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935 m · Birkett — Southern (not a Wainwright summit) · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Birkett — Southern (not a Wainwright summit)Birkett top

Broad Crag

Broad Crag at 934m (3,064ft) sits on the final ridge between Ill Crag and Scafell Pike, forming one of the three high satellite summits of England's highest mountain.

935 m
Height
+7
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →

Home › Fells › Broad Crag

935 mBirkett — Southern (not a Wainwright summit)+7 bonus Birketts within 3 km

Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast

Modelled guidance for the 935 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Fri 11 Sep): 9° to 7°C, gusts to 32 mph, 3.3 mm of rain forecast.

Fri 11 Sep
🌦️
9° / 7°
💨 32 mph
🌧 3.3 mm (100%)
Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
12° / 7°
💨 54 mph
🌧 54.5 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
🌦️
10° / 6°
💨 21 mph
🌧 0.7 mm (74%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌧️
12° / 5°
💨 33 mph
🌧 18.7 mm (96%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌧️
11° / 6°
💨 32 mph
🌧 13.2 mm (100%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
8° / 6°
💨 34 mph
🌧 6.0 mm (96%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌦️
8° / 6°
💨 38 mph
🌧 11.6 mm (98%)

Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 935 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Broad Crag at a glance

Broad Crag

Broad Crag at 934m (3,064ft) sits on the final ridge between Ill Crag and Scafell Pike, forming one of the three high satellite summits of England's highest mountain. Wainwright noted its boulder-choked summit makes it one of the more awkward fell-tops in the district to actually stand on — a jumble of large stones with no single obvious highest point. Most walkers pass within metres of the summit cairn without realising it. The views from the ridge are superb in all directions, particularly the drop into Eskdale to the south and across to the Scafell crags. An essential tick for the thorough Wainwright bagger.

Routes up Broad Crag

Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.

Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route
15.8 km · ~4.7 hr · Difficult
A grander, more interesting way up England's highest mountain than the Wasdale tourist path — the Corridor Route threads beneath the crags from Seathwaite in Borrowdale, with Lingmell a worthwhile detour for the finest view of the Scafell face. I haven't walked this exact line myself, and there are plenty of accounts of people struggling on certain sections, so read up or watch a route video first. Whatever you do, never be tempted onto Broad Stand. It's a long, rough and serious day on the highest ground in England.

Classifications & hill data

Birkett
Synge
Nuttall
935 m
Height
3,068 ft
In feet
NY 2185 0755
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Broad Crag a Wainwright?

Broad Crag is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Nuttall list.

Where do you park for Broad Crag?

We hold no car park within 2.5 km of the summit, so there is no short walk-in to recommend here. We only look within 2.5 km, measured straight-line: over longer distances a road may cross a pass and the drive bears no relation to the line.

How hard is Broad Crag?

The shortest way up we hold is Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route — 15.8 km, 937 m of ascent, about 4.7 hours. On our scale its hardest axis is steepness — Severe.

All axes: steepness: Severe · exposure: Severe · length: Hard · terrain: Moderate · navigation: Moderate.

Parking & buses for Broad Crag

Best parking to hike Broad Crag

Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).

Car park for Yewbarrow (free) — 3.3 km from summit (straight line)
1.3 km from Yewbarrow. Added from the 5 Aug 2026 OSM candidate review.
Directions Something changed here?
Wasdale Head (NT car park) — 3.6 km from summit (straight line)
National Trust, pay & display (free for members). The classic base for Scafell Pike, Great Gable, Kirk Fell, Yewbarrow. Fills very early. Fees: £7 up to 2 hours; £8.50 up to 4 hours; £10 all day. Charges apply at all times (NT, checked Aug 2026). Free for NT members (checked Aug 2026).
🕑 Typically full before 10:00 on fine weekends, Apr-Oct — Lee McCoy, local observation, 2026-08-09.
Directions Something changed here?
If it is full: Overbeck Bridge, Wastwater (NT, paid) (2.0 km); Greendale, Nether Wasdale (roadside, free) (4.3 km)
🍺 Wasdale Head Inn
Lake Head, Wasdale (NT, paid) — 3.6 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Great Gable, Kirk Fell and Scafell Pike — the 'Great Gable & Kirk Fell' route starts 10 m away. Also serves 'Scafell Pike from Wasdale, by Lingmell Col'. National Trust's access statement records a pay-and-display machine here (National Trust, January 2024) but does not say which payment methods it takes; the same document notes mobile reception is poor across Wasdale, so carry coins as well as a card. Compacted surface (OSM-tagged). Toilets on site.
Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate — zoom the map to confirm.

