Rannerdale Knotts from Buttermere
Start Buttermere village
Getting here Parking: Buttermere village (NT, paid), 0.0 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 77 and 77A stop at Buttermere, outside Court Hotel, a 450 m walk from this start. The 77A runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season. Seasonal: the 77 does not run all year. 1 November 2026 is its last day. Parking & buses ↓
Hardest part Severe steepness: Steepest sustained descent about 38% around the 2.4 km mark. Hands for a few steps: the rocky ground just west of the top, at the start of the descent (km 2.2–2.3).
Before you choose
- The line follows the B5289 for about 0.3 km between about 3.2 and 3.5 km, and for a few metres at the start and the finish. OpenStreetMap does not record whether that road has a pavement.
- About 1.4 km of the line, in pieces, follows paths that OpenStreetMap does not record as public rights of way. The longest are about 0.8 km on the way up, between about 0.3 and 1.05 km, and about 0.4 km of paths near the end, between about 3.5 and 3.9 km. The rest is public footpaths, a public bridleway and the road. That is a map-data note, not a ruling on access: check the access land and rights of way maps before relying on this stretch.
Hazard & incident notes: Rannerdale Knotts
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 Rannerdale Knotts
Easy 60%Moderate 22%Hard 11%Severe 7%
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
Buttermere village → Rannerdale Knotts (2.1 km, 222 m)
From the National Trust car park in Buttermere village, go east for about 80 m on the B5289. A public footpath and then paths climb north-east up the hillside, the steepest climbing of the walk, about 20% between about 0.5 and 1.0 km. At about 1 km, by the head of Squat Beck, the stream that runs down Rannerdale, the line turns on to a public footpath along the ridge. Follow it west-north-west over Low Bank, climbing gently, with small crags close beside the path between about 1.2 and 1.75 km, to the top of Rannerdale Knotts at about 2.1 km.
WaypointsButtermere village car park, the B5289, the public footpath, the head of Squat Beck, the ridge path over Low Bank, Rannerdale Knotts (355 m).
Easy to get wrongMany paths are mapped on this hillside: the desk count for the whole line is 22 path junctions near it, so check each turn against the map, above all where the line turns on to the ridge at about 1 km.
If you need to get offThe way off is back the way you came, never more than about 2.1 km to the car park.
Rannerdale Knotts → Finish (1.9 km, 43 m)
From the top, carry on west-north-west over rocky ground. The line then drops steeply off the western end of the ridge, heading south on a rocky public footpath. This is the steepest descent of the walk, about 38% sustained near 2.4 km. At the foot of the fell, at about 2.75 km, join the public bridleway and follow it south-east along the bottom of the fell, on the Crummock Water side. At about 3.2 km the line joins the B5289 for about 0.3 km. It then leaves the road for paths running east-south-east, over Hagg Sike, to a kissing gate at about 3.9 km. The last few metres are back on the road to the car park.
WaypointsRannerdale Knotts, the rocky descent off the western end, the public bridleway, the B5289, Hagg Sike, the kissing gate, Buttermere village car park (finish).
Decision pointSeveral paths leave the top; the line goes on west along the ridge and down its western end, not back east the way you came.
If you need to get offThe quickest way down from the top is on along the line, about 0.65 km of steep descent to the bridleway. The gentler way is back east along the ridge the way you came, about 2.1 km to the car park.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Walked in part · km 0.0–0.9, km 2.8–4.0 from the map
Summits bagged (1)
- 1Rannerdale Knotts355 m
More about this walk
Rannerdale, the valley on the north-east side of the ridge, is known for its bluebells in May. This line passes the head of that valley at about 1 km and keeps to the ridge above it; it does not go down through the valley. The start is the National Trust car park in Buttermere village.
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.
- Rannerdale Knotts — 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 — well over an hour after sunrise. In late December, not until about 09:00.
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.
Of the pay-and-display machine tickets sold at Buttermere from 17 August 2024 to 31 March 2026, 15% were bought before 10am (our count of FOI/2026.500 ticket data). Contains public sector information provided by the Lake District National Park Authority and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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
If the first one is full, these overlap least in our model. The 3 below sit in different places or are different kinds of parking, so a busy morning at one does not mean a busy morning at all of them.
- Buttermere village (LDNPA, paid) — a 480 m walk to the start
- Car park for Rannerdale Knotts — joins the loop at about km 2.6 of 4: a 390 m walk to the line, climbing about 80 m, and you walk the round from there
- High Snockrigg, north-west (layby) — a 860 m walk to the start
- By bus: buses stop at Buttermere, outside Court Hotel, a 450 m walk from the start. A bus is not affected by a full car park. Its return times are under Buses.
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 and 77A stop at Buttermere, outside Court Hotel, a 450 m walk from this start. The 77A runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season. 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. Last bus: Monday to Friday 19:23 towards Cockermouth (77A) and 18:20 towards Keswick (77); Saturday 19:23 towards Cockermouth (77A) and 18:20 towards Keswick (77); Sunday 18:20 towards Keswick (77). Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 September 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
The 77 passes this route at 0.1 km (Buttermere, outside Court Hotel, 270 m off the line).
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival The National Trust car park in Buttermere village is at the start. 10 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap contributors, Cumbria extract of 24 July 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
- Toilets Paid toilets are mapped about 300 m from the start, in Buttermere village. 316 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 15 October 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
- Refreshments The Buttermere Court Hotel, Croft House Farm Café and Syke Farm Tea Room are mapped in Buttermere village, about 350 m from the start. Opening hours are not recorded here. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 15 October 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
- Limitation A steep, rocky descent off the western end of the ridge: not a pushchair route. (OpenStreetMap contributors, Cumbria extract of 24 July 2026, checked 15 October 2026)
Everything mapped near the start
At Buttermere village (NT, paid), the closest parking we hold to where this route starts:
Distances are straight lines from the car park, not walking routes. Opening hours change; none of this is checked daily.
Water, shelter & getting away
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors — an absent marker does not mean the facility isn’t there.
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
Five independent axes, not one score. 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Rannerdale Knotts | 2.1 km | 222 m | 0:47–1:03 |
| Finish | 4.0 km | 265 m | 1:14–1:39 |
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: 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 2.2 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 2.4 km mark.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Hard. 6 mapped crag feature(s) near the line — check the airy sections.
- Rock and scrambling: Hands for a few steps: the rocky ground just west of the top, at the start of the descent (km 2.2–2.3). Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
- 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 2026-10-15)
- 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: 1 kissing gate
Barriers as mapped on OpenStreetMap, which can miss some. Spotted one? Tell us (opens in new tab). Barrier data as of 2026-10-15. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (via Overpass).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Moss Force — 2.0 km from this start
- Walks from Scale Force — 2.2 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.
