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546 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

Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)

The Causey Pike spur of Eel Crag at 467m (1,532ft) is a rocky subsidiary summit on the approach ridge to Causey Pike from the Newlands valley, giving views of the Coledale fells and Derwent Water.

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

Home › Fells › Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)

546 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 546 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Sat 12 Sep): 14° to 8°C, gusts to 53 mph, 22.0 mm of rain forecast.

Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
14° / 8°
💨 53 mph
🌧 22.0 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
🌦️
14° / 10°
💨 14 mph
🌧 0.1 mm (6%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌧️
15° / 12°
💨 38 mph
🌧 6.9 mm (100%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌧️
15° / 9°
💨 38 mph
🌧 16.4 mm (98%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌧️
11° / 8°
💨 29 mph
🌧 7.4 mm (70%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌧️
10° / 8°
💨 35 mph
🌧 23.3 mm (100%)
Fri 18 Sep
🌧️
12° / 8°
💨 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 546 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

Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top) at a glance

Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)

The Causey Pike spur of Eel Crag at 467m (1,532ft) is a rocky subsidiary summit on the approach ridge to Causey Pike from the Newlands valley, giving views of the Coledale fells and Derwent Water. A Birkett top on the lower section of the Causey Pike ascent from Stoneycroft. Part of the Coledale Horseshoe approach from the south.

Routes up Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)

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

Ard Crags & Knott Rigg
19.7 km · ~5.1 hr
Honister to Keswick: over the Newlands fells
19.6 km · ~5.6 hr · Hard
A big Newlands horseshoe walked one–way from the top of Honister Pass to Keswick. You climb straight onto Dale Head, trace the broad grassy tops over Hindscarth and Robinson, drop to Newlands Hause and pick up the quieter Knott Rigg–Ard Crags ridge, then walk out down the Newlands valley into town — six summits and a proper day out, with no car to collect.

Classifications & hill data

Birkett
Synge
546 m
Height
1,791 ft
In feet
NY 1997 1918
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top) a Wainwright?

Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top) is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.

Where do you park for Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)?

The nearest car park we hold is Knott Rigg (layby), about 0.8 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Ard Crags (layby), 1.5 km out. 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 Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)?

The shortest way up we hold is Honister to Keswick: over the Newlands fells — 19.6 km, 1035 m of ascent, about 5.6 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.

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

Parking & buses for Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)

Best parking to hike Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)

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

Knott Rigg (layby) — 0.8 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) — 1.5 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) — 1.5 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?
Car park for High Snockrigg (free) — 1.7 km from summit (straight line)
0.9 km from High Snockrigg. Added from the 5 Aug 2026 OSM candidate review.
Directions Something changed here?
Causey Pike (layby) — 2.2 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Causey Pike (1.3 km), Scope End (1.3 km), Rowling End (1.4 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
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 Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top) by bus

The 77 stops at Braithwaite, at Croft Terrace, 30 m from the start of Ard Crags & Knott Rigg. Last bus: Monday to Friday 22:27 towards Workington (X5) and 17:37 towards Keswick (77) and 16:37 towards Cockermouth (77); Saturday 00:22 (+1) (after midnight) towards Workington (X5) and 17:37 towards Keswick (77) and 16:37 towards Cockermouth (77); Sunday 20:17 towards Workington (X5) and 17:37 towards Keswick (77) and 16:37 towards Cockermouth (77). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 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 Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)

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.

Don’t drink from Yewthwaite Gill

On the way up you cross Yewthwaite Gill, which runs below the old Yewthwaite lead mine. The Environment Agency records it carrying dissolved lead above the level that is safe to drink. This is not the usual hill-water risk: a squeeze or hollow-fibre filter (LifeStraw, Sawyer and the like) removes none of these dissolved metals, and boiling only concentrates them. Carry your own water for this walk and don’t refill from the beck. Coledale Beck and Newlands Beck on the same round is mine-polluted too, though below the level that would harm a person.

What’s actually in this beck — we mapped every mine-fed one →

Metal-mine water data © Environment Agency (Open Government Licence v3.0).

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Knott Rigg (layby), about 0.8 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top) (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 WNWThirdgill Head Man734 m · North Western
1.8 km NNWEel Crag (Birkett)807 m · North Western
2.4 km SEHigh Crags (Newlands)529 m · North Western
2.4 km ESERed Knott452 m · North Western
2.6 km ESEScope End412 m · North Western
2.6 km SSWHigh Snockrigg526 m · North Western
2.8 km WLad Hows426 m · North Western
2.9 km NNWHobcarton Crag (Hobcarton Head)738 m · North Western
3.0 km NNWSand Hill756 m · North Western

Routes over Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)

Ard Crags & Knott RiggPlanned
19.74 km · ~687 m ascent · linear · ~5–7 h
Summits: Ard CragsIll Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)Knott Rigg

⬇️ 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.

Honister to Keswick: over the Newlands fellsPlanned
19.62 km · ~1035 m ascent · linear · ~5.5–7.5 h · Hard
Summits: Dale HeadHindscarthRobinsonKnott RiggIll Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)Ard Crags

✎️ Because it finishes in a different valley from where it starts, this one suits a car–free day: the seasonal Honister Rambler (the 77 / 77A) sets you down at Honister Hause and you walk back into Keswick for the bus home. From Penrith it’s the X4 / X5 to Keswick, then the Rambler up to Honister. Check the last bus before you set off — the walk’s long tail down the Newlands valley eats time when legs are tired.

⬇️ Download GPX

Best season: Late spring to autumn, in clear conditions. The steep descent off Robinson to Newlands Hause is rough and slippery when wet, and the broad grassy tops need a compass in mist; in full winter it’s a serious outing.

⚠️ Warnings: The descent off Robinson to Newlands Hause is the crux — steep, eroded and grassy (around a 40–45% pull), and slippery when wet. Take the walkers’ line and keep away from the crags; cross the Buttermere road with care at the bottom. A long day — nearly 20 km and about 1,035 m of ascent over six tops, with a further long walk–out down the valley at the end. Carry map, compass, food and water, and start early. The high ridge from Dale Head over Hindscarth and Robinson is broad and grassy — easy to drift off line in cloud, so navigate on a bearing between the tops. It’s a linear route: fix your return transport (and the last bus time) before you leave, as there’s no loop back to the start.

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 Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Ard Crags & Knott Rigg route:

🛖 map (6 m)🚌 Police Station (W bound) (13 m)🚌 Police Station (E bound) (24 m)🚌 Keswick Bus Stn Stand 1 (61 m)🚌 Keswick Bus Stn Stand 2 (75 m)⛺ Keswick YHA (373 m)⛺ Hope Memorial Camp (459 m)

On the Honister to Keswick: over the Newlands fells route:

🚌 Keswick Bus Stn Stand 1 (16 m)🚌 Keswick Bus Stn Stand 2 (25 m)🚌 Keswick Bus Stn Stand 3 (29 m)🚌 Keswick Bus Stn Stand 4 (35 m)⛺ Honister Pass YHA (89 m)⛺ Keswick YHA (422 m)

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

Places to stay near this fell

From Whinlatter: 9 places in Keswick

Other fells near Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)