Rannerdale bluebell valley and Rannerdale Knotts
Start Cinderdale Common, Crummock Water
Getting here Parking: Crummock Water, Cinderdale Common (free), 0.1 km from the start (straight line). Bus: the 77 stops at Lanthwaite Crummock Water car park (near), a 160 m walk from this start. Parking & buses ↓
Hardest part Severe steepness: Steepest sustained descent about 37% around the 4.8 km mark. Hands for a few steps: the rocky ground just past the top, at the start of the descent (km 4.4–4.5).
Before you choose
- From the top the line goes down into Rannerdale on a steep path through the crags: about 37% sustained near 4.8 km, and the path crosses a mapped crag line near 4.7 km.
- The line crosses becks at four places OpenStreetMap maps as fords, near 0.45, 1.1, 2.7 and 6.0 km, and crosses Cinderdale Beck close to the car park at the start and the finish, where no bridge is mapped on the line.
- About 2.2 km of the line, in pieces, follows paths that OpenStreetMap does not record as public rights of way; the longest are about 0.7 km between about 0.8 and 1.5 km and about 0.5 km near the end, between about 5.6 and 6.05 km. The rest is public footpaths. 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
Bluebells in Rannerdale
Easy 70%Moderate 18%Hard 11%Severe 2%
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
Cinderdale Common, Crummock Water → Rannerdale Knotts (4.4 km, 375 m)
From the car park at Cinderdale Common, the line crosses Cinderdale Beck and climbs east up the hillside beside it, crossing the beck again at a mapped ford near 0.45 km. At about 0.8 km, at about 265 m, it turns south and goes down into Rannerdale, over a stile at about 1.5 km, to a footbridge and gate on Rannerdale Beck at about 1.9 km. A public footpath then leads up the valley floor, south-east, beside Squat Beck. This is the valley known for its bluebells in May. The line fords Squat Beck at about 2.7 km. At the head of the valley, at about 3.2 km, the line turns on to the ridge path and follows it west-north-west over Low Bank, climbing gently, with small crags close beside the path between about 3.4 and 4.0 km. The top of Rannerdale Knotts is at about 4.4 km.
WaypointsCinderdale Common car park, Cinderdale Beck, the stile at about 1.5 km, the footbridge and gate on Rannerdale Beck, the valley path beside Squat Beck, the ford on Squat Beck, the ridge path over Low Bank, Rannerdale Knotts (355 m).
Easy to get wrongMany paths are mapped on this ground: the desk count for the whole line is 13 path junctions near it, so check the turn on to the ridge at about 3.2 km against the map.
If you need to get offUntil about 3.2 km, the way off is back down the valley the way you came. Once on the ridge, the line on over the top is the shorter way: about 1.8 km from the top to the car park.
Rannerdale Knotts → Finish (1.8 km, 20 m)
Past the top, the line crosses a short stretch of rocky ground, then goes steeply down north-east and then north into Rannerdale, on a path through the crags. This is the steepest descent of the walk: about 37% sustained near 4.8 km, and the path crosses a mapped crag line near 4.7 km. At the foot of the valley, at about 5.0 km, the line is back at the footbridge on Rannerdale Beck and follows the path it came in on for about 0.4 km. It then keeps north-west on a different path, past a mapped ford near 6.0 km, back to the car park.
WaypointsRannerdale Knotts, the rocky ground past the top, the steep path down through the crags, the footbridge on Rannerdale Beck, Cinderdale Common car park (finish).
Easy to get wrongThe descent from the top is the steep part of the walk, about 37% sustained, through crags mapped beside and across the path.
If you need to get offThe line itself is the way down: about 1.8 km from the top to the car park.
GPX track for your GPS or phone. Planned route · not yet walked
Summits bagged (1)
- 1Rannerdale Knotts355 m
More about this walk
Rannerdale, the valley on the north-east side of Rannerdale Knotts, is known for its bluebells in May. This line goes up through it on the public footpath between about 1.9 and 3.1 km. Keep to the path through the flowers. The start is the free car park at Cinderdale Common, beside the B5289.
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.
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.
- Lad Hows (layby) — a 570 m walk to the start
- Rannerdale Knotts, south (layby) — joins the loop at about km 4.6 of 6.2: a 1.0 km walk to the line, climbing about 240 m, and you walk the round from there
- Crummock Water, Cinderdale Common, south (free) — at 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
The 77 stops at Lanthwaite Crummock Water car park (near), a 160 m walk from this start. We haven’t published last buses, Sunday or winter service yet, so check the timetable before you rely on getting back.
The 77 passes this route at 0.0 km (Lanthwaite Crummock Water car park (near), 60 m off the line). It passes again at 3.3 km. Seasonal: the 77 does not run from 2 November 2026 to 21 March 2027.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before travelling.
Toilets and refreshments
The essentials
- Arrival The free car park at Cinderdale Common is at the start; bus stops on the B5289 are about 75 m away. 3 m in a straight line, not a walking distance. (OpenStreetMap contributors, via Overpass, 16 October 2026, checked 16 October 2026)
- Limitation Fords, a stile at about 1.5 km and a steep descent through crags: not a pushchair route. (OpenStreetMap contributors, Cumbria extract of 24 July 2026, checked 16 October 2026)
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. 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Rannerdale Knotts | 4.4 km | 375 m | 1:30–1:59 |
| Finish | 6.2 km | 394 m | 1:54–2:31 |
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 long, steep ~46% drop over 250 m around the 4.6 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 37% around the 4.8 km mark.
- Drops and exposed ground: Not assessed on the ground; the map suggests Hard. 5 mapped crag feature(s) near the line — check the airy sections.
- Stiles and gates: A stile of unmapped type at 1.5 km — a dog may need lifting over. (OpenStreetMap, mapped as of 2026-10-16)
- Rock and scrambling: Hands for a few steps: the rocky ground just past the top, at the start of the descent (km 4.4–4.5). Ground underfoot: Not assessed.
- 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 gate · 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 2026-10-16. Access data © OpenStreetMap contributors (local extract).
Walks from places nearby
- Walks from Scale Force — 2.5 km from this start
- Walks from Moss Force — 3.6 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.
