Grike, Crag Fell and Lank Rigg
Start Cold Fell road
Getting here Parking: Flat Fell (verge), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Getting there ↓ · Route map ↓
Hardest part Moderate distance: 13.07 km round. Moderate steepness: Steepest sustained descent about 20% around the 8.1 km mark. Moderate navigation: Graded on the ground. Moderate – graded by Lee on the ground
Before you choose
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 Grike2 Crag Fell3 Whoap4 Lank Rigg
Easy 89%Moderate 11%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 walk, stage by stage
- 1
Start → Grike (2.9 km, 268 m)
Start at the parking area on the Cold Fell road (near the Kinniside Common / Felldyke gate). Pass through the gate and take the wide gravel quarry track heading east onto Kinniside Common. Follow this main track as it climbs at a gentle gradient alongside the plantation boundary. Leaving the main track, pick up the grassy path heading east directly up the fellside of Grike. Cross the fence via the step stile to reach the summit plateau, marked by a stone circular windbreak shelter, a small metal radio mast, and a summit cairn.
WaypointsCold Fell road parking area, Kinniside Plantation track, fence stile, Grike summit shelter & mast.
Decision pointThe main gravel quarry track and the prominent plantation fence line act as a clear, continuous handrail up to the summit fence crossing.
Easy to get wrongThe ascent is gradual and friendly underfoot, though the grassy paths near the plantation edge can hold water and become muddy after rain. In low cloud or poor weather, these wide, rolling slopes offer little natural shelter.
If you need to get offSimply turn 180 degrees and retrace your steps down the wide gravel track back to the car parking area on the Cold Fell road.
- 2
Grike → Crag Fell (1.4 km, 73 m)
From the summit shelter on Grike, head east along the broad, gentle ridge path. Follow the line of the drystone wall and wire fence across the high plateau. The path drops slightly into a shallow depression before ascending smoothly to the stone summit cairn of Crag Fell, which boasts spectacular plunging views down into Ennerdale Water and across to Bowness Knott.
WaypointsGrike summit shelter, boundary wall/fence line, Crag Fell summit cairn.
Decision pointThe continuous drystone wall and fence line linking Grike directly to Crag Fell provide a handrail.
Easy to get wrongThe ground along the high ridge is often wet and peaty in shallow dips. While the south side of the ridge is gentle, the northern face of Crag Fell drops sheer into Ennerdale; keep well back from the edge in misty or high-wind conditions.
If you need to get offRetrace your steps 1.4 km back along the fence line to Grike and descend via the main Kinniside track.
- 3
Crag Fell → Whoap (2.2 km, 102 m)
From the summit cairn of Crag Fell, retrace your steps slightly south-east along the wall toward the head of Ben Gill. Cross the fence line and head south-east across the broad, open grassy saddle of Black Brow. The path climbs gently and steadily up the long, smooth grassy spine of Whoap to reach its rounded summit cairn.
WaypointsCrag Fell summit, Ben Gill head, Black Brow saddle, Whoap summit cairn.
Decision pointA line of fence posts running south towards the slopes of Whoap serves as a reliable guide across the open ground.
Easy to get wrongThis section traverses wide, open, featureless grassland. In thick mist or low visibility, paths become faint and braided, making it easy to drift off course.
If you need to get offNo way off between Crag Fell and Whoap has been checked for this guide. The way back that this guide describes is the way you came, along the fence to Crag Fell and Grike.
- 4
Whoap → Lank Rigg (1.3 km, 106 m)
Descend south-west off the grassy spur of Whoap into the deep, marshy depression of Lank Rigg Moss. Cross the headwaters of the River Calder / Lank Rigg Beck, weaving around peat hags. From the bottom of the col, climb the steady grassy slope heading south-west to gain the broad summit plateau of Lank Rigg, marked by a large stone shelter, OS trig point, and a small summit tarn.
WaypointsWhoap descent spur, Lank Rigg Moss (River Calder headwaters), Lank Rigg summit trig point, stone shelter & tarn.
