Arnison Crag
Arnison Crag at 433m (1,421ft) is the small, craggy summit directly above Patterdale village, its rocky top giving an excellent bird's-eye view of the village and Goldrill Beck below.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 433 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 17° to 15°C, gusts to 43 mph, 5.1 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 433 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
About the walk
Arnison Crag
Routes up Arnison Crag
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Map & nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: Patterdale (paid), about 0.9 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Arnison Crag (within 3 km)
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits — detour to them on this walk and they are pure profit. Distances are straight-line; allow extra for terrain.
Routes over Arnison Crag
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass.
The View from Arnison Crag
A computed 360° skyline — every visible named top labelled by distance and bearing, from the terrain model in perfect clarity, not photographed. Drag to pan; reveal the far four-nations horizon.
What you can see from Arnison Crag, by direction
- North: Birk Fell (3 km), Brown Hills (5 km), Swineside Knott (5 km), Common Fell (6 km), Gowbarrow Fell (7 km), Great Mell Fell (10 km)
- North-east: Place Fell (2 km), Beda Fell (4 km), Loadpot Hill (7 km), Swarth Fell (8 km)
- East: Angletarn Pikes (2 km), Angletarn Pikes South Top (2 km), Rest Dodd (4 km), High Raise (6 km), Wether Hill (6 km)
- South-east: Brock Crags (3 km), Hartsop Dodd (4 km), The Knott (5 km), Rampsgill Head (5 km), High Street (6 km), Thornthwaite Crag (6 km)
- South: Gale Crag (2 km), Hartsop Above How (3 km), High Hartsop Dodd (4 km), Little Hart Crag (5 km), Caudale Moor (5 km), Middle Dodd (5 km), Red Screes (6 km), St Raven's Edge (7 km)
- South-west: Gavel Pike (3 km), St Sunday Crag (3 km), Hart Crag (4 km), Dove Crag (5 km)
- West: Birkhouse Moor (3 km), Catstye Cam (5 km)
- North-west: Heron Pike (4 km), Sheffield Pike (4 km), Green Side (6 km), Birkett Fell (6 km), Stybarrow Dodd (6 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Wisp Hill (84 km, Scotland), Pikethaw Hill (83 km, Scotland).
Computed from terrain in perfect clarity, not photographed · distances are straight-line.
Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.
What you can see from Arnison Crag
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.All 28 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Angletarn Pikes (Angletarn Pikes North Top), Place Fell, Brock Crags (Wainwright), St Sunday Crag, Glenridding Dodd, Hartsop Above How (Gill Crag - Hartsop Above How), Birkhouse Moor, Hartsop Dodd, Sheffield Pike, Rest Dodd, Beda Fell (Beda Head), Hart Crag, Catstye Cam, Gray Crag, Dove Crag, The Knott (High Street), Little Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top), Rampsgill Head, Middle Dodd, Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), High Raise (High Street), High Street, Thornthwaite Crag, Red Screes, Stybarrow Dodd, Loadpot Hill, Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit), Great Mell Fell
How Arnison Crag’s view compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.
Sightlines from a bare-earth terrain model (forests and buildings not included), corrected for the Earth’s curvature and average atmospheric refraction. “Distant” sightlines and any over 100 km depend on exceptionally clear air. Modelled from Copernicus GLO-30 open elevation data — a guide to the view, not a guarantee of any single one.
Best parking to hike Arnison Crag
Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).
Positions are approximate — zoom the map to confirm. Lakeland car parks fill before 9am on fine weekends.
Tip: pan and zoom the interactive map at the top of this page to spot other potential parking near your route.
Water & shelter on the way up
On the St Sunday Crag route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
Buses to Arnison Crag from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
My hikes over Arnison Crag (Strava)
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- When you're following footprints in the snow and they stop and turn around, don't keep going! (opens in new tab) — 10.1 km · 841 m ascent · 3h 18m moving · 29 Jan 2025
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Hazard & Incident Information for Arnison Crag
A small, rocky-crowned fell rising steeply straight from Patterdale village, popular for its view down Ullswater. It's a short outing, but an incessantly steep one, with a stretch of wet, greasy rock to cross, low crags near the summit, and a descent that needs careful route-finding among the rocks. Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team covers this ground.
- Steep climb & greasy rock: The ascent from Patterdale is short but relentlessly steep, and a large expanse of wet, greasy rock has to be crossed. Take care with footing, especially when wet, and don't rush the steep ground.
- Low crags & route-finding on descent: The rocky summit has crags (Arnison Crag's face, Aiken Crag) just below it, and getting down involves careful route-finding among low crags. Pick the line carefully and don't drop blindly over rocky steps.
- Knolly ridge & muddy ground: The ridge over Trough Head is a series of knolls with flat grass and rock upthrusts, muddy in places. Keep track of your line in mist and watch for slippery rock and bog.
Most common causes: Slips on the steep ground and the wet, greasy rock · Route-finding difficulty among the low crags on descent · Trips on the knolly, muddy ridge · Casual walkers underestimating a small but steep, rocky fell
Local Mountain Rescue: Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab) · Reviewed 14 Jun 2026
Safety: Hazard guidance compiled from published Mountain Rescue reports and well-documented accident history - editorial background, not a live feed of callouts. Always check current conditions, carry proper navigation equipment, and seek qualified instruction before heading onto the fells. In an emergency, call 999, ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue.
Navigating Arnison Crag in cloud
StraightforwardA rough, rocky summit ringed by crags, with no single obvious way off in poor visibility. Navigation here is relatively straightforward even in cloud — but carry map and compass and know how to use them; a low score never means “safe”.
In winter — snow, whiteout, cornices, buried features — every top demands full winter navigation skills whatever its band, and a broad, gentle summit can be the worst place of all. See walking in bad weather and the navigation guide.
How Arnison Crag compares with all 214 — the Clag Index: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.
Other fells near Arnison Crag
- Birkhouse Moor
- Birks
- Catstye Cam
- Clough Head
- Dollywaggon Pike
- Dove Crag
- Fairfield
- Glenridding Dodd
- Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit)
- Great Dodd
- Great Mell Fell
- Great Rigg
- Hart Crag
- Hart Side
- Hartsop Above How (Gill Crag - Hartsop Above How)
- Helvellyn
- Heron Pike (Rydal)
- High Hartsop Dodd
- High Pike (Scandale)
- Little Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top)
- Little Mell Fell
- Low Pike
- Middle Dodd
- Nab Scar
- Nethermost Pike
- Raise
- Red Screes
- Seat Sandal
- Sheffield Pike
- St Sunday Crag
- Stone Arthur
- Stybarrow Dodd
- Watson's Dodd
- White Side
Maps & guidebooks for Arnison Crag
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