Dow Crag

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Summited August 2024

Home › Fells › Dow Crag

778 mWainwright — Southern Fells+6 bonus Birketts within 3 km Fewer traps in Clag

Dow Crag at 778m (2,552ft) is one of the great rock climbing crags of the Lake District, its eastern face dropping in a series of buttresses and gullies to the dark waters of Goat's Water below.

Summit conditions on Dow Crag

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 4°C, gusts to 57 mph, 5.2 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.

Against our lines, Tuesday 27 October: wind, cold and cloud from the Met Office UKV 2 km model (daylight hours, as in the verdict above); rain from the summit line’s forecast (the whole day). A tile is large when this top is past its line.

Wind on the top

Past the line

72 mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 55 mph times our exposure factor of 1.32. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 57 mph, before any exposure factor.

The line Our line: 25 mph, where our wind Scale begins its 25–35 band: “balance affected; buffeting on exposed ground”. MWIS (opens in new tab) describes what wind does to a walker across a range rather than at a line: from about 20–25 mph it starts to affect your balance.

Estimated: it is not calibrated against summit readings, and the two forecasts can disagree by more than a band.

Cloud on the top

Past the line

17 out of 100, the clear-top reading

Averaged over the daylight hours, from the forecast’s humidity and low cloud.

The line Our line: a clear-top reading under 20 out of 100, where our scorer says “summit likely clagged in”. There is no outside threshold to cite; it is our estimate. What cloud does to finding the way: navigating in cloud.

Not an observation: cloud lifts and drops within the hour.

Also checked cold: feels like −1 °C, no ice or snow forecast; rain: 5.2 mm in the day, under our 6 mm line. Under a line is not the same as fine: it means only that these figures are under the lines we use.

Not in these tiles Lightning, river levels, snow or ice already lying, and the ground under your feet. A tile cannot see them, so an empty space here never means they are absent.

Snow figures with a second opinion: Powered by Met Office data

Full 7-day summit forecast ↓

Wainwrights are scored for walking conditions each morning from the Met Office’s UK forecast model, read for each summit through Open-Meteo; the forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Routes up Dow Crag

Both start from Walna Scar Road, Coniston (paid, rough track); the last two rows give its parking and bus. Full maps further down.

Compared	Dow Crag without the Old Man	The Coniston Horseshoe
Starts from	Walna Scar Road car park	Walna Scar Road car park
Distance and climb	11.88 km, 630 m of climb	20.8 km, 1,333 m of climb
Time, fast to steady	~3¼–4¾ h	~6¼–8½ h
Scrambling	Hands for a few steps: the last steps to Dow Crag from Goat's Hawse (km 4.6–5.2).	Hands for a few steps: the Prison Band, and the last steps to Dow Crag (km 6.2–8.1 and km 15.6–16.0). The short final climb to Dow Crag from Goat's Hawse has scrambly steps with moderate exposure — stay on the path and away from the edge.
Exposure	Not assessed	Not assessed
Navigation	Hard	Hard
Steepest stretch	Climb of about 27% at 3.7 km (Hard)	Climb of about 31% at 7.8 km (Hard)
After the summit	Over Buck Pike - Seathwaite Fell, Brown Pike, Walna Scar and White Maiden	Over Buck Pike - Seathwaite Fell and Brown Pike
Walked or planned	Planned: drawn, not yet walked	Walked in part; km 0.0–1.1, km 15.8–20.8 from the map
Car park at the start	Walna Scar Road, Coniston (paid, rough track)	Walna Scar Road, Coniston (paid, rough track)
Bus to the start	505, 1.8 km walk from Coniston, outside The Ruskin Centre	505, 1.8 km walk from Coniston, outside The Ruskin Centre

Times run from fast to steady pace (Naismith’s rule). Scrambling quotes each route’s own notes; “not mentioned” means they do not say, not that the ground has none. Each route’s page has its map, stages and GPX.

Distance, climb and the steepest stretch are measured from each route’s GPX track; the other grades are set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap, and each route page says which. How we check →

Is Dow Crag hard to climb?

The walkers' summit is not hard — it's reached via Goat's Hause, the col linking it to the Old Man of Coniston, on a clear path; the last short climb from the col has a few rocky steps where you may use your hands, and the very top is a rock perch above the cliff that many walkers stop just short of. At 778 m (2,552 ft) it gives one of the finest perches in the southern Lakes, right at the top of a great cliff.

