Crinkle Crags is a fell in the English Lake District in the county of Cumbria. It forms part of two major rings of mountains, surrounding the valleys of Great Langdale and Upper Eskdale. The name reflects the fell's physical appearance as its summit ridge is a series of five rises and depressions (crinkles) that are very distinctive from the valley floor. In Old English, cringol means twisted or wrinkled.
Topography
The nomenclature of the various tops is very confused. Traditional guidebooks tend to rely on what the eye sees and therefore focus attention upon the five ‘crinkles’ of the summit ridge. These are generally referred to as the first to fifth crinkles, but Richards starts in the north, Birkett in the south and Wainwright employs both conventions, depending upon the direction of travel. For clarity in this article the first crinkle will be taken as the southernmost top. On this basis, the second Crinkle (also called Long Top) is the true summit of the fell. The only other Crinkle with a definitive name is Gunson Knott, but this name is used variously for the third and the fifth, with both the Ordnance Survey and the Database of British and Irish Hills the first Crinkle (Crinkle Crags South Top), and two tops on Shelter Crags (Shelter Crags and Shelter Crags North Top), but exclude the other three Crinkles, although the third (sometimes named Gunson Knott), and fifth (also sometimes named Gunson Knott) and Little Stand (a Nuttall and a Fellranger) to the Duddon Valley at Cockley Beck. Two further ridges branch out from Crinkle Crags on either side of the summit, before turning south to run parallel to Little Stand. On the west, across the marshy trench of Moasdale is Hard Knott. To the east an initially indistinct ridge firms up on the traverse to Cold Pike. Between Cold Pike and Crinkle Crags, but generally included as part of the latter is the further Nuttall of Great Knott.
Ascents
In his Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Alfred Wainwright describes Crinkle Crags as
:Much too good to be missed ... this is a climb deserving of high priority. called Ray and Crinkle Crags. This 146-hectare site was designated in 1988 because of the important geology present that reveals volcanic activity that occurred here in the late Ordovician period.
This protected area includes Crinkle Crags South Top and Gunson Knott.
Details of SSSI status
The volcanic rocks of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group at Crinkle Crags record the cyclic history of eruptions and caldera collapse that occurred within the Scafel Caldera. Rock types present include tuffs and ignimbrite.
Land ownership in this SSSI
Crinkle Crags are aligned on the boundary between Eskdale and Westmorland and Furness. Part of the land within Ray and Crinkle Crags SSSI that is on the western Eskdale side is owned by the National Trust.
See also
- List of hills in the Lake District
Gallery
<gallery>
Image:Crinkles Lakeland.jpg|The five Crinkles as seen from Great Knott
Image:Scafells_from_Crinkle_Crags.jpg|The Sca Fell massif from the summit of Crinkle Crags
Image:Great_Langdale_from_Crinkle_Crags.jpg|Great Langdale from the summit of Crinkle Crags
Image:Bad_Step_on_Crinkle_Crags.PNG|The famous 'Bad Step'
Image:Crinke Crags.JPG|The Crinkles (left) looking up The Band
</gallery>