Tip: pan and zoom the interactive map at the top of this page to spot other potential parking near your route.

Vehicles are left entirely at their owner’s risk. We list places people park; we cannot vouch for any of them. Judge it on the day: take valuables with you, leave nothing on show, and if a spot feels wrong when you get there, park somewhere else.

Getting to Broad Crag by bus

The 77 stops at Seatoller, at National Trust car park. From there it is 2.2 km and 79 m of ascent to the start of Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route — a route we rate Difficult — a walk in before the walk. The last bus is 20:00 towards Keswick (78), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 77 / 77A “Honister Rambler”
Keswick – Portinscale – Hawse End (Catbells) – Grange – Seatoller – Honister Pass – Buttermere – Lorton – Whinlatter – Keswick (circular)
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 from Windermere/Ambleside or X4/X5 from Penrith)
Seasonal (roughly Easter–October). Brilliant for the North Western fells: Catbells, Dale Head from Honister, the Buttermere fells and Whinlatter.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Hazards on Broad Crag

No hazard card for this fell. The usual open-fell rules apply: check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected.

Map & nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.

Nearest parking: Car park for Yewbarrow (free), about 3.3 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Broad 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.

0.5 km ESEIll Crag931 m · Southern
0.9 km SSEPen762 m · Southern
1.9 km ESEPike de Bield810 m · Southern
2.1 km SEHigh Gait Crags572 m · Southern
2.3 km NNESeathwaite Fell (Great Slack)631 m · Southern
2.7 km SSEScar Lathing439 m · Southern
2.7 km NEHigh House Tarn Top (High House - Allen Crags)683 m · Southern

Routes over Broad Crag

Scafell Pike via the Corridor RoutePlanned
15.84 km · ~937 m ascent · loop · ~4.5–6.5 h · Clockwise · Difficult
Summits: LingmellScafell PikeBroad Crag

⬇️ Download GPX

Best season: Late spring to autumn in clear weather; the summit is hard to navigate and the ground is serious in winter.

⚠️ Warnings: Never attempt Broad Stand (the direct link to Scafell) — it's a graded rock climb and a notorious accident spot. Rough, rocky ground and a boulder-field summit that is very hard to navigate in cloud — carry map, compass and GPS. A long, committing mountain day; start early and watch the time. Piers Gill: go round it, not into it — and there is no phone signal here. Where the Corridor Route reaches the head of the gill, the safe line is to go right round the corner of the crossing and slightly uphill, well away from Piers Gill, following the path down to Sty Head. Do not drop toward the gill or try to walk down the bed of the stream — it is a canyon of waterfall pitches (Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team: “do not attempt to walk down the bed of the stream”). The bank paths are worse than they look: the west (river-left) bank has no path at all, and WMRT report fatalities there in recent years; the path on the other bank has steep sections above big drops and a record of serious accidents — if you get onto it and into difficulty, turn around and retrace to the Corridor Route rather than press on. There is no mobile phone coverage around the gill, so do not sit and wait for a call to connect — get back up to where you have signal, or make yourself seen and heard. See phone & satellite SOS. Guidance from Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team, shared at their request. Greta Gill — and the false track that isn’t the route. Lower down, the Corridor Route crosses Greta Gill after a rock step that Wasdale MRT warn “can be hazardous or impossible if the weather is wet.” Do not follow what looks like a track down the north (river-right) bank of Greta Gill: it is unconsolidated, has steep drops into the gill, and is not the continuation of the Corridor Route. Stay on the made path.

Full route guide ↗

✎️ Planned route — drawn but not personally walked or checked yet.

A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass. How to use this guide.

On the hill: terrain and water on Broad Crag

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Scafell Pike via the Corridor Route route:

⛺ Seathwaite Farm Campsite (174 m)

On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.

Places to stay near this fell

Seatoller House guest house

about 1.8 km from the start, in a straight line

The strongest family answer in this radius and the only one that names its rooms: two large family rooms (Rabbit and Stag, both with a private bathroom opposite) plus two downstairs bedrooms (Badger and Hedgehog) for anyone who does not want stairs after Glaramara. Food is on site at a fixed hour rather than a drive away. The costs of that: breakfast does not start until 8.00, dinner is a single set menu at 7pm with none at all on Wednesdays and 48 hours notice needed if you booked through an agent, and arrival after 7pm has to be arranged in advance with no hot food after it.