That cliff — the east face above Goat's Water — is a different matter: a serious rock-climbing venue with a real accident record. Walkers reach the top by the ridge, not the crag.

Sources: Coniston Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab)

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 778 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast

Tue 27 Oct

10° / 4°

57 mph

5.2 mm (100%)

Wed 28 Oct

8° / 5°

48 mph

9.4 mm (100%)

Thu 29 Oct

8° / 6°

24 mph

0.2 mm (16%)

Fri 30 Oct

7° / 4°

23 mph

0.0 mm (35%)

Sat 31 Oct

9° / 0°

11 mph

0.0 mm (29%)

Sun 1 Nov

8° / -1°

9 mph

0.0 mm (14%)

Mon 2 Nov

6° / 0°

18 mph

0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 08:13 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

Parking & buses for Dow Crag

Parking

Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.

Walna Scar Road, Coniston (paid, rough track) — at the start of Dow Crag without the Old Man and The Coniston Horseshoe

High paid car park above Coniston — Old Man, Dow Crag, Brown Pike with a head start. Fees: pay and display; cards only; RingGo ID 37321 (LDNPA, checked August 2026).

Directions Something changed here?

Coniston Bridge (~1414 m straight line) Coniston Ruskin Avenue Car Park (~1569 m straight line)

Walna Scar Road, above Seathwaite (layby) — 2.5 km from summit (straight line)

Walking base for Walna Scar, White Maiden, White Pike (Seathwaite) and Pikes — the 'Birketts by Dunnerdale Fells' route starts 466 m away. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Tongue House (layby) — 3.2 km from summit (straight line)

0.7 km from the 'Birketts by Dunnerdale Fells' route start. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

2 more places to park near Dow Crag

Demming Crag (layby) — 3.2 km from summit (straight line)

Beside the valley road at Birks Bridge, by the River Duddon, 70 m from the Forestry England car park. The nearest route start is the Goat Crag lay-by at the foot of Hardknott Pass ('Alternative Hardknott Round'), about 4.7 km on foot. Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged). Fee not verified — check signage on arrival.

Directions Something changed here?

Birks Bridge (FE) — 3.2 km from summit (straight line)

Forestry England's car park at Birks Bridge, beside the River Duddon in the forest above Seathwaite. The nearest route start is the Goat Crag lay-by at the foot of Hardknott Pass ('Alternative Hardknott Round'), about 4.7 km on foot. Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged). Donation (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Positions are approximate.

Vehicles are left at their owner’s risk: we list places people park and cannot vouch for any of them. Take valuables with you and leave nothing on show.

Buses

The 505 stops at Coniston, outside The Ruskin Centre. From there it is 1.8 km and 179 m of ascent to the start of The Coniston Horseshoe — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: distance) — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 24.3 km in all, with the walk. As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Kendal (505): Tuesday to Sunday 20:24. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 505 “Coniston Rambler”

Windermere – Ambleside – Skelwith Bridge – Hawkshead – Coniston

Catch it from: Windermere · Ambleside

Daily in season (reduced winter service). Best access for the Coniston fells (Old Man, Wetherlam group).

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat

Hazards on Dow Crag

Hazard & Incident Information for Dow Crag

Checked by Lee McCoy, 13 June 2026. Draws on published material from Coniston Mountain Rescue Team. Editorial background, not a live callout feed.

Hazard: High

One of the great rock-climbing cliffs of the Lakes, its summit perched right at the top of a 500-foot precipice of buttresses and gullies plunging to Goat's Water. The walkers' route along the ridge from the Walna Scar path is straightforward, but the east face is serious mountaineering ground with a long history of climbing falls, rockfall and fatalities. Coniston Mountain Rescue Team is called here repeatedly. The danger lies in straying onto the crag — whether deliberately scrambling the gullies or accidentally near the edge.

The east face (buttresses and gullies above Goat's Water): A major climbing cliff with steep, exposed and often loose or wet rock. Climbers and scramblers are regularly hurt here — recent falls include serious head injuries when a large block pulled away, and there have been fatalities. The gullies (Easy Gully, Great Gully and others) are loose and far harder and more dangerous than they look. Only experienced, equipped climbers should be on the face; it is not a walkers' route.
The summit edge: The top is a rocky perch directly above the precipice. In wind, cloud or when scrambling about for the view, a slip near the edge would be fatal. Keep well back from the lip.
Rockfall onto Goat's Water below: Loose rock dislodged from the face can fall onto the climbers' approach path and the shore of Goat's Water. If walking below the crag, don't linger directly beneath climbers, and wear a helmet if scrambling.

