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523 m · Wainwright — Western Fells · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Crag Fell - a rocky summit outcrop emerging from thick mist on a grassy top, visibility low all around
Wainwright — Western FellsAlso a Birkett

Crag Fell

Crag Fell rises steeply above the southern shore of Ennerdale Water in the quiet Western Fells, its craggy face — home to the Crag Fell Pinnacles — falling towards the lake.

523 m
Height
~3.5–4.5 h
Typical time
+5
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › Crag Fell

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

523 mWainwright — Western Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+5 bonus Birketts within 3 km Care needed in cloud

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

Modelled guidance for the 523 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 15° to 14°C, gusts to 34 mph, 1.0 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌦️
15° / 14°
💨 34 mph
🌧 1.0 mm (90%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
14° / 12°
💨 28 mph
🌧 12.2 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
13° / 5°
💨 28 mph
🌧 2.8 mm (75%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
14° / 3°
💨 22 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (76%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
15° / 6°
💨 15 mph
🌧 1.2 mm (73%)
Sun 2 Aug
🌤️
16° / 5°
💨 16 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (27%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
16° / 5°
💨 17 mph
🌧 0.4 mm (22%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 523 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

About the walk

Key information

Crag Fell

Crag Fell - a rocky summit outcrop emerging from thick mist on a grassy top, visibility low all around
© Lee McCoy

Crag Fell rises steeply above the southern shore of Ennerdale Water in the quiet Western Fells, its craggy face — home to the Crag Fell Pinnacles — falling towards the lake. From the top there is a memorable view straight down the length of Ennerdale to Pillar and the High Stile range, with the Anglers' Crag path tracing the water below. It is usually climbed from Bowness Knott or Ennerdale Bridge, often on a round with Grike and Caw Fell. A modest height for a fell with such a big outlook — one of the finest lower viewpoints in the west.

Routes up Crag Fell

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

Grike, Crag Fell and Lank Rigg
13.1 km · ~3.6 hr
Classifications & hill data
Wainwright
Western
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
HuMP
523 m
Height
1,716 ft
In feet
NY 0972 1438
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

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

Nearest parking: Bowness Knott, Ennerdale (Forestry, paid), about 1.6 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Crag Fell (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.

1.5 km SWhoap511 m · Western
1.9 km NEBowness Knott333 m · Western
2.3 km NEBrown How (Ennerdale)330 m · Western
2.8 km NEHerdus562 m · Western
2.9 km WSWBlakeley Raise389 m · Western

Routes over Crag Fell

Grike, Crag Fell and Lank RiggRevised
13.07 km · ~618 m ascent · loop · ~3.5–5 h
Summits: GrikeCrag FellWhoapLank Rigg

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

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

The View from Crag Fell

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.

