Green Crag & Great Whinscale — the wild Birker Fell round
Start Birker Fell Road (Devoke Water)
Getting here Parking: Devoke Water turning, Birker Fell road (verge), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Hard terrain: Mostly good mountain path. Hard – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet Hands for a few steps: Green Crag's summit tiers, and the way off it (km 6.8–7.4).
Before you choose
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.
See also walking in bad weather and today’s conditions.
Route map
1 Great Whinscale2 Crook Crag3 Green Crag4 Broad Crag - Birker Fell5 Birker Fell - Great Crag
Easy 88%Moderate 12%HardSevere
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 lines to the summits of Crook Crag and Birker Fell - Great Crag are drawn, not recorded.
The walk, stage by stage
- 1
Start → Great Whinscale (6.4 km, 378 m)
From the Devoke Water turning on the Birker Fell road, head out onto 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 offRetrace your compass bearing back off the moorland to 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, 35 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 (0.6 km, 52 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 a clear 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 the way up the crag tiers needs hands for a few steps, a contrast with the moorland slog before it.
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, 27 m)
Carefully down-climb from Green Crag's rocky summit, heading south-east at first, then swing round south-west and 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 usual 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 (0.9 km, 16 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 offNo way off this moor has been checked for this guide. Great Crag, ahead, leads to the route's own descent, and going back over the bogs is the way you know: judge which from where you are.
Birker Fell - Great Crag → Finish (2.5 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 visual handrail; keep to the route's own track down, rather than aiming across the bracken for a gate or stile.
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.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
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.
More about this walk
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.
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.
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.
- Devoke Water turning, Birker Fell road (verge) — at the start
- Rough Crag Birker Moor (verge, south) — a 280 m walk to the start
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 505 at Coniston, outside The Ruskin Centre, 17.3 km away on foot: a walk of its own, not a way to the start.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Rough free verge parking at the Devoke Water turning on the Birker Fell road, beside the start. 36 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (our parking map, from OpenStreetMap, checked 2 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 largely trackless round across open, boggy moor: the path soon becomes intermittent and you pick your own line between the tops. (our route notes (this route's own warnings), checked 28 September 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
Hard overall — hardest: Terrain (our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet); exposure not assessed on the ground
Five independent axes, not one score. This route has not been walked yet, so none of them was set on the ground: one of the five is 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Great Whinscale | 6.4 km | 378 m | 1:55–2:33 |
| 2Crook Crag | 6.9 km | 413 m | 2:04–2:44 |
| 3Green Crag | 7.4 km | 464 m | 2:16–3:01 |
| 4Broad Crag - Birker Fell | 8.7 km | 491 m | 2:33–3:24 |
| 5Birker Fell - Great Crag | 9.6 km | 508 m | 2:46–3:40 |
| Finish | 12.0 km | 544 m | 3:19–4:24 |
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: Stiles or rough going on the route.
- Knees: No sustained steep descent in the track’s height model (steepest 250 m about 17%). Steps, wet rock and the surface underfoot are not assessed; your own knees still matter.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: stiles and gates. The steepest stretch is a sustained climb of about 22% around the 4.3 km mark.
- Stiles and gates: A stile of unmapped type at 3.0 km — a dog may need lifting over. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 9 July 2026)
- Rock and scrambling: Hands for a few steps: Green Crag's summit tiers, and the way off it (km 6.8–7.4). Ground underfoot: Hard – our judgement from the map and the route’s record; not walked yet. Mostly good mountain path.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Moderate. Graded from slope only (~25% max); treat exposure as unverified.
- 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: 7 gates · 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 9 July 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Stanley Ghyll Force — 1.9 km from this start
- Walks from Eskdale — 3.1 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.