Wainwrights Baggers

Book 6 · The North Western Fells

Rannerdale Knotts

A 355 m Wainwright in The North Western Fells, with one desk-checked ascent from Buttermere village: 2.0 km and 270 m of climbing.

Explore Rannerdale Knotts in 3D

Is Rannerdale Knotts a Wainwright?

Yes. Rannerdale Knotts is one of the 214 Wainwrights: number 21 of 29 in Book 6, The North Western Fells, of Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells.

Climbing Rannerdale Knotts from Buttermere village

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P250 m
The route in green, from the car park (P) to the summit (triangle), with the bus stop (B) where it falls on the map and nearby Wainwrights as dots. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

This route climbs Rannerdale Knotts from the National Trust car park in Buttermere village. Parking is paid and the car park sits at about 130 m. The Court Hotel bus stop, about 340 m away, is served by the 77 and 77A.

The line is 2 km long and gains about 270 m. For the first 1.4 km it drops a little before it climbs, falling to about 100 m as it passes the shore of Crummock Water at about 550 m in and crosses Hagg Sike soon after. Much of this first part is on permissive paths, after a public footpath near the start.

The route turns uphill at about 1 km on a grassy public bridleway, but most of the height comes after 1.4 km. A footpath with a rock surface on the map, graded hiking by OpenStreetMap, climbs from about 150 m to 295 m, and the last 200 m, mostly graded mountain hiking, rise to the top at 355 m. The final few metres leave the mapped path for the summit point.

About 1.3 km of the line follows public footpaths and bridleways, about 1.1 km crosses open access land, and about 590 m is on permissive paths only.

Rannerdale Knotts is 355 m high, 210th of the 214 Wainwrights by height, and belongs to the North Western Fells in Book 6.

The GPX file is the same line, from the car park to the summit. Return the same way, or plan a longer walk with a map before you set out.

Download the GPXFree. The route is © OpenStreetMap contributors and the file is released under the Open Database Licence: you may copy, share and adapt it.

Where Rannerdale Knotts stands

1 · Eastern2 · Far Eastern3 · Central4 · Southern5 · Northern6 · North Western7 · WesternRannerdale Knotts
Rannerdale Knotts among all 214 Wainwright summits, each in its true position.

Nearest Wainwrights

Straight-line distances between summits.

All the fells in The North Western FellsAll 214 Wainwrights

Map and route data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Heights along the route from OS Terrain 50. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (NaPTAN, Bus Open Data Service, Lake District National Park Authority rights of way).

Access land © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Heights, grid references and summit positions come from The Database of British and Irish Hills v18.3, used under CC BY 4.0.