Lank Rigg

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Summited May 2025

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541 mWainwright — Western Fells+6 bonus Birketts within 3 km Care needed in cloud

Lank Rigg at 541m (1,775ft) is an isolated, remote summit above the Calder valley in the far western Lake District, its open top giving wide views to the coast and across the remote western moorlands. Wainwright noted its genuine remoteness from the tourist paths.

Summit conditions on Lank Rigg

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 63 mph, 1.2 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.

Against our lines, Tuesday 27 October: wind, cold and cloud from the Met Office UKV 2 km model (daylight hours, as in the verdict above); rain from the summit line’s forecast (the whole day). A tile is large when this top is past its line.

Wind on the top

Past the line

56 mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 51 mph times our exposure factor of 1.09. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 63 mph, before any exposure factor.

The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS (opens in new tab) describes what wind does to a walker across a range rather than at a line: from about 20–25 mph it starts to affect your balance.

Estimated: it is not calibrated against summit readings, and the two forecasts can disagree by more than a band.

Also checked cold: feels like 2 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 26 out of 100, over our in-cloud line of 20; rain: 1.2 mm in the day, under our 6 mm line. Under a line is not the same as fine: it means only that these figures are under the lines we use.

Not in these tiles Lightning, river levels, snow or ice already lying, and the ground under your feet. A tile cannot see them, so an empty space here never means they are absent.

Snow figures with a second opinion: Powered by Met Office data

Full 7-day summit forecast ↓

Wainwrights are scored for walking conditions each morning from the Met Office’s UK forecast model, read for each summit through Open-Meteo; the forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Routes up Lank Rigg

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

Grike, Crag Fell and Lank Rigg Walked by Lee

13.07 km · ~623 m ascent · ~3½–5 h · loop · 4 summits

Moderate effort Moderate: distance, steepness and navigation

Park: Flat Fell (verge)

Four tops in the far western fells — Grike, Crag Fell, Whoap and Lank Rigg — in 13.1 km and 623 m.

Distance and climb are measured from the route’s GPX track, and the time from them by Naismith’s rule; the route page says what each grade rests on. How we check →

How hard is Lank Rigg?

The shortest way up we hold is Grike, Crag Fell and Lank Rigg — 13.07 km, 623 m of ascent, ~3½–5 h. On our scale its hardest axes are distance, steepness and navigation — Moderate.

All axes: length: Moderate · steepness: Moderate · navigation: Moderate · terrain: Easy · exposure: Easy.

These are the route page’s grades, set by the rules on how we grade: length and steepness measured from its GPX track, the others set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap. The route page says which. How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 541 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast

Tue 27 Oct

12° / 6°

63 mph

1.2 mm (100%)

Wed 28 Oct

9° / 7°

40 mph

3.6 mm (100%)

Thu 29 Oct

10° / 8°

28 mph

0.2 mm (45%)

Fri 30 Oct

9° / 6°

28 mph

0.2 mm (12%)

Sat 31 Oct

9° / 4°

5 mph

4.6 mm (14%)

Sun 1 Nov

8° / 2°

12 mph

0.0 mm (2%)

Mon 2 Nov

7° / 0°

9 mph

0.0 mm (2%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for Lank Rigg

Parking

Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.

Flat Fell (verge) — at the start of Grike, Crag Fell and Lank Rigg

0.7 km from Flat Fell.

Directions Something changed here?

Cold Fell road (verge) — 2.7 km from summit (straight line)

Verge parking on the Calder Bridge–Ennerdale road for Lank Rigg and Ponsonby Fell.

Directions Something changed here?

Swarth Fell (layby) — 3.1 km from summit (straight line)

Nearest fells: Swarth Fell (Kinniside) (0.4 km), Burn Edge (1.0 km), Latter Barrow (1.4 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

3 more places to park near Lank Rigg

Blakeley Raise (verge, east) — 3.3 km from summit (straight line)

0.7 km from Blakeley Raise.

Directions Something changed here?

Blakeley Raise (verge, west) — 3.4 km from summit (straight line)

0.8 km from Blakeley Raise.

Directions Something changed here?

Bleach Green, Ennerdale (free) — 3.4 km from summit (straight line)

At the western end of Ennerdale Water, for the lakeshore path. Fees: Free (not National Trust), per NT Ennerdale page (NT, checked August 2026). UU Ennerdale page states it has 'no plans to close or introduce car parking charges at any of the United Utilities car parks in the Ennerdale valley' - i.e. no charge currently applies (United Utilities, checked August 2026). If it is full, the National Park's car-parks directory (read 12 September 2026) says to try Bowness Knott car park.

Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate.

Vehicles are left at their owner’s risk: we list places people park and cannot vouch for any of them. Take valuables with you and leave nothing on show.

Buses

The nearest bus stop we hold is the 77 and 77A stop at Buttermere, outside Court Hotel, 14.3 km of walking from the start — no bus route we hold serves it. It is a seasonal service too: 1 November 2026 is its last day of the year (confirmed with the operator, 29 August 2026); it returns on 22 March 2027.

Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat

Hazards on Lank Rigg

Notes from the Grike, Crag Fell and Lank Rigg route

If you need to get off (the leg from Whoap): No way down into the Calder valley has been checked for this guide, and the river may not be crossable after rain. The way back that this guide describes is the way you came, over Whoap to Crag Fell.

Quoted from the route page: the note for the leg that reaches Lank Rigg.

We have not written a hazard card for this fell yet, and that is not a sign that it is low-hazard. Read the warnings on the route pages that climb it, check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected. The National Park Authority’s What to pack page, AdventureSmart’s hill walking kit list and Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s safety page are linked from our what to carry guide.

Navigating in cloud

Care needed

Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of near-level ground around the summit. 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 Lank Rigg compares with all 214: the Clag Index (experimental).

If you need Mountain Rescue

Dial 999 or 112 and ask for the Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Before you call, have ready: where you are (a grid reference if you can – the OS Locate app shows yours on your phone), what has happened, how many of you there are, and your mobile number.

Then stay where you are until the rescue team contacts you.

If you cannot make a voice call because of a hearing or speech impairment, emergency SMS works only if you have registered first: text “register” to 999.

From Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s guidance on calling them out (opens in new tab) (read 26 October 2026).

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).

Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.

Birketts within 3 km of Lank Rigg

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.

1.2 km NEWhoap511 m · Western

1.4 km WSWKinniside375 m · Western

1.8 km WSWLatter Barrow354 m · Western

2.3 km WNWBurn Edge320 m · Western

2.7 km NWBlakeley Raise389 m · Western

2.7 km WSwarth Fell (Kinniside)335 m · Western

Routes over Lank Rigg

Grike, Crag Fell and Lank Rigg

13.07 km · ~623 m ascent · loop · ~3½–5 h

Moderate effort Moderate: distance, steepness and navigation

Summits: Grike Crag Fell WhoapLank Rigg

Download GPX Walked by Lee, May 2025

Route guide: Grike, Crag Fell and Lank Rigg →

Every line here is a guide, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate for yourself and carry a map and compass. How to use this guide.

About Lank Rigg

The ascent from Ennerdale Bridge or Calder Bridge is across open moorland.

My Strava hikes over Lank Rigg

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Grike, Crag Fell and Lank Rigg (opens in new tab) — 13.1 km · 630 m ascent · 2h 48m moving · 24 May 2025

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is Lank Rigg a Wainwright?

Lank Rigg is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Fellranger list and the HuMP list.

Selected lists

541 m

Height

1,775 ft

In feet

NY 0916 1196

Grid ref

This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.

The summit is also a Birkett.

Lists, height and summit position from the Database of British and Irish Hills; the feet are converted from its metres and the grid reference from that position. How we check →

The view from Lank Rigg

The 360° skyline from Lank 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.

drag to pan · arrow keys

The skyline as a list, by direction

North: Blake Fell (8 km), Carling Knott (9 km)
North-east: Herdus (5 km), Great Borne (6 km), Starling Dodd (6 km), Little Dodd (7 km), Red Pike (8 km), Grasmoor (12 km), Wandope (12 km), Whiteside (13 km), Crag Hill (13 km), Whiteside East Top (13 km), Eel Crag (13 km), Gasgale Crags (13 km), Sail (14 km), Ladyside Pike (14 km), Knowe Crags (27 km), Gategill Fell Top (27 km), Blencathra (28 km), Atkinson Pike (28 km)
East: Little Gowder Crag (5 km), Haycock (6 km), Steeple (7 km), Black Crag (7 km), Red Pike (8 km), Pillar (8 km), High Stile (8 km), High Crag (9 km)
South-east: Seatallan (6 km), Whin Rigg (10 km), Scafell (13 km), Slight Side (14 km), Great Carrs (21 km), Swirl How (21 km)
South: Whitfell (20 km), Burn Moor (20 km), Kinmont Buck Barrow (22 km), Buck Barrow (22 km), Great Paddy Crag (22 km), Black Combe (27 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (165 km, Wales), Slieve Donard (167 km, Ireland), Carnedd Llewelyn (153 km, Wales), Merrick (99 km, Scotland), Aran Fawddwy (191 km, Wales), Broad Law (112 km, Scotland), Snaefell (73 km, Isle of Man), Moel Siabod (162 km, Wales).

Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills v18.4 (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on Lank Rigg

Lank Rigg sits close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its longest wait of the modelled year (on 1 March) first light is only 18 minutes after almanac sunrise, so the published sunrise time is a fair guide here.

Midsummer. The filled shape is the skyline as seen from the summit; the line is the sun’s path. Where they meet is first light — everything left of that point is the wait.

Times for 2026, in Lakeland clock time (GMT in winter, BST in summer) — and model outputs rather than observations.
	First light	Almanac sunrise	Difference
Midsummer	04:51 BST ±5.0 min	04:38	+13 min
Equinox	06:33 GMT ±5.0 min	06:17	+16 min
Midwinter	08:39 GMT ±5.0 min	08:34	+5 min

A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean -0.14°).

Last light — when the sun leaves Lank Rigg

Lank Rigg holds the light. On not one of the sixteen dates modelled does the sun leave this summit before almanac sunset — the ground falls away westward rather than standing over you, and at midsummer it is still in the sun 3 minutes after the valley has lost it.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
	Last light	Almanac sunset	Difference
Midsummer	21:57 BST ±5.0 min	21:54	+3 min
Equinox	18:33 GMT ±5.0 min	18:28	+5 min
Midwinter	15:57 GMT ±5.0 min	15:50	+7 min

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 Lank Rigg

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.

28Wainwrights in view+4 marginal

172 kmFurthest sightlineSlieve Binnian · possible under favourable refraction

2Sea in viewIrish Sea, Solway Firth

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland.

Far horizons

Slieve Binnian Northern IrelandW · 172 km clear
Slieve Donard Northern IrelandW · 167 km clear
Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) WalesSSW · 165 km clear
Carnedd Llewelyn WalesSSW · 150 km clear
Merrick ScotlandNW · 100 km clear
Snaefell Isle of ManWSW · 74 km clear
Criffel ScotlandNNW · 53 km clear
Solway Firth bay/estuaryNNW · 42 km in view
Irish Sea open waterNW · 22 km in view

All 28 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Grike, Crag Fell, Caw Fell, Haycock, Great Borne, Seatallan, Starling Dodd, Steeple, Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), Gavel Fell, Red Pike (Wasdale), Red Pike (Buttermere), Pillar, Blake Fell, High Stile, Whin Rigg (Wasdale), Whiteless Pike, Grasmoor, Wandope, Whiteside (Whiteside West Top), Scafell, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Sail, Slight Side, Causey Pike, Great Carrs, Swirl How, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top

How the view from Lank Rigg compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

How the skyline, light and sightlines are computed

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 Lank 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.

Sightlines from the Copernicus GLO-30 elevation model, which is a surface model: each 30 m cell holds the top of whatever stands there, trees and buildings included, rather than bare ground. 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.

Frequently asked questions about Lank Rigg

Is Lank Rigg worth the walk?

It depends entirely on what you want from a day. There is nothing technical in it — broad grassy slopes and moderate gradients, though the crossing of Lank Rigg Moss below the top is wet, peat-hagged ground that needs a compass bearing in poor visibility. Our round with Grike and Crag Fell is 13.1 km with 623 m of ascent.

What Lank Rigg offers is emptiness. It sits in the far western fells beyond Ennerdale where almost nobody goes, and you can have the whole afternoon to yourself. If that is the point of the day it is one of the best in the district; if you want rock and drama it is not.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

Lank Rigg

Summit conditions on Lank Rigg

Wind on the top

Routes up Lank Rigg

How hard is Lank Rigg?

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Parking & buses for Lank Rigg

Parking

Buses

Hazards on Lank Rigg

Notes from the Grike, Crag Fell and Lank Rigg route

Navigating in cloud

If you need Mountain Rescue

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Birketts within 3 km of Lank Rigg

Routes over Lank Rigg

About Lank Rigg

My Strava hikes over Lank Rigg

Classifications & hill data

Is Lank Rigg a Wainwright?

Selected lists

The view from Lank Rigg

The 360° skyline from Lank Rigg

Sunrise and sunset on Lank Rigg

Last light — when the sun leaves Lank Rigg

What you can see from Lank Rigg

Frequently asked questions about Lank Rigg

Other fells near Lank Rigg