The Southern Fells

Crinkle Crags

Crinkle Crags (Long Top) summit cairn, looking north to Bowfell. The prominent peak on the horizon (right) is Skiddaw with Blencathra (far right).
Photograph taken: 25th July 2018

Crinkle Crags (Long Top) summit cairn, looking north to Bowfell. The prominent peak on the horizon (right) is Skiddaw with Blencathra (far right).
Photograph taken: 25th July 2018
There are lots of cairns along the Crinkle Crags ridge and the summit area of Long Top has two. One, which is obviously the summit cairn (centre), and a smaller cairn to the south (foreground). This view looks north with Scafell Pike on the left and Bowfell on the right.
Photograph taken: 30th July 2024
The Bad Step to the south of Crinkle Crags summit. The rock wall beneath the overhang is about 3m in height and is one of the trickier obstacles for the Wainwright bagger. It's slightly easier coming down than going up but either way is best attempted with a companion. Fortunately, there is an alternate route.
Photograph taken: 30th July 2024

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Location map for Crinkle Crags (Long Top)

Wainwright top at Crinkle Crags (Long Top)

Context

Crinkle Crags (Long Top) is a Wainwright in The Southern Fells area of the Lake District National Park.

Location

Grid Ref: NY 24866 04872
BNG e,n: 324866,504872
Lat/long: 54.433691,-3.159789
GeoJSON: [-3.159789,54.433691]
///W3W: torso.reveal.table
Feature: cairn on rock

Elevation

Height: 859m / 2,818ft
Drop: 139.0m
Rank: 17 / 214

Details: Locating Wainwright tops

It's easy to make the mistake of thinking that the Wainwright top is at the true summit of a fell. For many fells in the 214, this is not the case. Wainwright often chose a top because of its aspect or view rather than its height. This is what sometimes makes finding the Wainwright tops so confusing.

Locating a top is also complicated by the fact that features change over time. Cairns come and go, some grow and some shrink, fence posts are added or removed. Although the summit sketches in Wainwright's guides and the photographs in this guide are useful aids for identification, the features shown are subject to change, especially on popular fells. See Fleetwith Pike for an example of how cairns change.

Important: The accuracy of GPS on smartphones is ±5m at best but could be as much as 8m out. Please bear this in mind when using the location data.
Notes: There are several tops on the Crinkle Crags ridge, and this can be a little confusing. Wainwright: “There are five Crinkles (not counting Shelter Crags) and therefore five summits, each with its own summit cairn. The highest is, however, so obviously the highest that the true top of the fell is not in doubt in clear visibility…” (Crinkle Crags 15).

Route planning

Fells

Bowfell: 2.2km; 232m; 48min
Cold Pike: 2.4km; 113m; 40min

Details

There are 2 viable routes from Crinkle Crags

The Wainwright guides indicate “ridge routes” from each fell and although this is useful, it doesn't always allow for effective route planning. The routes shown here are the Wainwright ridge routes (indicated with ) plus any other viable routes (indicated with ), not necessarily linked by a ridge. This list provides a more comprehensive network of potential routes that can be used when planning days out on the fells.

All routes have been plotted in the OS Maps app. The distance, ascent and time values are those given for the plotted routes. Time values are for moderately fit walkers without breaks. They should therefore be considered minimum values for the purposes of route planning.

Notes

The route shown to Cold Pike avoids the Bad Step and is recommended for most walkers. However, those who prefer a shorter route should note Wainwright's advice: “Caution is needed on the descent southwards from the summit… Anyone descending at speed here is asking for a nasty fall.” The route requires “an awkward descent of the rock wall… which deserves the name ‘The Bad Step’, for it is 10 feet high and as near vertical as makes no difference” (Crinkle Crags 16).

Classification

DoBIH No

2371

Local

Birkett, Fellranger, Synge, Wainwright

Birkett: Lake District hills over 1,000ft listed in Bill Birkett's Complete Lakeland Fells. There are 541 Birketts, 211 are also Wainwrights.
Fellranger: Lake District hills included in Mark Richards' Fellranger walking series, a set of eight volumes inspired by the Wainwright guides. There are 230 Fellrangers, 209 are also Wainwrights. This is a curated list, not based on height criteria.
Synge: Lake District hills over 300m listed in Tim Synge's The Lakeland Summits. The book aims to list every significant summit over 300m in height within the National Park, 646 in total. It includes all 214 fells in Wainwright's Pictorial Guides, including Castle Crag at 290m.
Wainwright: Lake District hills included in volumes 1-7 of Wainwright's A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. There are 214 Wainwrights in all. This is a curated list, not based on height criteria.

National

Hewitt, Hump, Nuttall, Simm

Hewitt: Hills in England, Wales, and Ireland that are at least 2,000 feet (610m) high with a drop of at least 30m on all sides. There are 97 Wainwrights in this class.
Hump: British and Irish Hills of any height with a drop of at least 100m or more on all sides. The name Hump stands for Hundred Metre Prominence. There are 32 Wainwrights in this class.
Nuttall: Hills in England and Wales that are at least 2,000 feet (610m) high and with a drop of at least 15m on all sides, as published in the two volumes of The Mountains of England and Wales by John and Anne Nuttall. There are 169 Nuttalls in the Lake District, 114 are also Wainwrights.
Simm: British hills that are at least 600m high with a drop of at least 30m on all sides. There are 99 Wainwrights in this class.

Geology

Bedrock

Bad Step Tuff (Crinkle Tuff Member)

BGS code

BDP

Type

Igneous (extrusive)

Age

449.0 – 458.4 Ma

Period

Ordovician

Parent

Airy's Bridge Tuff Formation ➔
Borrowdale Volcanic Group

Details

Members, formations and groups

Member: A smaller unit of rock that shares common charateristics and features, often used in geology to describe specific layers within a formation.
Formation: A larger unit of rock that is distinct from other formations above and below. A formation may include two or more members.
Group: A stratigraphic unit that includes two or more associated formations that are usually contiguous or contain significant features in common.
Suite: A geological unit containing intrusive, highly deformed, or metamorthic rocks of the same type, lacking discernable stratification.
Complex: A geological unit containing intrusive, highly deformed, or metamorthic rocks of different types, lacking discernable stratification.

Notes

A tuff is a rock formed of volcanic ash, ejected from a volcano during an eruption.

Daylight

Tuesday, 9th June 2026

Daylight

17 hours 11 minutes

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