Black Crag
Black Crag at 828m (2,717ft) is a high Birkett top on the ridge south of Pillar in the Western Fells, its rocky summit giving dramatic views into the Mosedale and Ennerdale valleys.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 828 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 13° to 12°C, gusts to 38 mph, 4.8 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 828 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
Black Crag
Routes up Black 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: Gatesgarth Farm, Buttermere (paid), about 4.4 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Black 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 Black Crag
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass.
Best parking to hike Black 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 Extended Mosedale Horseshoe route:
💧 Treat water from the fell before you drink it. A mapped point is usually a tap or public supply, but never drink untreated from a beck, stream or tarn — even clear-looking hill water can carry giardia or cryptosporidium from livestock or a carcass upstream and leave you seriously ill. Run it through a filter or purifier (a LifeStraw, Sawyer Squeeze or HydraPak) or bring it to a rolling boil first.
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
Buses to Black 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.
Other fells near Black Crag
- Base Brown
- Blake Fell
- Brandreth
- Buckbarrow
- Burnbank Fell
- Caw Fell
- Crag Fell
- Fellbarrow - Mosser Fell
- Fleetwith Pike
- Gavel Fell
- Great Borne
- Great Gable
- Green Gable
- Grey Knotts
- Grike
- Haycock
- Haystacks (Buttermere)
- Hen Comb
- High Crag (Buttermere)
- High Stile
- Kirk Fell
- Lank Rigg
- Low Fell
- Mellbreak (Mellbreak South Top)
- Middle Fell
- Pillar
- Red Pike (Buttermere)
- Red Pike (Wasdale)
- Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell)
- Seatallan
- Starling Dodd
- Steeple
- Yewbarrow
Maps & guidebooks for Black Crag
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