Hard Knott
549m (1802ft)
Hard Knott is in The Southern Fells, The Lake District, Cumbria, England
You can walk to the top of Hard Knott by using either of these 2 route maps:
Walk c280 Hard Knott from Jubilee Bridge, Eskdale
Rough fell walking on faint paths
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Vital Statistics:
| Length: | 6.25ml (10km) |
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| Ascent: | 1,756ft (535m) |
| Time: | 4 hrs |
| Grade: |  (Moderate) |
Route Summary:
Eskdale - Jubilee Bridge - Hardknott Pass - Hardknott Castle. (Roman Fort) - Hardknott Pass - Hard Knott - Yew Bank - Lingcove Beck - Lingcove Bridge - Great Moss - River Esk - Jubilee Bridge - Eskdale
Walk c402 Harter Fell and Hard Knott from The Woolpack Inn, Eskdale
Some of the quieter fells
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Vital Statistics:
| Length: | 12.25ml (19.5km) |
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| Ascent: | 3,568ft (1,087m) |
| Time: | 8 hrs |
| Grade: |  (Hard) |
Route Summary:
Eskdale - The Woolpack Inn - Doctor Bridge - Low Birker - Birker Force - Low Birker Tarn - Green Crag (Ulpha Fell) - Crook Crag - Harter Fell (Eskdale) - Dunnerdale Forest - Hardknott Pass - Hardknott Gill - Hard Knott - Yew Bank - Lingcove Beck - Lingcove Bridge - Great Moss - Brotherilkeld - Taw House Farm - Wha House Farm - The River Esk - The Woolpack Inn - Eskdale
Interactive Walking Maps
See Hard Knott and the surrounding tops on our unique, downloadable, PDF Peak Bagging Maps:
NB: Whether you print off a copy or download it to your phone, these PDF Peak Baggers' Maps might prove incredibly useful when your are up there on the tops and you cannot get a phone signal.
*This version is marked with the walk routes you need to follow to Walk all 214 Wainwrights in just 59 walks.
See Hard Knott and the surrounding tops on our free-to-access 'Google Style' Peak Bagging Maps:
The Southern Fells of The Lake District National Park
Less data - quicker to download
The Whole of The Lake District National Park
More data - might take a little longer to download
You can find Hard Knott & all the walks that climb it on these unique free-to-access Interactive Walk Planning Maps:
1:25,000 scale OS Explorer Map (orange/yellow covers):
1:50,000 scale OS Landranger Maps (pink/magenta covers):
Fellow go4awalkers who have already walked, climbed, scaled, summited, hiked & bagged Hard Knott
Geoff Hand walked up Hard Knott on June 19th, 2026 [from/via/route] The weather forecast was pretty dire when we set off from the Woolpack Inn with low cloud & squally showers. We followed the Hardknott pass road upto Jubilee Bridge & Headed for Tarn House farm. from there we cut across & went to look at the Hardknott Roman Castle before rejoining the road & climbing to the top of the pass. from here we took a left at the Cairn & headed up a clear path to the top of Hard Knott. We decided then we would tackle Harter Fell & Green Crag. It was at this point the weather decided to turn worse. We headed back to the Cairn & headed South towards Dunnerdale Forrest & a tough climb upto the top of a shrouded Harter fell. We set off in the mist to what we thought was Green Crag but soon realised we were going the wrong way. We cut back East & picked up the correct path to Green Crag. We had a bite to eat in my son's shelter between Green & Crook Crag. After many twists & turns we made our way back to the Woolpack & some welcome home comforts. [with] Walked with Graham & Claire (Son & daughter) [weather] Cloudy,foggy Heavy rain, high winds - We had planned to do Walk C402 but with the conditions we decided that would be too much. So initially we were going just to do Hard Knott. However once we reached that top, the weather didn't appear that bad so we went for the others, just as the weather went much more inclement!
Iain Jones climbed it on May 27th, 2026 [from/via/route] Boot
Paul Roddam bagged it on March 28th, 2026 [with] Barb, Sass, Bri [weather] cold & windy - I broke my hand
Tim Winn hiked Hard Knott on May 17th, 2025 [from/via/route] Hard Knott Pass [with] Jane [weather] Dry. Sunny.
James Hughes summited on April 29th, 2025 [from/via/route] c402 Harter Fell & Hard Knott from Eskdale [weather] Glorious sunny day. Warm & clear. - Up to Green Crag from Woolpack Inn. Issue locating path initially as permissive path at Low Birker overshoots it. Boggy between Green Crag & Harter Fell. Awesome views at top. Relatively easy ascent to Hard Knott. Long descent back to WoolpackInn alongside beautiful Lingcove Beck.
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Photographs & Pictures of views from, on, or of, Hard Knott
Looking south west towards Hard Knott, Harter Fell (Eskdale), Lingcove Bridge and Eskdale from the summit of Bow Fell (Bowfell)
Harter Fell (Eskdale) (back), Hard Knott and The Lingcove Valley from Bow Fell (Bowfell) summit cairn
*Northernly Panorama from the summit of Hard Knott featuring Sca Fell, Scafell Pike, Esk Pike, Bow Fell (Bowfell), Gunson Knott, Crinkle Crags (Long Top) and Crinkle Crags (South Top)
. . . see all 14 walk photographs & pictures of views from, on, or of, Hard Knott
Send us your photographs and pictures on, of, or from Hard Knott
If you would like to add your walk photographs and pictures to this page, please send them as email attachments (configured for any computer) along with your name to:
and we shall do our best to publish them.
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