Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top) Hiking Guide & Routes

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

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

📖 Key Information

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.

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

🎯 Bonus Birketts 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 · Western

2.4 km ESERed Knott452 m · Western

2.6 km ESEScope End412 m · 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

⚠️ Hazard & Incident Information

Loading incident data…

🦶 My hikes over Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top) (Strava)

Loading hike data…

🅿️ Potential parking

Little Town, Newlands (paid, small) — 3.3 km from summit (straight line)

Newlands valley — Catbells, Maiden Moor, Hindscarth, Robinson.

Directions ↗

Buttermere village (NT, paid) — 3.3 km from summit (straight line)

For Red Pike, High Stile, Robinson, Rannerdale Knotts.

Directions ↗

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

🚌 Buses 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.

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

🌦️ 7-day summit forecast

Loading…

Open Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top) in the interactive explorer ↗

⛰️ Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)