Green Crag & Great Whinscale — the wild Birker Fell round
Key facts
✎️ Park on the verge at the Devoke Water turning on the Birker Fell road between Ulpha and Eskdale — a narrow, remote fell road, so come prepared and don't rely on a phone signal. It's a long walk in across open moor to the first top.
Difficulty profile
Five independent axes, not one score. “Desk” ratings come from maps and guidebooks, not yet walked — treat them as a guide, not a survey.
Conditions on this route
We score every Lakeland Wainwright each morning on cloud, wind, rain and underfoot, and this route crosses 1 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.
Why this matters: 78% of Mountain Rescue call-outs come after midday — the day runs out on the way home, not on the way up. See also walking in bad weather and today’s conditions.
1 Great Whinscale2 Crook Crag3 Green Crag4 Broad Crag - Birker Fell5 Birker Fell - Great Crag
Easy 83%Moderate 17%Hard <1%Severe
Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right).
This walk covers about 11.86 km with around 478 m of ascent, taking in 5 summits. The map above shows the line; the elevation profile and stage notes are below.
Access & barriers
Can a dog, a buggy or dodgy knees manage this route? A quick read from the gates and stiles mapped along the way.
- Dog: A stile of unmapped type — a dog may need lifting over.
- Buggy: Stiles or rough going on the route.
- Knees: No sustained steep descent — kind on the knees.
On the line: 10 gates · 1 stile (type unmapped)
These are mapped barriers, from OpenStreetMap — coverage in the Lakes is good but not guaranteed complete. Spotted a stile or gate we’ve missed? Tell us (opens in new tab) and we’ll fix it. Barrier data as of 2026-07-09. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Pacing
| Summit | Cumulative | Ascent | Time (fast–steady) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Great Whinscale | 6.4 km | 378 m | 1:55–2:33 |
| 2Crook Crag | 6.8 km | 394 m | 2:01–2:41 |
| 3Green Crag | 7.4 km | 433 m | 2:12–2:55 |
| 4Broad Crag - Birker Fell | 8.6 km | 441 m | 2:27–3:16 |
| 5Birker Fell - Great Crag | 9.4 km | 441 m | 2:37–3:29 |
| Finish | 11.9 km | 478 m | 3:10–4:13 |
Naismith-based estimate — a fast/steady range. Your pace will vary. These use Naismith’s textbook constants (5 km/h, 600 m of ascent an hour). Measured against a pace fitted to 41 recorded Lakeland walks they run about 8% slow, and we have left them that way deliberately: a slow estimate strands nobody.
The walk, stage by stage
- 1
Start → Great Whinscale (6.4 km, 378 m)
Ascend from the valley floor, following established farm tracks or old peat roads to breach the tree line and enter the vast, undulating expanse of Birker Fell. The defined path quickly becomes intermittent as you traverse the expansive, pathless moorland, forcing you to pick a weaving line through deep heather and tussock grass to reach the minor rocky outcrop of Great Whinscale
WaypointsValley floor track, Birker Moor plateau, Great Whinscale summit
Decision pointRely heavily on compass bearings once you commit to the open moorland, as paths on Birker Moor frequently braid into misleading sheep trods or disappear entirely into the marsh. Use the subtle topographical rises to maintain your heading
Easy to get wrongThe Birker Fell plateau acts as a massive sponge. It is exceptionally boggy, trackless in many places, and covered in energy-sapping terrain. The lack of distinct, towering landmarks makes this sweeping moorland highly disorientating when the clag drops, requiring intense navigational focus from the moment you leave the valley tracks
If you need to get offSimply retrace your compass bearing back off the moorland to the safety of the valley track. Do not attempt to drop blindly into the steep, wooded ravines that line the Eskdale and Duddon sides of the fell, as these are often craggy and impassable
- 2
Great Whinscale → Crook Crag (0.4 km, 16 m)
Continue south-east across a short, marshy depression, weaving through the boggy pools to make the brief, straightforward pull up to the rocky top of Crook Crag
WaypointsGreat Whinscale, moorland depression, Crook Crag summit
Decision pointCrook Crag is visually obvious in good weather as a prominent rocky tor rising abruptly from the surrounding heather, serving as a perfect line-of-sight target
Easy to get wrongWhile incredibly short in distance, the ground between these crags is often completely saturated. It requires constant micro-navigation and hopping between grass tussocks to avoid sinking over your boots in the black peat
If you need to get offAbort the route and head north/north-west back across the moorland toward your ascent path, purposely skirting around the deeper mosses to the east
- 3
Crook Crag → Green Crag (0.5 km, 40 m)
Drop slightly from Crook Crag and traverse another deeply rutted, wet saddle. The final approach requires a short, sharp scramble up steep, rocky tiers to attain the commanding, craggy summit of Green Crag
WaypointsCrook Crag, marshy saddle, Green Crag summit (489m)
Decision pointGreen Crag is the highest and most prominent peak on the Birker Fell plateau; its dramatic rocky profile is an unmistakable visual handrail for this short section
Easy to get wrongGreen Crag is a fortress of rock erupting directly out of the bog. The rocks can be surprisingly greasy, and picking a safe line up the crag tiers requires a brief moment of hands-on scrambling that contrasts sharply with the preceding moorland slog