Worth knowing: “Well behaved dogs are allowed, they are not allowed in the dining room at any time,Please clean and dry all dogs on entering Seatoller via the back door.”

A 400-year-old house that has taken guests for over a century and is the biggest building in Seatoller; the bedrooms are named for animals (Badger, Osprey, Otter, Squirrel, Stag), and it is run by managers Nigel and Patricia Dixon, Patricia having lived in the valley most of her life.

  • Dogs “Well behaved dogs are allowed, they are not allowed in the dining room at any time,Please clean and dry all dogs on entering Seatoller via the back door.”
  • Family rooms “Rabbit Large Family room, Private bathroom directly opposite, great views of garden & Fells”
  • Evening meal “DINNER MUST BE PRE-BOOKED 48 HOURS IN ADVANCE if not booked direct,dinner is a set menu served at 7.00pm with the exception of Wednesdays, when Dinner is not served, Alternatively a reservation can be made for you locally.”
  • Parking “There are 10 bedrooms all with private bathrooms, a large award winning garden surrounding the house and ample private car parking.”

YHA Borrowdale hostel

about 2.8 km from the start, in a straight line

The only property in this radius whose own page states a cot, a highchair, ground-floor rooms, accessible rooms and a shared drying room in one place, plus meals until 20:30 and a self-catering kitchen if you arrive after that. It is also the one with the hardest arrival: the door opens at 17:00 and reception shuts at 22:00, there is no email and no contact form so booking is online only, parking is charged, and their own facility list warns 'No mobile coverage' - so agree a plan before you drop into the valley. Dogs go only in the camping pods, tents and Landpods, never in the hostel rooms.

Worth knowing: “Dogs: Pets are not permitted at YHA Borrowdale, except in our Camping & Cabins accommodation. Assistance dogs are welcome - please notify us at the time of booking.”

The hostel dates from Easter 1939, when YHA opened Longthwaite-in-Borrowdale to replace an earlier Grange-in-Borrowdale hostel that had closed in 1937; its own facilities list still carries 'No mobile coverage'.

  • Drying room “Shared drying room”
  • Family rooms “What our private rooms offer Accessible rooms available Bed linen Central heating Cot available Ground floor rooms available Heating Hot water Lock on doors Smoke alarm”
  • Evening meal “Food and drink: Breakfast is served to guests from 07:30”
  • Packed lunch “With tasty breakfasts, packed lunches and evening meals, groups are sure to find something delicious to eat at YHA Borrowdale (see sample menu ).”
  • Parking “Parking: This hostel has on-site parking (subject to availability). Charges apply though overnight guests benefit from a discounted rate of £5 per vehicle for 24 hours. To claim these rates, please notify reception once you've parked. There is no access for coaches - the nearest drop off is 400m away.”
  • Children “Guests under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 years or over to stay at YHA.”

YHA Black Sail hostel

about 4.0 km from the start, in a straight line

Include it for the one fact that matters: you cannot drive here. The straight-line 4.04 km from Seathwaite is honest and useless - their own page says the nearest road is 2.5 miles away over Scarth Gap, or six miles up Ennerdale from Bowness Knott, and vehicles are stopped at the gate. A party finishing Great Gable on foot can use it; a family arriving by car cannot. Doors are 17:00 to 20:30 with meals ending at 20:00, there is no signal to ring ahead from the valley, and no dogs unless you hire the whole hut.

Worth knowing: “Dogs: Pets are not permitted at YHA Black Sail, except when hiring the whole hostel through YHA Exclusive Hire.”

The hostel calls itself England's remotest, sits 2.5 miles from the nearest road with 15 mountains round it, and its own facilities list reads 'Intermittent mobile coverage' and 'No WiFi' - the self-catering kitchen runs off an oven and a wood stove.

  • Family rooms “What our private rooms offer Bed linen Cot available Ground floor rooms available Lock on doors Smoke alarm”
  • Evening meal “Take your pick from today's selection of hearty classics and delicious desserts. Vegan and vegetarian options available.”
  • Packed lunch “This hostel offers group catering for pre-booked groups of 16 people or more.”
  • Parking “YHA Black Sail is only accessible by foot or bike. The nearest road is 2.5 miles away in the Buttermere valley, accessing the hostel via 'Scarth Gap pass'. Guests can leave their cars in the Bowness Knott car park and walk or cycle 6 miles up the Ennerdale valley to the hostel. Vehicles are not authorised beyond the gate at Bowness Knott.”
  • Children “Guests under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 years or over to stay at YHA.”

What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap.

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