Bowland Knotts and Cross O' Greet

Jim Grindle

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The walk begins with a climb by a right of way to Bowland Knotts, an outstanding viewpoint on a minor road. From there it takes advantage of the CROW Act to go along an edge on pretty firm ground to another minor road. There are no facilities on the route, which is in one of the remoter parts of Bowland - only one farm is anywhere near the route - so you need to be self-sufficient and to choose good weather to enjoy the views of the upper Ribble Valley with Yorkshire's Three Peaks and towards the end of the walk, of the Lake District. The route is boggy to begin with but although it has its moments later, the going is mostly firm. Navigation is straightforward once you have reached a track across the moor and the access land is very easy, as there is a wall or fence to guide you.

England - North England - Lancashire - Forest of Bowland

Features

Ancient Monument, Birds, Flowers, Great Views, Hills or Fells, Moor, River, Waterfall, Wildlife

7/18/2020 - Brian Smith

Did this walk today in bad weather. I have to agree with all of Mark Archer's earlier comments. Many of the signs & gates are now gone. The paths in many places are quite simply non-existent. Even where the path is clear its very boggy. The marsh bit just before the road is difficult to cross & our already damp and weary feet got really wet just before a 2 mile tarmac road walk back to the start. I would highly recommend not even attempting this walk in anything other than good weather. In fairness to Jim it is listed as a mountain challenge, however it's not a walk I will be doing again anytime soon.

1/5/2017 - Robert Hughes

I have just completed this walk on a clear winter's day and it definitely needs good weather - but if you are able to choose such a day, the rewards are excellent. Panoramic views of both the Dales and the Lakes. I also benefited from a very hard frost the previous night which really helped with the damp conditions underfoot. I can confirm that there is still no footpath sign at the start and a few of the other wooden features have deteriorated over the years. As Jim mentions once you get to WM8 the route is very clear but I did go astray between WM7 and WM8 due to picking up the wrong drainage channel which took me East rather than North East. I eventually found the wall junction at WM8 but only after finding a similar one a little further south. I should have got my compass out at WM7!! Also after WM13 where Jim suggests crossing the fence there is no stile but if you keep on the left of the fence you can cross it close to WM14 where the wall starts again. Finally I only realised when I got back that between WM10 and WM14 you are traveling along the county boundary between Lancashire and Yorkshire!

11/5/2013 - mark archer

Probably my fault but I picked a misty, blustery day to do this walk, saw very little and the going underfoot was atrocious in places. I'll have to do this walk again on a clear, crisp winter's day to see what I missed! I found it really difficult at the beginning to follow Jim's instructions. The footpath sign at the start no longer exists, however I attained the high ground round the bog and saw the sheep pens. The gate only vaguely looked like the one in the picture, however I followed the line of the fence and used my GPS extensively. I didn't see the gate at WP3 but I did find the gate at WP4 by chance. I'm sure I forded the stream at the wrong place. At WP7 I missed the gate and the signpost but there was some evidence of a broken sign in the undergrowth at a gap in the wall. Again I almost found the track across the moors by luck because the mist was really down. After WP12 up to WP14 I'm not sure why I had to keep crossing the fence, when it was possible to just keep the fence on my left the whole way. The marshy area just before the road at WP14 was really tricky to negotiate and basically summed up my whole day! I did enjoy the road walking at the end when the cloud lifted and I could finally see where I was going! Definitely a fair weather walk!