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Written by · Route guide updated · 171 of 214 Wainwrights with a Strava-matched summit

Severe steepnessLoopPlanned

Cross Fell from Kirkland

17.22 km
Distance
~4¾–6¾ h
Estimated time
~921 m
Ascent
2
Summits

Start Kirkland, under Cross Fell

Getting here Parking: Knock village (verge), 5.7 km from the start (straight line). Parking & buses ↓

Hardest part Severe steepness: Steepest sustained descent about 38% around the 15.6 km mark.

The automated detail on this page — distance, climb, pacing and a first-pass difficulty read — is live. Hand-written field notes are being added.

Before you choose

Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet. A route line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.
Download GPX →Planned route · not yet walked

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

OpenTopoMap
Elevation profile, shaded by steepness
Elevation profile Rises from about 227 m to 899 m over 17.2 km, with the summits marked in order. The area beneath is shaded by sustained steepness over a 500 m window, in the same four bands as the route’s steepness rating: Easy under 15%, Moderate 15 to 25%, Hard 25 to 35%, Severe above 35%. 899 m 227 m 0 km 17.2 km 12

1 Cross Fell2 Little Dun Fell

Easy 85%Moderate 11%Hard 3%Severe 1%

899 m
High point
227 m
Start height

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. 1

    Kirkland, under Cross Fell → Cross Fell (5.7 km, 672 m)

    Climb of about 672 m over 5.7 km (around 12% average).

  2. 2

    Cross Fell → Little Dun Fell (2.3 km, 79 m)

    Descent of about 135 m, then a climb of about 79 m, over 2.3 km.

  3. Little Dun Fell → Finish (9.2 km, 170 m)

    Descent of about 612 m, with about 170 m of climbing, over 9.2 km.

Download GPX

GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked

Summits bagged (2)

  1. 1Cross Fell893 mNorth Pennines · Nuttall, Marilyn, Hewitt
  2. 2Little Dun Fell842 mNorth Pennines · Nuttall, Hewitt

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 and the Met Office mountain forecast before you set off.

Getting there and back

Parking

Knock village (verge) — 5.7 km from the start (straight line)
Start of the radar-station road toward Great Dun Fell (also a road-cycling climb).
Directions Something changed here?
Dufton village (free) — 8.5 km from the start (straight line)
Free village car park — Dufton Pike, Knock Fell, High Cup Nick; Pennine Way access. Appleby station ~5 km.
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

We don’t know yet. The path network around this start isn’t mapped well enough for us to measure a walk from the nearest stop. That’s a gap in our data, not a sign that no bus comes here.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com or Traveline before travelling.

Toilets and refreshments

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; terrain not assessed; exposure not assessed on the ground

LengthHard17.22 km — a long day out.
SteepnessSevereSteepest sustained descent about 38% around the 15.6 km mark.
TerrainNot assessedThe map holds no grading for what is underfoot on this line, so we don’t guess. A rating appears once the ground is assessed.
NavigationHardCare needed in cloud — ~20% featureless high ground, 18 path junctions near the line. Hard – estimated from the map, not checked on the ground
ExposureNot assessedNot assessed on the ground; the map suggests Hard. 3 mapped crag feature(s) near the line — check the airy sections. Exposure (drops, scrambling, how bad a slip would be) needs the ground, so a map estimate is not given a grade here and does not count towards the overall grade.

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

SummitCumulativeAscentTime (fast–steady)
1Cross Fell5.7 km672 m2:16–3:01
2Little Dun Fell8.0 km751 m2:51–3:48
Finish17.2 km921 m4:59–6:37

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?

Dog
Gates only
Buggy
Not buggy-able
Knees
Tough descent
  • Buggy: No mapped stiles, but the ground underfoot has not been assessed; not a buggy line on what we know.
  • Knees: A long, steep ~42% drop over 250 m around the 15.5 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 descent of about 38% around the 15.6 km mark.

  • Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Hard. 3 mapped crag feature(s) near the line — check the airy sections.
  • 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 2026-10-21)
  • Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
  • 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

Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us. Barrier data as of 2026-10-21. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).