Decision pointFaint trods cross the moss, but rely on map/compass bearings in mist. The stone shelter and trig point sit clearly on the higher western edge of the plateau.
Easy to get wrongLank Rigg Moss Bog: Lank Rigg Moss is notorious as one of the wettest, boggiest depressions in the Western Fells. Navigating around deep peat hags requires careful footing. In poor visibility, holding an accurate compass bearing across the moss to the rising slopes of Lank Rigg is essential.
If you need to get offNo way down into the Calder valley has been checked for this guide, and the river may not be crossable after rain. The way back that this guide describes is the way you came, over Whoap to Crag Fell.
Lank Rigg → Finish (5.3 km, 76 m)
Leave the summit plateau of Lank Rigg heading north-east at first, then swing west, dropping down steep grassy slopes toward the valley of the River Calder. Cross the lower ground to join the clear farm/bridleway track running west along the valley bottom below the flanks of Whoap and Grike. Pass the Matty Benn's Bridge area and follow the track as it contours around Kinniside Common, merging into the main quarry track to return to the gate on Cold Fell road.
WaypointsLank Rigg summit, western descent slope, River Calder valley track, Matty Benn's Bridge area, Kinniside Common main track, Cold Fell road finish.
Decision pointThe River Calder down on your left serves as a primary valley guide until you join the main gravel track.
Easy to get wrongThe initial descent off Lank Rigg is pathless in places over rough, tussocky grass. Once on the valley track, the return is long but non-technical and easy on tired legs.
If you need to get offDirect, non-technical valley track return straight back to the start point.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Walked by Lee, May 2025
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.
- Grike — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:30, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:15. It waits longest in late December — about a quarter of an hour after sunrise.
- Crag Fell — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:30, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:15. It waits longest in late December — about a quarter of an hour after sunrise.
- Lank Rigg — 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 late March — about a quarter of 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.
- Cold Fell road (verge) — joins the loop at about km 11.8 of 13.1: a 20 m walk to the line, and you walk the round from there
- Flat Fell (verge) — at the start
- Blakeley Raise (verge, east) — joins the loop at about km 12.3 of 13.1: a 440 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 77 and 77A stop at Buttermere, outside Court Hotel, 14.3 km away on foot: a walk of its own, not a way to the start. It is a seasonal service too: 1 November 2026 is its last day of the year (confirmed with the operator, 29 August 2026); it returns on 22 March 2027.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival Verge parking on the Cold Fell road, about 40 m from the start. No fee or capacity is recorded for it here. 39 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (Lee's Street View sweep, 10 August 2026, 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 steep drop into Ennerdale beside Crag Fell’s top, and faint, featureless ground over Whoap and Lank Rigg Moss where a compass bearing matters in cloud. (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
Moderate overall — hardest: Length, steepness and navigation (graded by Lee on the ground)
Five independent axes, not one score. Three of the five were set on the ground; 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Grike | 2.9 km | 268 m | 1:02–1:22 |
| 2Crag Fell | 4.3 km | 340 m | 1:26–1:54 |
| 3Whoap | 6.5 km | 442 m | 2:02–2:42 |
| 4Lank Rigg | 7.7 km | 547 m | 2:28–3:16 |
| Finish | 13.1 km | 623 m | 3:39–4:51 |
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: A sustained ~24% descent over 250 m around the 7.8 km mark — a little jarring on tired knees.
With a dog
Hardest for a dog here: stiles and gates.
- Stiles and gates: Stiles of unmapped type at 2.5, 2.8, 3.7, 4.9, 5.4 and 5.5 km — a dog may need lifting over. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 20 July 2026)
- Rock and scrambling: Ground underfoot: Easy – graded by Lee on the ground. Graded on the ground.
- Drops and exposed ground: Easy – graded by Lee on the ground. Graded on the ground.
- 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: 3 gates · 7 stiles (type unmapped)
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 20 July 2026. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).