Knott Rigg
Knott Rigg at 556m (1,824ft) is a pleasant, grassy ridge summit above the Newlands valley between Ard Crags and the Buttermere road, giving fine views of the Grasmoor and Newlands Horseshoe ranges.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 556 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 12° to 8°C, gusts to 33 mph, 3.2 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 556 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
Knott Rigg at a glance
Knott Rigg
Routes up Knott Rigg
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Classifications & hill data
The short answers
Is Knott Rigg a Wainwright?
Knott Rigg is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.
Where do you park for Knott Rigg?
The nearest car park we hold is Knott Rigg (layby), about 0.8 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Robinson (layby), 1.2 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 Knott Rigg?
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 Knott Rigg
Best parking to hike Knott Rigg
Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).
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 Knott Rigg 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, 7 September 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.
Hazards on Knott Rigg
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).
Navigating Knott Rigg in cloud
StraightforwardWalkable ground sits close to a lethal drop — in cloud it’s easy to walk straight onto steep ground. Navigation here is relatively straightforward even in cloud — but carry map and compass and know how to use them; a low score never means “safe”.
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 Knott Rigg compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.
Map & nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree 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 Knott Rigg (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.
Routes over Knott Rigg
✎️ 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.
✎️ 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.
✎️ 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 Knott Rigg
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Ard Crags & Knott Rigg route:
On the Honister to Keswick: over the Newlands fells route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
The view from Knott Rigg
The 360° skyline from Knott Rigg
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.
What you can see from Knott Rigg, by direction
- North: Crag Hill (2 km)
- North-east: Skiddaw Little Man (11 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (11 km), Knowe Crags (14 km), Gategill Fell Top (15 km), Blencathra (15 km), Atkinson Pike (16 km), Bowscale Fell (18 km)
- East: Calfhow Pike (14 km), Watson's Dodd (14 km), Clough Head (14 km), Little Dodd (14 km), White Side (14 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (14 km), Raise (15 km), Great Dodd (15 km), Stybarrow Dodd (15 km), Helvellyn (15 km), Nethermost Pike (15 km), Catstye Cam (15 km), High Crag (16 km), Dollywaggon Pike (16 km), Cross Fell (51 km)
- South-east: Hindscarth (3 km), High Spy (4 km), Cofa Pike (18 km), Fairfield (18 km)
- South: Robinson (2 km), High Crag (5 km), Looking Stead (7 km), Pillar (7 km), Kirk Fell East Top (8 km), Kirk Fell (8 km)
- South-west: High Stile (5 km), Red Pike (5 km), High Stile (5 km), Starling Dodd (6 km), Steeple (8 km), Scoat Fell (8 km)
- West: Great Borne (8 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Slieve Donard (179 km, Ireland), Slieve Binnian (184 km, Ireland), Slievelamagan (182 km, Ireland), Slieve Commedagh (180 km, Ireland).
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 (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.
Sunrise and sunset on Knott Rigg
Knott Rigg waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls at midwinter, when the sun is up for 27 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 09:01 against an almanac sunrise of 08:34. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the south-east from here (137.4°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 2.55°.
| First light | Almanac sunrise | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 04:48 BST ±5.0 min | 04:37 | +11 min |
| Equinox | 06:24 GMT ±5.0 min | 06:16 | +8 min |
| Midwinter | 09:01 GMT ±5.0 min | 08:34 | +27 min |
The northern horizon stands at about 6.07° from here.
Last light — when the sun leaves Knott Rigg
Knott Rigg loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when last light is 70 minutes before almanac sunset — 20:43 against 21:53. The sun goes down to the west-north-west from here (301.0°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 7.55°.
| Last light | Almanac sunset | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midsummer | 20:43 BST ±5.0 min | 21:53 | -70 min |
| Equinox | 18:16 GMT ±5.0 min | 18:27 | -11 min |
| Midwinter | 15:30 GMT ±5.0 min | 15:49 | -19 min |
Computed, not photographed. First light is the first minute the sun’s upper limb clears this summit’s own skyline and last light the last minute it is still clear of it, both solved against the 360° horizon profile behind The View from Knott Rigg. Almanac sunrise and sunset are the flat-horizon convention. Every time carries a ± band from the 30 m elevation model — it smooths arêtes and cornices, so nothing here claims better than five minutes. These are daylight figures, not a descent plan: the light goes on fading for a good while after the sun leaves, and going down in it is a decision about your own ground and party, not about this table.
What you can see from Knott Rigg
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.- Cross Fell North Pennines
All 43 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Wandope, Ard Crags, Sail, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Whiteless Pike, Robinson, Scar Crags, Causey Pike, Hindscarth, Maiden Moor, High Spy, Cat Bells (Catbells), Red Pike (Buttermere), High Stile, High Crag (Buttermere), Haystacks (Buttermere), Starling Dodd, Hen Comb, Pillar, Great Borne, Steeple, Walla Crag, Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), Kirk Fell, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, Latrigg, Crag Fell, Skiddaw Little Man, High Rigg (Naddle Fell), Watson's Dodd, Clough Head, White Side, Raise, Great Dodd, Stybarrow Dodd, Helvellyn, Nethermost Pike, Catstye Cam, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Dollywaggon Pike, Bowscale Fell, Great Mell Fell
How Knott Rigg’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.
Places to stay near this fell
From Whinlatter: 9 places in Keswick
Frequently asked questions about Knott Rigg
Is Knott Rigg an easy walk?
The ridge itself is one of the friendliest in the district — a narrow grassy crest running out from Newlands Hause with big views for very little effort, and no difficulty anywhere along it. Walked with Ard Crags it makes an ideal short day.
Our mapped routes over it are much longer than that suggests: 19.7 km with 687 m of ascent, or the Honister crossing at 19.6 km and 1035 m. From the Hause itself it is a fraction of either — the short version is one we have not measured.
Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)
Other fells near Knott Rigg
- Ard Crags
- Barf
- Barrow
- Broom Fell
- Castle Crag
- Cat Bells (Catbells)
- Causey Pike
- Crag Hill (Eel Crag)
- Dale Head
- Grasmoor
- Graystones (Graystones North Top)
- Grisedale Pike
- High Spy
- Hindscarth
- Hopegill Head
- Ling Fell
- Lord's Seat
- Maiden Moor
- Outerside
- Rannerdale Knotts
- Robinson
- Sail
- Sale Fell
- Scar Crags
- Wandope
- Whinlatter (Brown How)
- Whiteless Pike
- Whiteside (Whiteside West Top)