Who should attempt this fell: As a walk, Dow Crag is reached easily and safely along the ridge from Goat's Hause or the Walna Scar road — just keep back from the summit edge. The crag itself is a different world: a serious climbing venue with loose rock, big exposure and a grim accident record. Don't be tempted into the gullies as a shortcut up or down. Leave the face to roped, experienced climbers in good conditions.

What to watch for: Climbing and scrambling falls on the east face, some fatal · Rockfall from loose blocks on the buttresses and gullies · Slips near the exposed summit edge above the crag · Walkers underestimating the gullies as a way up or down

Local Mountain Rescue: Coniston Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab)

Safety: 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.

Report incorrect information (opens in new tab)

A note on Church Beck (with Red Dell Beck & Levers Water)

Church Beck (with Red Dell Beck & Levers Water) runs below the old Coniston copper mines and carries mine-derived copper and zinc — enough to matter for river life. In Environment Agency samples taken near our route The Coniston Horseshoe between 2009 and 2024, no sample put lead or cadmium, the metals that matter for people, above the drinking limit. That is a record of past sampling, not a test of the water today. Treat any hill water before drinking (an ordinary hiking filter won’t remove dissolved metals); don’t single this beck out as a clean fill-up.

What’s actually in this beck — we mapped every mine-fed one →

Metal-mine water data © Environment Agency (Open Government Licence v3.0).

Navigating in cloud

Fewer traps in cloud

Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of walkable ground near the summit that lies close to steep ground or crag. This top is in the lowest of the index’s four bands, and a low band never means “safe”: 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 Dow Crag compares with all 214: the Clag Index (experimental).

If you need Mountain Rescue

Dial 999 or 112 and ask for the Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Before you call, have ready: where you are (a grid reference if you can – the OS Locate app shows yours on your phone), what has happened, how many of you there are, and your mobile number.

Then stay where you are until the rescue team contacts you.

If you cannot make a voice call because of a hearing or speech impairment, emergency SMS works only if you have registered first: text “register” to 999.

From Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s guidance on calling them out (opens in new tab) (read 26 October 2026).

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).

Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.

Birketts within 3 km of Dow Crag

These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.

0.6 km SBuck Pike - Seathwaite Fell744 m · Southern

1.2 km SBrown Pike682 m · Southern

2.2 km SSWWhite Maiden613 m · Southern

2.4 km NNEGreat How (Swirl Band)775 m · Southern

2.6 km SSWWhite Pike (Seathwaite)600 m · Southern

2.9 km SHigh Pike Haw354 m · Southern

Routes over Dow Crag

The Coniston Horseshoe

Summits: Wetherlam Swirl How Great Carrs Grey Friar Brim Fell The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man)Dow CragBuck Pike - Seathwaite Fell Brown Pike

Lee walked it Wetherlam-first, from Miners Bridge to Dow Crag; the start from the car park and the southern end over Buck Pike, Brown Pike and the Walna Scar Road finish are from the map — the full Coniston round over all the major tops, a long and serious mountain day. The trickiest navigation is the Grey Friar–Calf Cove–Levers Hawse traverse and the Lad Stones ground; carry OS Explorer OL6 and a compass for the clag.

Download GPX Walked in part, August 2024 · km 0.0–1.1, km 15.8–20.8 from the map

Warnings: Prison Band, the rocky climb from Swirl Hawse onto Swirl How, is steep and eroded with the ground falling away both sides — care needed in mist or wind. Dow Crag's summit sits above a serious east face over Goat's Water — keep slightly right (west) of the top as you climb south from Goat's Hawse and well back from the gullies and edge, especially in poor visibility. The Grey Friar → Calf Cove → Levers Hawse leg is largely pathless and the round's hardest navigation — careful map-and-compass work in clag. The short final climb to Dow Crag from Goat's Hawse has scrambly steps with moderate exposure — stay on the path and away from the edge. Great Carrs sits among a confusing tangle of high paths — Swirl How, the Prison Band, Wet Side Edge and Wrynose. In mist it is easy to take the wrong ridge or drift toward the eastern edge. Navigate by compass. Grey Friar stands off the main ridge and its paths are faint; the ground between it and Swirl How is awkward, and one onward line from Swirl How appears to head straight over a cliff face. In mist it is easy to lose the route or drift onto steep ground. Navigate by compass and don't trust a vague trod. Great Carrs: Right by the summit the ground drops suddenly in crags and steep scree into the Greenburn corrie — the aircraft memorial sits on this very brink. In wind or cloud keep well back from the edge; the flat top gives almost no warning before the drop.

