When travelling clockwise, Crinkle Crags is the last of the high cirque of fells forming the head of upper Eskdale. It sends out a trio of ridges to the south, running parallel like the prongs of a trident. Working from the west these ridges culminate in Hard Knott, Little Stand and Cold Pike. The Cold Pike ridge begins indistinctly in an area of rocky knolls and small tarns beneath the Fifth Crinkle. Gradually gaining definition it descends to a broad grassy saddle before rising again to the summit plateau of Cold Pike. To the north of the saddle is Great Knott (2,283 ft). This top is considered by most guidebooks to be a subsidiary of Crinkle Crags rather than the nearer Cold Pike. Beyond the summit the ridge continues for another half mile south eastward before falling steeply over the many tiered crags of Wrynose Breast.