drag to pan · arrow keys
Computed 360-degree skyline from Crag Fell29 labelled tops shown (19 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWSkiddaw · 22 kmPillar · 8 kmFairfield · 26 kmScoat Fell · 7 kmCrag Hill · 11 kmHigh Stile · 7 kmHaycock · 6 kmRed Pike · 6 kmBrandreth · 12 kmCaw Fell · 5 kmStarling Dodd · 5 kmBlack Combe · 29 kmArd Crags · 12 kmBlake Fell · 6 kmWhitfell · 22 kmLank Rigg · 2 kmGavel Fell · 4 kmBroom Fell · 16 kmCriffel · 50 km · clear daysHesk Fell · 21 kmBinsey · 25 kmGrike · 1 kmMurton Fell · 5 kmOwsen Fell · 7 kmKinniside · 3 kmBengray · 65 km · clear daysBengairn · 52 km · clear daysSwarth Fell · 4 kmBainloch Hill · 47 km · clear daysGrasmoor · 10 kmBlack Crag · 7 kmHigh Crag · 8 kmRobinson · 11 kmWhiteside East Top · 11 kmGrey Knotts · 12 kmWhiteless Pike · 10 kmBuck Barrow · 24 kmCarling Knott · 6 kmSharp Knott · 6 kmGraystones · 14 kmLatter Barrow · 4 kmBurn Edge · 3 kmSlieve Donard · 168 km · a handful of days a yearMerrick · 98 km · a rare clear dayBroad Law · 109 km · a rare clear daySnaefell · 75 km · a rare clear dayCairnsmore of Carsphairn · 98 km · a rare clear dayCairnsmore of Fleet · 80 km · a rare clear daySlieve Croob · 168 km · a handful of days a yearYr Eifl · 185 km · a handful of days a yearGreen Lowther · 100 km · a rare clear dayDivis · 170 km · a handful of days a yearCulter Fell · 115 km · a rare clear dayCadair Berwyn · 182 km · a handful of days a yearBeneraird · 116 km · a rare clear dayAgnew's Hill · 168 km · a handful of days a yearCauldcleuch Head · 94 km · a rare clear dayColt Hill · 94 km · a rare clear dayPeel Fell · 100 km · a rare clear dayLaw Kneis · 101 km · a rare clear dayCairnkinna Hill · 93 km · a rare clear day
What you can see from Crag Fell, by direction
  • North: Blake Fell (6 km), Carling Knott (6 km)
  • North-east: Herdus (3 km), Whiteless Pike (10 km), Grasmoor (10 km), Thirdgill Head Man (10 km), Wandope (10 km), Whiteside (10 km), Whiteside East Top (11 km), Knott Rigg (11 km), Crag Hill (11 km), Gasgale Crags (11 km), Ill Crag (11 km), Sail (12 km), Hopegill Head (12 km), Ard Crags (12 km), Causey Pike (14 km), Skiddaw (22 km), Skiddaw North Top (22 km)
  • East: Starling Dodd (5 km), Red Pike (6 km), High Stile (7 km), Black Crag (7 km), Pillar (8 km), High Crag (8 km), Robinson (11 km), Brandreth (12 km), Grey Knotts (12 km), Combe Head (16 km), Ullscarf (20 km), Cofa Pike (26 km), Fairfield (26 km)
  • South-east: Caw Fell (5 km), Haycock (6 km), Steeple (7 km), Scoat Fell (7 km)
  • South: Whitfell (22 km), Burn Moor (23 km), Buck Barrow (24 km), Black Combe (29 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Slieve Donard (168 km, Ireland), Merrick (98 km, Scotland), Broad Law (109 km, Scotland), Snaefell (75 km, Isle of Man), Cairnsmore of Carsphairn (98 km, Scotland), Cairnsmore of Fleet (80 km, Scotland), Corserine (94 km, Scotland), Lamachan Hill (91 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 (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

What you can see from Crag Fell

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
32Wainwrights in view+3 marginal
99 kmFurthest sightlineMerrick
2Sea in viewIrish Sea, Solway Firth

On the clearest days the view reaches across to Scotland and the Isle of Man.

Far horizons
  • Merrick ScotlandNW · 99 km clear
  • Snaefell Isle of ManWSW · 75 km clear
  • Criffel ScotlandNNW · 50 km clear
  • Solway Firth bay/estuaryNNW · 39 km in view
  • Irish Sea open waterNW · 21 km in view
All 32 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Grike, Lank Rigg, Great Borne, Gavel Fell, Starling Dodd, Caw Fell, Blake Fell, Haycock, Red Pike (Buttermere), Steeple, Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), High Stile, Pillar, High Crag (Buttermere), Whiteless Pike, Haystacks (Buttermere), Grasmoor, Wandope, Whiteside (Whiteside West Top), Robinson, Knott Rigg, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Sail, Hopegill Head, Brandreth, Grey Knotts, Ard Crags, Causey Pike, Graystones (Graystones North Top), Ullscarf, Binsey, Fairfield

How Crag Fell’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 Crag Fell

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

Bowness Knott, Ennerdale (Forestry, paid) — 1.6 km from summit (straight line)
Forestry England car park at the end of the Ennerdale valley road, on the lake's north shore (OS NY 110 154; parking charges apply since 2023) — Great Borne, Starling Dodd, and the long walk-ins to Pillar and Steeple.
Directions
Wath Brow, Cleator Moor (roadside) — 7.2 km from summit (straight line)
Start of the Nannycatch/Dent paths for the far-western outliers.
Directions

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.

Buses to Crag Fell from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

No regular bus serves the start points for this fell — this is one for the car (or a long approach from the nearest served valley). The nearest hubs are Penrith (X4/X5 & 508), Ambleside and Windermere (555, 505, 516).

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

My hikes over Crag Fell (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.

Navigating Crag Fell in cloud

Care needed

A rough, rocky summit ringed by crags, with no single obvious way off in poor visibility. Take care in poor visibility — carry map and compass, and know how to use them.

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 Crag Fell 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 Crag Fell

Maps & guidebooks for Crag Fell

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