Eagle Crag

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Summited April 2026

Home › Fells › Eagle Crag

523 mWainwright — Central Fells+9 bonus Birketts within 3 km Severe in cloud

Eagle Crag at 523m (1,715ft) is a magnificent rocky buttress above Langstrath, its eastern face dropping in great crags to the valley below.

Summit conditions on Eagle Crag

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 58 mph, 18.1 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

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

The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 49 mph times our exposure factor of 1.08. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 58 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.

Rain, and the becks

Past the line

18.1 mm of rain over the whole day, midnight to midnight

The same figure as the summit line above and the 7-day forecast.

The line Our line: 6 mm in the day, where our scorer counts a day as soaking. We read rainfall, never river levels: becks in spate.

Open-Meteo’s forecast. It says nothing about rain already in the ground.

Also checked cold: feels like 2 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 25 out of 100, over our in-cloud line of 20. 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 Eagle Crag

Choose the way up before the car park: these two routes start from two places, and the last two rows give the parking and bus at each route’s own start. Full maps further down.

Compared	The Difficult Route up Eagle Crag	Ullscarf, Eagle Crag & Sergeant's Crag
Starts from	Stonethwaite	Stonethwaite
Distance and climb	10.71 km, 611 m of climb	14.83 km, 756 m of climb
Time, fast to steady	~3–4¼ h	~4–5¾ h
Scrambling	Hands for a few steps: the gully and rock terraces up Eagle Crag (km 2.9–3.4).	Hands for a few steps: the gully and rock terraces up Eagle Crag (km 0.0–3.2).
Exposure	Not assessed	Not assessed
Navigation	Hard	Hard
Steepest stretch	Climb of about 46% at 2.7 km (Severe)	Climb of about 45% at 2.6 km (Severe)
After the summit	Over Sergeant's Crag and Lining Crag	Over Sergeant's Crag, Ullscarf and Lining Crag
Walked or planned	Planned: drawn, not yet walked	Walked by Lee, April 2026
Car park at the start	Stonethwaite village (roadside, free)	Stonethwaite lane (layby) (free)
Bus to the start	78, 710 m walk from Rosthwaite, opposite Longthwaite road end. The 77 runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season.	78, 430 m walk from Rosthwaite, opposite Longthwaite road end. The 77 runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season.

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 →

How hard is Eagle Crag? Is it a scramble?

The steepest little Wainwright climb in Borrowdale: the direct way up the nose weaves between crags on a steep, occasionally hands-on path — not a graded scramble, but rough, exposed-feeling ground where you want decent weather and boots. In the wet the rock and grass are slippery, and the descent the same way is harder than the ascent.

The gentler option is to take it from behind, via the col with Sergeant's Crag. Our 15 km circuit climbs the nose and goes on over Sergeant's Crag and Ullscarf, so it never comes down it. The drops from that line toward Langstrath are steep and exposed.

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 523 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast

Tue 27 Oct

12° / 6°

58 mph

18.1 mm (100%)

Wed 28 Oct

9° / 6°

43 mph

17.5 mm (100%)

Thu 29 Oct

10° / 8°

26 mph

1.8 mm (75%)

Fri 30 Oct

8° / 6°

25 mph

0.9 mm (8%)

Sat 31 Oct

8° / 5°

6 mph

3.0 mm (6%)

Sun 1 Nov

8° / 3°

14 mph

0.0 mm (2%)

Mon 2 Nov

6° / 0°

9 mph

0.0 mm (0%)

Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 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 Eagle Crag

Parking

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

Stonethwaite village (roadside, free) — at the start of The Difficult Route up Eagle Crag

In Stonethwaite. The 'Ullscarf, Eagle Crag & Sergeant's Crag' route starts 304 m away. Added from the 5 August 2026 OSM candidate review.

Directions Something changed here?

