Alternative Hardknott Round (Green Crag, Harter Fell & Hard Knott)
Start Goat Crag layby, foot of Hardknott Pass (Eskdale side)
Getting here Parking: Goat Crag (layby), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Severe steepness: Steepest sustained climb about 38% around the 7.4 km mark. Hands for a few steps: the summit tors of Green Crag and Harter Fell (about km 4.4 and about km 7.7).
Before you choose
- The ground north of Green Crag is boggy — wet, tussocky and slow, and worse after rain. Pick a dry spell and expect to lose time here.
- Rough, rocky and only lightly pathed — navigation needs care in poor visibility. Carry map and compass.
- A long, remote round (nearly 15 km, 950 m of ascent) with little quick escape; start early and carry food, water and layers.
- Livestock on the lower fields; keep dogs under close control.
Conditions on this route
We score every Lakeland Wainwright each morning on cloud, wind, rain and underfoot, and this route crosses 3 of them. The worst summit governs the verdict — a route is only as kind as its roughest top.
Modelled guidance — not a substitute for the mountain forecast or your own judgement. See how every fell ranks today →
Daylight & turnaround
Daylight is short from October to February — check today’s sunrise and sunset before you set off, and carry a head-torch and spare batteries. On short days, decide your turn-back time before you start.
See also walking in bad weather and today’s conditions.
Route map
1 Green Crag2 Harter Fell (Eskdale)3 Hard Knott
Easy 63%Moderate 29%Hard 6%Severe 3%
Heights on this chart and its high point are read from the track itself (a terrain model sampled along the line, or a GPS recording), so a top can differ from its listed height, usually reading lower.
Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).
The elevation profile is under the map; the stage notes follow.
The walk, stage by stage
- 1
Goat Crag layby, foot of Hardknott Pass (Eskdale side) → Green Crag (4.4 km, 399 m)
If you need to get offThe map shows the line on the Hardknott Pass road for its first 0.3 km, then on paths south over the moor to Green Crag; no mapped path reaches a road sooner than going back, so the way off is back the way you came, up to about 4.1 km from Green Crag; not walked for this guide.
- 2
Green Crag → Harter Fell (Eskdale) (3.4 km, 363 m)
Easy to get wrongThe stretch north of Green Crag is boggy and slow — pick your line carefully and expect wet feet when it’s been raining.
If you need to get offThe map shows no usable way off between Green Crag and Harter Fell: the mapped ways down pass mapped crag or ground steeper than 35 degrees, and the public bridleway east-south-east from about 6 km crosses the River Duddon on stepping stones. So the way off is back over Green Crag the way you came, or on over Harter Fell and down to the Hardknott Pass road at about 10.1 km, up to about 4.9 km either way; not walked for this guide.
- 3
Harter Fell (Eskdale) → Hard Knott (3.5 km, 185 m)
If you need to get offThe map shows the line crossing the Hardknott Pass road near the top of the pass, at about 10.1 km, between Harter Fell and Hard Knott; the other mapped ways down pass mapped crag, so from Harter Fell the way off is on down to the pass, about 2.3 km, and from Hard Knott back down to the pass or on down the walk's own line to the road, about 1.1 km; not walked for this guide.
Hard Knott → Finish (3.4 km, 14 m)
Descent of about 460 m over 3.4 km.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Summits bagged (3)
- 1Green Crag489 m
- 2Harter Fell (Eskdale)653 m
- 3Hard Knott550 m
In the order you walk them — the same numbers the elevation profile, the stage notes and the pacing table use.
More about this walk
Three wild, quiet Eskdale tops linked into a big round — boggy in stretches (notably north of Green Crag) and rocky underfoot; a dry, clear day makes all the difference.
Conditions and timing
Check live conditions in the “From the fells” panel, on MWIS (opens in new tab) and the Met Office mountain forecast (opens in new tab) before you set off.
When the sun reaches the tops
Not sunrise — the moment the sun clears the skyline from that summit, which on a fell with high ground to its east can be a good deal later.
- Green Crag — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:30, about a quarter of an hour later. In late September, about 07:15. It waits longest in midsummer — about half an hour after sunrise.
- Harter Fell (Eskdale) — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:15, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:00.
- Hard Knott — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:15, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:00. It waits longest in midsummer — about half an hour after sunrise. In late December, not until about 09:00.
How to read these times
The two equinoxes are shown because they fall in the walking season, and late December too wherever a top keeps you waiting then; the clock gap between the equinoxes is British Summer Time, not the hill. Rounded to the nearest quarter hour and meant as a general idea, not a schedule.
