It is the highest point of the Back o'Skiddaw region, an area of wild and unfrequented moorland to the north of Skiddaw and Blencathra.

With the exception of the extreme east and west, the fell has broad and gentle contours clad primarily in grass.

Many of the streams draining it have cut deeply into Knott's flanks, exposing yellow and red soils which are visible in distant views.

The western end of the fell is Burn Tod, which descends roughly between Burntod and Hause Gills, both tributaries of Dash Beck.

Two connecting ridges run north from Knott, separated by the deep ravines of Roughton Gill.

The western arms drops across an area of bog and with little reascent arrives at the summit of Great Sca Fell.

[3][4][5][6] Wainwright noted of the summit that "If the party consists of more than one person and if, further, a bat, ball and wickets can be found in the depths of somebody's rucksack, a cricket match can be played on turf many a county ground might covet.

The view southward is constrained by Blencathra and Skiddaw, neither displaying their best side, but between the two is a narrow slice of central Lakeland.

[7] From Orthwaite to the north-west a track can be followed to the source of Hause Gill and the col between Knott and Great Calva.