Rosthwaite Village (~1208 m straight line) — Free · Accessible Peathouse Tea & Coffee Shop The Langstrath Inn

Stonethwaite lane (layby) — at the start of Ullscarf, Eagle Crag & Sergeant's Crag

Walking base for Lining Crag, Ullscarf, Sergeant's Crag and Eagle Crag — the 'Ullscarf, Eagle Crag & Sergeant's Crag' route starts 17 m away. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Stonethwaite lane, south-west (layby) — 2.4 km from summit (straight line)

Walking base for Lining Crag, Ullscarf, Sergeant's Crag and Eagle Crag — the 'Ullscarf, Eagle Crag & Sergeant's Crag' route starts 59 m away. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

2 more places to park near Eagle Crag

Seatoller, south-east field car park (paid) — 2.9 km from summit (straight line)

A paid field by the River Derwent, 0.5 km south-east of Seatoller; operator not identified. The 'Seathwaite, Green Gable, Base Brown' route starts 78 m away. Paid parking (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Rosthwaite, south-east field car park (paid) — 3.1 km from summit (straight line)

A paid field between the B5289 and Stonethwaite Beck, 0.2 km south-east of the National Trust car park; operator not identified. The 'The Borrowdale Fells (Rosthwaite Fell round)' route starts 174 m away. Also serves 'Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag'. Paid parking (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (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 77 and 78 stop at Rosthwaite, opposite Longthwaite road end, a 430 m walk from the start of Ullscarf, Eagle Crag & Sergeant's Crag — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: steepness). The 77 runs until 1 November 2026, the last day of its season. As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Keswick (78): Tuesday to Sunday 20:03. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 78 “Borrowdale Rambler”

Keswick – Lodore – Grange – Rosthwaite – Seatoller

Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 or X4/X5)

Year-round, frequent in season. Serves all the Borrowdale starts — Glaramara, the Scafells and Great Gable via Seathwaite (alight Seatoller, about 2 km up the lane).

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 Eagle Crag

Hazard & Incident Information for Eagle Crag

Checked by Lee McCoy, 14 June 2026. Draws on published material from Keswick Mountain Rescue Team. Editorial background, not a live callout feed.

Hazard: Moderate

A bold, craggy fell guarding the junction of Langstrath and Greenup above Stonethwaite — from the valley its vertical walls look impassable. A route does thread up through the crags, but it involves real scrambling with steep drops to Langstrath, and route-finding is critical: the way down through the crags is dangerous and not recommended, because cliffs hidden from above catch people out. Keswick Mountain Rescue Team covers this Borrowdale ground.

The crag route & scrambling: The line up the craggy nose involves hands-on scrambling with steep, exposed drops toward Langstrath. It demands careful route-finding — wander off the line and you meet impassable crag. Only for confident scramblers in dry conditions; treat any uncertainty as a reason to back off.
Descending through the crags (cragfast risk): Going down this way is not recommended: crags that can't be seen from above lead walkers into dead-ends and leave them cragfast or worse. Descend instead over Sergeant's Crag and the head of Greenup Gill to Greenup Edge, then down the Greenup Gill path, as our round does, not back over the crag nose. Greenup Edge is boggy and featureless, serious navigation in mist.
Route-finding & boggy ground: A key step-stile over the fence is easily missed — people who miss it end up lost descending Langstrath. The lower ground is boggy. Follow the route carefully and keep track of the correct line.

Who should attempt this fell: Eagle Crag is a small fell with a genuinely serious face. If you take the crag route, treat it as a proper scramble for the confident in dry conditions and stay exactly on the line — and crucially, do not descend that way: go over Sergeant's Crag and the head of Greenup Gill to Greenup Edge, and descend the Greenup Gill path instead. Watch for the step-stile, and save the crag for good conditions.

What to watch for: Scramblers becoming cragfast or off-route on the steep crag nose · Dangerous attempts to descend through the crags rather than via Greenup · Getting lost after missing the step-stile and dropping into Langstrath · Slips on steep, exposed or wet rock

Local Mountain Rescue: Keswick 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)

Navigating in cloud

Severe

Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of steep ground within half a kilometre of the summit. A serious place to be caught in cloud: carry map and compass (or GPS) and know how to use them, or save it for a clear day.