If you need to get offIf the final rocky pull of Green Crag is too slippery or intimidating in wet weather, simply bypass the summit rock to the west and begin your return leg across the moorland
- 4
Green Crag → Broad Crag - Birker Fell (1.3 km, 8 m)
Carefully down-climb from Green Crag's rocky summit and head generally south-west into the notoriously wet interior of the moor. You must pick a tortuous, weaving line through the trackless expanse of Foxbield Moss and White Moss, aiming for the modest rocky rise of Broad Crag
WaypointsGreen Crag descent, Foxbield Moss / White Moss, Broad Crag summit
Decision pointWith no distinct paths and a featureless plateau, you must rely entirely on a compass bearing aimed at Broad Crag, accepting that you will have to zigzag extensively to avoid the worst of the bogs while maintaining your general heading
Easy to get wrongThis section crosses some of the most infamous, boot-swallowing peat bogs in the Lake District. There is no path, and straight-line navigation is physically impossible; you must constantly detour around deep black pools and marshy ground, making the short distance feel twice as long and incredibly tiring on the legs
If you need to get offYou are in the desolate center of the moor; the safest escape is to push through the bogs to Broad Crag and Great Crag to pick up the established descent routes, rather than trying to bail northwards into pathless, steeply plunging bracken
- 5
Broad Crag - Birker Fell → Birker Fell - Great Crag (0.8 km, 0 m)
Leave Broad Crag and continue the westerly traverse across the undulating, heather-clad moor. The ground here becomes slightly firmer but remains pathless as you link up the final rocky tor of Great Crag
WaypointsBroad Crag, Birker moorland traverse, Great Crag summit
Decision pointGreat Crag stands out as the final distinct rocky bump on this section of the plateau. Keep it in your sights as a bearing point while you pick the driest, most direct line through the heather
Easy to get wrongThe terrain remains incredibly rough, with hidden holes between tussocks and thick heather concealing uneven ground, presenting a constant trip or twisted ankle hazard for tired legs
If you need to get offContinue forward to Great Crag; turning back into the bogs makes no sense, and Great Crag sets you up perfectly for the main descent off the moorland back to the valley
Birker Fell - Great Crag → Finish (2.4 km, 37 m)
Depart Great Crag, heading steadily downhill off the moorland plateau. Pick up the faint grassy trods that gradually coalesce into a more defined track, winding down through the bracken and rough pastures to return to the valley road and your starting point
WaypointsGreat Crag, moorland edge, descent track, valley road, finish point
Decision pointOnce you crest the edge of the plateau, the valley floor and the ribbon of the road below provide a fail-safe visual handrail; aim for the established farm gates or drystone wall stiles to exit the fell safely
Easy to get wrongThe initial drop off the moor can be steep and slippery in places. In summer, the lower slopes are often choked with head-high bracken that can completely obscure the faint path and conceal rocks, making navigation frustrating just as you near the finish
If you need to get offThis is the final descent. Take your time through the thick bracken, ensure you do not blindly drop into steep ravines cut by the descending becks, and stick to the gentler grassy spurs leading down to the valley road
Summits bagged (5)
- 1Great Whinscale427 m
- 2Crook Crag469 m
- 3Green Crag489 m
- 4Broad Crag - Birker Fell372 m
- 5Birker Fell - Great Crag333 m
In the order you walk them — the same numbers the elevation profile, the stage notes and the pacing table use.
Getting there & parking
Positions are approximate. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.
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.
Every option near this start, on the parking map →
💧 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.)
Buses
The nearest bus stop we hold is the 505 at Coniston, outside The Ruskin Centre, 17.3 km of walking from this start — not realistically reachable without a car.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
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 if one is full the others usually are too. Worth starting early, or having a different walk in mind before you set off.
- Devoke Water turning, Birker Fell road (verge)
- Rough Crag Birker Moor (verge, south)
Worked out from the parking we hold within walking reach of this route and the other walks each place serves — two places that serve the same walks fill for the same reasons. We are not saying whether anywhere has spaces today, and we never will: this is what exists, not what is free.
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. 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.
- 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.
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.
Safety & conditions
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.
Make it easier or harder
Short version: turn back at about 6.5 km (drop to Start) — roughly half the distance.
Places to stay near this start
Worth knowing before you book
These places state on their own site that they do not take children.
- YHA Eskdale (opens in new tab) “Under 12s are not permitted in dorm rooms.”
What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. Distances are straight lines from the route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).