Modelled from a 30 m elevation model against each summit’s own skyline — the same figures the fell pages carry, never observed. Cloud is not in it.
Getting there and back
Parking
2 more places to park near the start
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.
If the parking is full
There is no real plan B here. Every place we know beside this route serves the same walks and sits close together, so expect them to fill on the same mornings. Worth starting early, or having a different walk in mind before you set off.
- Hardknott Roman Fort (roadside) — joins the loop at about km 13.4 of 14.7: a 120 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Goat Crag, south-east (layby) — joins the loop at about km 0.8 of 14.7: a 280 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Border End car park — joins the loop at about km 10.4 of 14.7: a 220 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
We never say whether anywhere has spaces today. Walks to the line are measured along mapped paths (OpenStreetMap), not in a straight line. How we choose these places.
No signal when you get there? RoutePark keeps this list on your phone: choose this walk’s GPX at home, keep it, and it opens offline.
Buses
No bus we hold serves this start. The nearest stop we hold is the 516 at Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, 10.9 km away on foot: a walk of its own, not a way to the start.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Goat Crag layby at the foot of Hardknott Pass, beside the start: free, as mapped. No capacity is recorded for it. 25 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (our parking audit, from OpenStreetMap, checked 10 August 2026)
- Toilets No toilets are mapped within 250 m of the start. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Refreshments No café or pub is mapped within 250 m of the start: bring what you need. (OpenStreetMap, as mapped on 13 September 2026, checked 13 September 2026)
- Limitation A long, remote round of nearly 15 km and 950 m, with little quick escape: rough, lightly pathed ground, boggy and slow north of Green Crag. Carry map and compass. (our route notes (this route's own warnings), checked 2 October 2026)
No mapped drinking water or shelter on this route — that doesn’t mean there is none, and never drink untreated from a beck. (Facilities data © OpenStreetMap contributors.)
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Planning detail
How each grade on this page is set, and the timings stage by stage.
Difficulty profile
Severe overall — hardest: Steepness
Five independent axes, not one score. This route has not been walked yet, so none of them was set on the ground: three of the five are our judgement from the map and the route’s record, and the rest are computed from the recorded track and the map, which measures the line rather than surveying the ground.
How we grade: each axis is Easy, Moderate, Hard or Severe, and a route between two bands takes the higher one. Length: under 8 km, 8–14 km, 14–20 km, over 20 km. Steepness, the steepest 500 m of the track: under 15%, 15–25%, 25–35%, over 35%. Terrain, navigation and exposure are judged rather than measured, and each note says why. How we grade.
Pacing
| Summit | Cumulative | Ascent | Time (fast–steady) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Green Crag | 4.4 km | 399 m | 1:33–2:03 |
| 2Harter Fell (Eskdale) | 7.7 km | 763 m | 2:49–3:45 |
| 3Hard Knott | 11.3 km | 948 m | 3:50–5:06 |
| Finish | 14.7 km | 961 m | 4:32–6:02 |
A fast–steady range from Naismith’s rule, deliberately on the slow side. Breaks, weather, rough ground and the slowest person in your party all add to it. How we time walks.
Access & barriers
Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route?
- Buggy: Not a pushchair route.
- Knees: A sustained ~30% descent over 250 m around the 8.4 km mark — a little jarring on tired knees.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: stiles and gates. The steepest stretch is a sustained climb of about 38% around the 7.4 km mark.
- Stiles and gates: A stile of unmapped type at 2.7 km — a dog may need lifting over. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 12 July 2026)
- Rock and scrambling: Hands for a few steps: the summit tors of Green Crag and Harter Fell (about km 4.4 and about km 7.7). Ground underfoot: Hard – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet. Boggy (notably north of Green Crag), tussocky and rocky; slow and worse when wet.
- Drops and exposed ground: Moderate – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet. Rocky summit tors (Harter Fell, Green Crag) — a hands-on move or two, no sustained exposure.
- Ways off early: None recorded for this route.
- Livestock, shade and water: Not recorded for this route yet. We never call a stream safe for a dog to drink, so carry enough for both of you. The lead rules, and what to do around cattle, are on dogs on the fells.
On the line: 5 gates · 2 step-over stiles · 1 stile (type unmapped)
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 12 July 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Places to stay near this start
We have not verified an independent place near this start — these are the chains and charities that serve it.
- YHA Eskdale (opens in new tab)about 1.5 km
We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from the route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Hardknott Pass — 2.2 km from this start
- Walks from Eskdale — 3.5 km from this start
Straight-line distance from this walk’s start. Those lists hold the routes we have mapped and every Wainwright and Outlying fell within about 5 km of the town, ranked nearest first.