From the hazard notes for Great Carrs, each with its sources.

Route guide: The Coniston Horseshoe →

Dow Crag without the Old Man

Summits: Dow CragBuck Pike - Seathwaite Fell Brown Pike Walna Scar White Maiden

The start is the Walna Scar Road car park above Coniston. The climb past Goat's Water and the ridge from Dow Crag to Brown Pike are the same ground as The Coniston Horseshoe; this walk leaves out the Old Man of Coniston.

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Warnings: The top of Dow Crag is at the edge of its crag: OpenStreetMap maps the cliff 3 m from the line at the top, and the heads of the east face's gullies, among them Easy Gully and Great Gully, 40-60 m from it. Keep back from the edge, and do not use a gully as a way up or down. About 3.2 km of the line follows paths that OpenStreetMap does not record as public rights of way: the out-and-back from the Walna Scar Road over Walna Scar to White Maiden (about 6.5 to 8.4 km), the last few hundred metres to the top of Dow Crag, and short paths beside the Walna Scar Road. The rest is public footpath and the Walna Scar Road, a restricted byway. That is a map-data note, not a ruling on access: check the access land and rights of way maps before relying on this stretch.

Route guide: Dow Crag without the Old Man →

Every line here is a guide, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate for yourself and carry a map and compass. How to use this guide.

On the hill: terrain and water on Dow Crag

Water & shelter on the way up

On the The Coniston Horseshoe route:

shelter (weather shelter, mapped, not checked; 7 m off the line)

On the Dow Crag without the Old Man route:

shelter (weather shelter, mapped, not checked; 8 m off the line)

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

About Dow Crag

Wainwright described it vividly, capturing the dramatic contrast between the crag's fierce eastern face and its gentler western slopes. The walker's route from Coniston via Goat's Water is excellent, with the climbing crags providing tremendous atmosphere throughout. The summit gives splendid views over the Duddon valley to the Scafells. Combined naturally with the Old Man via the ridge connecting them for a fine half-day circuit from Coniston village.

Field notes

I visited this on my way around the Coniston Circuit and is easily overlooked as often it is the penultimate Wainwright of a long day and the one just before the finale of the day and the route's namesake: The Old Man of Coniston. For me I was stupidly racing another fell walker who started off around the same time and were tagging fells around the loop. The summit here is one that most I suspect won't actually get to the very top. No-one else that was there at the time tried either. It's still a bag in my mind, even though the rocky precipice wasn't truly equalled.

— Lee McCoy, who walked it on our The Coniston Horseshoe route in August 2024

My Strava hikes over Dow Crag

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Awesome trek up Wetherlam, Swirl How, Great Carrs, Grey Friars, Brim Fell, Dow Crag & Old Man of Coniston. (opens in new tab) — 19.2 km · 1417 m ascent · 5h 34m moving · 31 August 2024

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is Dow Crag a Wainwright?

Dow Crag is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Nuttall list, the Fellranger list, the HuMP list and the Hewitt list.

Selected lists

778 m

Height

2,552 ft

In feet

SD 2625 9779

Grid ref

This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.

The summit is also a Birkett.

Lists, height and summit position from the Database of British and Irish Hills; the feet are converted from its metres and the grid reference from that position. How we check →

The view from Dow Crag

The 360° skyline from Dow 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.

