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.

[1][2] Beyond the summit the ridge continues for another one-half mile (800 m) south eastward before falling steeply over the many tiered crags of Wrynose Breast.

Red Tarn is an elongated pool whose stony bed can be seen through clear shallow waters, reputed to hold trout.

The fell top is composed of dacite lava flows with the volcaniclastic sandstones and tuffs of the Blisco Member outcropping to the south.

The top is an excellent place from which to survey Crinkle Crags, the Langdale Pikes, and the northern end of the Coniston Fells across Wrynose Bottom; there is a fine distant prospect of the Pennines above Windermere, and Morecambe Bay above the Duddon Valley.