Crinkle Crags - Long Top [Second Crinkle]

Crinkle Crags – Long Top [Second Crinkle]

Summit and setting

Long Top is the 859 m summit of Crinkle Crags, above Oxendale at the head of Great Langdale. Bowfell lies beyond Three Tarns to the north. The precise DoBIH summit grid is NY 24866 04872: the northern cairn is higher than the southern cairn. First Crinkle, the 834 m South Top, is a different summit. Third, Fourth and Fifth Crinkle and the Shelter Crags tops also have distinct records; Gunson Knott appears in more than one source name.

Walking routes

The two described circuits both return to Old Dungeon Ghyll. The Crinkle-only round climbs through Oxendale towards Red Tarn, traverses the ridge northward and returns over The Band. Walking Britain gives 11.4 km, 864 m ascent and 6 hours. The Bowfell combination climbs The Band first, continues south along Crinkle Crags and returns through Oxendale; UKHillwalking gives 12 km, 1,086 m ascent and 5.5 hours walking. These figures belong to separate complete routes and are not interchangeable.

Terrain and safety

This is rough mountain ground with steep drops and route-finding difficulties in mist. The Bad Step on Second Crinkle is optional: its established bypass is on the western flank, left when approaching northward from First Crinkle and right when descending southward from Long Top. The bypass does not remove the ridge's other hazards. Bad Step itself is steep and polished; UKHillwalking describes its downclimb as about grade 2. Wet rock, ice, strong winds and poor visibility increase difficulty. Do not improvise a gully descent or treat a specialist gill scramble as a walking escape.

Geology

Borrowdale volcanic rocks here preserve part of the Scafell caldera's eruptive and collapse history. Bad Step Tuff is a strongly welded rhyolitic ignimbrite, not simply a slate formation. Uplift and glacial dissection have exposed the internal geological structure. The Ray Crag and Crinkle Crags geological conservation account explains its scientific importance.

Name and history

The name describes the crinkled succession of rocky tops and hollows. A precise historical language derivation has not been established in this review. The wider Langdale valley has a history of climbing and farming. George Macaulay Trevelyan bought farms including Old Dungeon Ghyll and Stool End and donated them to the National Trust; this is valley context, not a claim about the hill's first ascent.

Access and facilities

National Trust visitor information identifies the Old Dungeon Ghyll pay-and-display car park at NY286061, with parking free for members. The Trust lists food and drink at the hotel's Hikers' Bar and the 516 bus from Ambleside to the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel stop. Check current parking signs and bus timetables, including the return journey. Parking space, opening hours and toilets have not been confirmed by this review. Use signed paths through farms, respect livestock and keep dogs under control.

Review scope

Sources checked 17 October 2026. Source publication dates and the imported DoBIH revision of 4 December 2016 are separate from this editorial review. Wrynose/Cold Pike/Pike of Blisco and Eskdale variants are not supplied with unverified distances or times. These summaries support planning and do not replace a map, weather check or mountain-navigation skills.