drag to pan · arrow keys

The skyline as a list, by direction

North: Swirl How (3 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (7 km), Crinkle Crags (7 km), Crinkle Crags (7 km), Crinkle Crags (7 km), Crinkle Crags (8 km), Shelter Crags (8 km), Bowfell (9 km), Pike de Bield (9 km), Esk Pike (10 km), Ill Crag (10 km), Great End (11 km), Glaramara (13 km), White Side (20 km), Crag Hill (24 km), Knowe Crags (30 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (30 km), Skiddaw Little Man (30 km), Gategill Fell Top (30 km), Blencathra (30 km), Skiddaw South Top (31 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (31 km), Skiddaw (31 km), Skiddaw North Top (31 km)
North-east: Brim Fell (1 km), Fairfield (17 km), Hart Crag (17 km), Dollywaggon Pike (17 km), High Crag (18 km), Nethermost Pike (18 km), Helvellyn (19 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (19 km), High Street (22 km)
North-west: Scafell (10 km), Scafell Pike (10 km), Broad Crag (11 km), Red Pike (16 km), Black Crag (17 km), Scoat Fell (17 km), Haycock (18 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (158 km, Wales), Carnedd Llewelyn (145 km, Wales), Aran Fawddwy (180 km, Wales), Snaefell (87 km, Isle of Man), Moel Siabod (154 km, Wales), Cairnsmore of Fleet (103 km, Scotland), Arenig Fawr (167 km, Wales), South Barrule (103 km, Isle of Man).

Computed from Copernicus GLO-30 terrain; distant tops from the Database of British and Irish Hills v18.4 (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

Sunrise and sunset on Dow Crag

Dow Crag sits close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its longest wait of the modelled year (at midsummer) first light is only 8 minutes after almanac sunrise, so the published sunrise time is a fair guide here.

Midsummer. The filled shape is the skyline as seen from the summit; the line is the sun’s path. Where they meet is first light — everything left of that point is the wait.

Times for 2026, in Lakeland clock time (GMT in winter, BST in summer) — and model outputs rather than observations.
	First light	Almanac sunrise	Difference
Midsummer	04:46 BST ±5.0 min	04:38	+8 min
Equinox	06:22 GMT ±5.0 min	06:16	+6 min
Midwinter	08:27 GMT ±5.0 min	08:32	-5 min

A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean 0.14°).

Last light — when the sun leaves Dow Crag

Dow Crag holds the light. On not one of the sixteen dates modelled does the sun leave this summit before almanac sunset — the ground falls away westward rather than standing over you, and at midsummer it is still in the sun 3 minutes after the valley has lost it.

The evening of the same three days. A negative difference means a ridge takes the sun before the valley loses it.
	Last light	Almanac sunset	Difference
Midsummer	21:55 BST ±5.0 min	21:52	+3 min
Equinox	18:32 GMT ±5.0 min	18:26	+6 min
Midwinter	15:58 GMT ±5.0 min	15:50	+8 min

These are daylight figures, not a descent plan: the light goes on fading for a good while after the sun leaves, and going down in it is a decision about your own ground and party, not about this table.

What you can see from Dow Crag

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.

56Wainwrights in view+12 marginal

158 kmFurthest sightlineSnowdon (Yr Wyddfa) · possible under favourable refraction

2Sea in viewIrish Sea, Morecambe Bay

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

Far horizons

Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) WalesSSW · 158 km clear
Carnedd Llewelyn WalesSSW · 142 km clear
Snaefell Isle of ManW · 87 km clear
Ingleborough Yorkshire DalesESE · 54 km clear
Whernside Yorkshire DalesESE · 50 km clear
Irish Sea open waterSW · 42 km in view
Morecambe Bay bay/estuarySSE · 24 km in view

All 56 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Brim Fell, Grey Friar, Swirl How, Great Carrs, Harter Fell (Eskdale), Hard Knott, Cold Pike, Green Crag, Pike of Blisco, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Bowfell, Slight Side, Loft Crag, Pike of Stickle, Harrison Stickle, Esk Pike, Scafell, Thunacar Knott, Scafell Pike, Great End, Sergeant Man, Illgill Head, High Raise (High White Stones), Whin Rigg (Wasdale), Glaramara, Helm Crag, Sergeant's Crag, Yewbarrow, Middle Fell, Great Rigg, Seat Sandal, Red Pike (Wasdale), Seatallan, Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Fairfield, Scoat Fell (Little Scoat Fell), Dollywaggon Pike, Haycock, Nethermost Pike, Caw Fell, Helvellyn, Ill Bell, High Seat, Bleaberry Fell, Kentmere Pike, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Clough Head, Latrigg, Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Little Man, Carl Side, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Long Side, Skiddaw, Knott

How the view from Dow Crag compares with all 214 — the View Report: every Wainwright ranked by what you can see from the top.

