Crinkle Crags, Cold Pike, Pike of Blisco
Start Old Dungeon Ghyll
Getting here Parking: Old Dungeon Ghyll (NT, paid), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 516 stops at Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, a 160 m walk from this start. Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Hard steepness: Steepest sustained climb about 32% around the 4.2 km mark. Hands for a few steps: the rocky ground near Pike of Blisco (km 10.3–10.8).
Before you choose
Conditions on this route
We score every Lakeland Wainwright each morning on cloud, wind, rain and underfoot, and this route crosses 2 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 Shelter Crags2 Crinkle Crags - Gunson Knott (Fifth Crinkle)3 Crinkle Crags - Fourth Crinkle4 Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle)5 Cold Pike
Easy 55%Moderate 31%Hard 14%Severe
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
Start → Shelter Crags (5.4 km, 710 m)
Climb of about 710 m over 5.4 km (around 13% average).
- 2
Shelter Crags → Crinkle Crags - Gunson Knott (Fifth Crinkle) (0.3 km, 35 m)
Undulating section of about 0.3 km.
- 3
Crinkle Crags - Gunson Knott (Fifth Crinkle) → Crinkle Crags - Fourth Crinkle (0.1 km, 27 m)
Undulating section of about 0.1 km.
- 4
Crinkle Crags - Fourth Crinkle → Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle) (0.2 km, 31 m)
Undulating section of about 0.2 km.
- 5
Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle) → Cold Pike (2.2 km, 37 m)
Descent of about 167 m over 2.2 km.
Cold Pike → Finish (5.5 km, 185 m)
Descent of about 587 m, with about 185 m of climbing, over 5.5 km.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Summits bagged (5)
- 1Shelter Crags815 m
- 2Crinkle Crags - Gunson Knott (Fifth Crinkle)822 m
- 3Crinkle Crags - Fourth Crinkle832 m
- 4Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle)859 m
- 5Cold Pike700 m
In the order you walk them — the same numbers the elevation profile, the stage notes and the pacing table use.
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.
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 a fallback here, but it is a weak one. Some of the 3 below tend to fill for the same reasons at the same time. Treat the list as one-and-a-bit options rather than 3.
- Old Dungeon Ghyll (NT, paid) — at the start
- Side Pike (layby) — joins the loop at about km 12.6 of 13.8: a 20 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Side Pike (verge) — joins the loop at about km 13.4 of 13.8: a 500 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- By bus: buses stop at Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, a 160 m walk from the start. A bus is not affected by a full car park. Its return times are under Buses.
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
The 516 stops at Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, a 160 m walk from this start. Last bus: Monday to Thursday 21:10 towards Ambleside (516) and 20:10 towards Kendal (516); Friday 22:30 towards Kendal (516); Saturday 22:30 towards Kendal (516); Sunday 21:10 towards Ambleside (516) and 20:10 towards Kendal (516). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 23 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
The 516 passes this route at 0.1 km (Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, 50 m off the line).
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
At Old Dungeon Ghyll (NT, paid), the closest parking we hold to where this route starts:
Distances are straight lines from the car park, not walking routes. Opening hours change; none of this is checked daily.
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
Hard overall — hardest: Steepness; terrain not assessed; exposure not assessed on the ground
Five independent axes, not one score. None of them was set on the ground: they 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Shelter Crags | 5.4 km | 710 m | 2:16–3:00 |
| 2Crinkle Crags - Gunson Knott (Fifth Crinkle) | 5.7 km | 744 m | 2:22–3:09 |
| 3Crinkle Crags - Fourth Crinkle | 5.8 km | 771 m | 2:27–3:15 |
| 4Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle) | 6.0 km | 803 m | 2:32–3:23 |
| 5Cold Pike | 8.2 km | 840 m | 3:03–4:03 |
| Finish | 13.8 km | 1025 m | 4:28–5:56 |
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: No mapped stiles, but the ground underfoot has not been assessed; not a buggy line on what we know.
- Knees: A long, steep ~38% drop over 250 m around the 10.4 km mark — hard on the knees.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: drops and exposed ground (estimated from the map). The steepest stretch is a sustained climb of about 32% around the 4.2 km mark.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Moderate. From gradient only (~32% max) — mapped crag data unavailable; treat exposure as unverified.
- Rock and scrambling: Hands for a few steps: the rocky ground near Pike of Blisco (km 10.3–10.8). Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
- Stiles and gates: Only gates and kissing gates are mapped: no stile a dog can’t get through. That is the barriers alone; check the route’s steep or rocky ground before you bring a dog. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 24 October 2026)
- 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: 12 gates · 6 kissing gates
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 24 October 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Stickle Tarn — 1.6 km from this start
- Walks from Great Langdale — 1.8 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.