Knott Rigg & Ard Crags Out-and-Back from Newlands Pass
Start Newlands Hause
Getting here Parking: Newlands Hause car park, 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 77 stops at Buttermere Youth Hostel (near); from there it is 2.2 km and 251 m of ascent to this start. And the same back: about 9.8 km in all, with the walk. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. Parking & buses ↓
Hardest part Hard steepness: Steepest sustained descent about 27% around the 5.1 km mark. Hard navigation: Care needed in cloud — ~29% featureless high ground. Hard – estimated from the map, not checked on the ground
Before you choose
- OpenStreetMap maps a crag edge about 20 m south of the line just below Ard Crags’ top, at about 2.7 km.
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 Knott Rigg2 Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)3 Ard Crags
Easy 70%Moderate 18%Hard 11%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
Newlands Hause → Knott Rigg (1.4 km, 226 m)
We have written these directions from the map, not on foot. From the car park at Newlands Hause, take the public footpath that leaves the road and heads north-north-east straight up the fellside. The first half-kilometre is the steepest climbing of the walk on the way up; after that the path eases and carries on north-north-east up the broad ridge to Knott Rigg's top at about 1.4 km.
WaypointsThe car park at Newlands Hause, the public footpath, Knott Rigg's summit (556 m).
If you need to get offThe map shows no mapped path off the climb from Newlands Hause that reaches a road sooner than going back down it, so the way off is back the way you came, never more than about 1.4 km; not walked for this guide.
- 2
Knott Rigg → Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top) (0.4 km, 18 m)
Carry on along the crest path north-north-east, then north-east, to the north top at about 1.8 km, a short and nearly level section.
WaypointsKnott Rigg's summit, the crest path, the north top (546 m).
If you need to get offThe map shows no mapped way off between Knott Rigg and the north top: the way off is back over Knott Rigg and down to Newlands Hause, never more than about 1.8 km; not walked for this guide.
- 3
Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top) → Ard Crags (1.0 km, 69 m)
Follow the same path north-east down into a shallow dip at about 2.1 km, then up east-north-east and north-east along the ridge to Ard Crags' top at about 2.75 km, the highest point of the walk.
WaypointsThe north top, the dip in the ridge, Ard Crags' summit (581 m).
Easy to get wrongOpenStreetMap maps a crag edge about 20 m south of the path just below Ard Crags' top, at about 2.7 km.
If you need to get offThe map shows no usable way off between the north top and Ard Crags: the mapped paths down from Ard Crags pass mapped crag and ground steeper than 35 degrees, so the way off is back the way you came, the walk's own way back, up to about 2.7 km from Ard Crags' top; not walked for this guide.
Ard Crags → Finish (2.8 km, 43 m)
Turn round at Ard Crags' top and walk back the way you came: south-west along the ridge, through the dip and over the north top at about 3.7 km, then south-south-west. Near Knott Rigg's top the line keeps to a mapped path about 70 m east of the summit rather than crossing it again, and rejoins the outward path at about 4.35 km. From there it is south-south-west and then south back down the steep path to the car park at Newlands Hause. The last half-kilometre down to the pass is the steepest ground of the walk, about 27% sustained near 5.1 km.
WaypointsArd Crags' summit, the dip in the ridge, the north top, the path east of Knott Rigg's top, the car park at Newlands Hause (finish).
Decision pointThe way back is the way out. More than one mapped path crosses the high ground round Knott Rigg's top; the one this line takes on the way back passes about 70 m east of the summit and meets the outward path again about 0.5 km further on.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Summits bagged (3)
- 1Knott Rigg556 m
- 2Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top)546 m
- 3Ard Crags581 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
A planned line, drawn from the map; not yet walked. It walks the same ridge between Knott Rigg and Ard Crags as our longer walk over these fells from Braithwaite to Keswick, but starts high on the pass, so it has about half the climbing and under a third of the distance.
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.
- Knott Rigg — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:30, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:00. It waits longest in late December — about half an hour after sunrise.
- Ard Crags — in late March the sun reaches it around 06:15, with the sunrise. In late September, about 07:00.
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.
- Newlands Hause car park — at the start
- Robinson (layby) — a 500 m walk to the start, climbing about 60 m
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 77 stops at Buttermere Youth Hostel (near). From there it is 2.2 km and 251 m of ascent to this start — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 9.8 km in all, with the walk. Almost all of it is up the Newlands Pass road, which OpenStreetMap maps with no pavement. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. It returns on 22 March 2027. Confirmed with the operator: its last day on 29 August 2026, its return on 16 October 2026. The last bus is 18:21 towards Keswick (77), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) 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
Hard overall — hardest: Steepness and navigation (estimated from the map, not checked on the ground); 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Knott Rigg | 1.4 km | 226 m | 0:39–0:52 |
| 2Ill Crag (Newlands) (Knott Rigg North Top) | 1.8 km | 244 m | 0:46–1:01 |
| 3Ard Crags | 2.8 km | 313 m | 1:04–1:26 |
| Finish | 5.5 km | 355 m | 1:42–2:15 |
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 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 ~34% drop over 250 m around the 5.0 km mark — hard on the knees.
On the line: No barriers mapped on this line.
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 2026-10-10. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (local extract).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Moss Force — 0.2 km from this start
- Walks from Scale Force — 4.2 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.