How the skyline, light and sightlines are computed

Computed, not photographed. First light is the first minute the sun’s upper limb clears this summit’s own skyline and last light the last minute it is still clear of it, both solved against the 360° horizon profile behind The View from Dow Crag. Almanac sunrise and sunset are the flat-horizon convention. Every time carries a ± band from the 30 m elevation model — it smooths arêtes and cornices, so nothing here claims better than five minutes.

Sightlines from the Copernicus GLO-30 elevation model, which is a surface model: each 30 m cell holds the top of whatever stands there, trees and buildings included, rather than bare ground. 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.

Places to stay near this fell

Bank Ground Farm (opens in new tab) guest houseabout 2.7 km

Also nearby, but not independent

Coniston Holly How YHA (opens in new tab) hostelabout 1.7 km
YHA Coppermines (opens in new tab) hostelabout 1.6 km

We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).

Frequently asked questions about Dow Crag

Is Dow Crag hard to climb? Answered above.

What is the route up Dow Crag for walkers?

From the Walna Scar Road car park above Coniston, follow the track and branch to Goat's Water beneath the crag, then climb to Goat's Hause on a clear path and up the ridge; the last short climb from the col has a few rocky steps where you may use your hands, and the very top is a rock perch above the cliff that many walkers stop just short of. It's commonly combined with the Old Man of Coniston for a fine round.

Keep well back from the summit edge, which sits right at the top of the precipice.

How long does it take to climb Dow Crag? Answered above: Routes up Dow Crag.

Is the crag on Dow Crag dangerous?

The east face above Goat's Water is one of the great Lakeland climbing cliffs — steep, often loose or wet rock with big buttresses and gullies, and a history of serious and fatal falls. It's for experienced, roped climbers, not walkers.

Don't be tempted onto the face or its gullies as a shortcut, keep back from the cliff-top summit, and if walking below it, avoid lingering directly beneath climbers because of rockfall.

Sources: Coniston Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab)

What is South Rake on Dow Crag?

South Rake is a scree-filled gully at the southern end of the crag — the easiest line actually up the crag, a Grade 1 scramble with some loose rock and a little easy boulder-climbing. It's a way for confident scramblers to gain the summit through the cliff, not a walkers' path.

If you just want the top, the ridge route via Goat's Hause is simpler and avoids the crag entirely. The crag's east face above Goat's Water is a climbing cliff of steep, exposed rock that is often loose or wet.

Sources: The Lake District — Dow Crag (opens in new tab)

Is Dow Crag suitable for beginners?

By the walkers' route via Goat's Hause, yes — a fit beginner can manage it in good conditions, and the views of the crag and Goat's Water are superb. The crucial thing is to keep well back from the summit edge, which is right at the top of the precipice.

Beginners should avoid the crag itself and South Rake. Go on a clear day, carry a map and compass, and treat it as a proper fell.

Sources: Coniston Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab)

What should I wear and take up Dow Crag?

Wear proper walking boots with good grip for the rough, stony ground, and carry warm and waterproof layers — the summit is high and exposed. Take a map and compass, food, water and a charged phone, and check the mountain forecast.

Keep back from the cliff edge at the top, leave the crag and South Rake to experienced scramblers/climbers, and carry winter kit when there's snow or ice.

Sources: MWIS — Lake District forecast (opens in new tab)

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-06-14 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

Dow Crag

Summit conditions on Dow Crag

Wind on the top

Cloud on the top

Routes up Dow Crag

Is Dow Crag hard to climb?

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Parking & buses for Dow Crag

Parking

Buses

Hazards on Dow Crag

Hazard & Incident Information for Dow Crag

A note on Church Beck (with Red Dell Beck & Levers Water)

Navigating in cloud

If you need Mountain Rescue

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Birketts within 3 km of Dow Crag

Routes over Dow Crag

On the hill: terrain and water on Dow Crag

Water & shelter on the way up

About Dow Crag

Field notes

My Strava hikes over Dow Crag

Classifications & hill data

Is Dow Crag a Wainwright?

Selected lists

The view from Dow Crag

The 360° skyline from Dow Crag

Sunrise and sunset on Dow Crag

Last light — when the sun leaves Dow Crag

What you can see from Dow Crag

Places to stay near this fell

Frequently asked questions about Dow Crag

Other fells near Dow Crag