency, call 999, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Report incorrect information

Navigating Grey Knotts in cloud

Care needed

A broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. Take care in poor visibility — carry map and compass, and know how to use them.

In winter — snow, whiteout, cornices, buried features — every top demands full winter navigation skills whatever its band, and a broad, gentle summit can be the worst place of all. See walking in bad weather and the navigation guide.

How Grey Knotts compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.

Other fells near Grey Knotts

Maps & guidebooks for Grey Knotts

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