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 Eagle 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 Eagle Crag

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

1.2 km SELining Crag542 m · Central

1.6 km ENEColdbarrow Fell - High Saddle675 m · Central

1.7 km NELow Saddle656 m · Central

2.0 km WRosthwaite Fell (Rosthwaite Cam)612 m · Southern

2.0 km WSWDovenest Top (Dovenest Crag) (Stonethwaite Fell)633 m · Southern

2.2 km SSELow White Stones731 m · Central

2.4 km ENEStanding Crag611 m · Central

2.8 km WSWCombe Head735 m · Southern

3.0 km WThornythwaite Fell574 m · Southern

Routes over Eagle Crag

The Difficult Route up Eagle Crag

Summits: Eagle CragSergeant's Crag Lining Crag

Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked

Route guide: The Difficult Route up Eagle Crag →

Ullscarf, Eagle Crag & Sergeant's Crag

Summits: Eagle CragSergeant's Crag Ullscarf Lining Crag

Walked and described first-hand by Lee. A serious round: the navigation over Ullscarf and Greenup Edge is boggy and featureless (a compass is essential in cloud), and the direct Eagle Crag line is steep and intricate — good-weather, sure-footed terrain. Carry OS Explorer OL4.

Download GPX Walked by Lee, April 2026

Warnings: The direct Eagle Crag route (climbed here, not descended) is a steep, intricate line of rock terraces and a wet gully that guidebooks recommend for ascent only, and only in good weather — avoid it altogether in the wet, and do not come back down it. On Eagle Crag's terraces, don't go too far west, towards Heron Crag's cliff, where the terrace narrows above steep drops; sight each terrace before committing. The Bleak How step-stile has a rotted lower step — a big step up from below; take care and lift or assist dogs. Lining Crag's north face is near-vertical into Greenup Gill with little warning from the grassy top — keep back from the lip. Greenup Edge and the Ullscarf plateau are boggy and featureless — serious navigation in mist; rely on the old fence posts, cairns and bearings.

Route guide: Ullscarf, Eagle Crag & Sergeant's Crag →

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 Eagle Crag

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Ullscarf, Eagle Crag & Sergeant's Crag route:

Stonethwaite Village (237 m from the start, straight line) Chapel Howe Road End (375 m from the start, straight line) Stonethwaite Road End (390 m from the start, straight line) Longthwaite Road End (394 m from the start, straight line) Chapel House Farm Campsite (322 m from the start, straight line)

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

About Eagle Crag

Wainwright was clearly impressed by it, describing it as one of the finest craggy summits in Borrowdale — the cliff face visible from the valley gives little idea of the walker's route which approaches from the rear. The ascent from Stonethwaite is excellent, with the valley of Langstrath providing superb scenery throughout. The summit views across to Glaramara and High Raise are outstanding.

Field notes

For a few months I was mulling over how I would summit this fell. Many on YouTube had taken it from the Stonethwaite side, wrestling with limited parking and the massive amounts of bracken. Many had done a multitude of routes, all struggling with navigation and getting hugely frustrated. I opted for the cheating route across Ullscarf and from the lower reaches of Thirlmere reservoir. That day was blistering hot, I caught the train and bus up, took the wrong route down after and ended up at Grasmere - the alternative had me going through the ominously labelled "The Bog". Eagle Crag itself, is a pleasant affair and a short trek over from Saregent's Crag. The summit has plenty of room to rest and chat with other hikers. If you check my route, you'll be able to see that on my way over from Ulscarf I made a mistake, was too stubborn to backtrack and ended up climbing a rock face. Don't do that. Either go properly up and over, or navigate the faint track below it.

— Lee McCoy, who walked it on our Ullscarf, Eagle Crag & Sergeant's Crag route in April 2026

My Strava hikes over Eagle Crag

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Ulscarf, Sargents Crag, Eagle Crag - The Director's Cut (opens in new tab) — 21.5 km · 967 m ascent · 5h 31m moving · 25 April 2026

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is Eagle Crag a Wainwright?

Eagle Crag is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.

Selected lists

523 m

Height

1,715 ft

In feet

NY 2753 1210

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 Eagle Crag

The 360° skyline from Eagle 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: Knowe Crags (15 km), Jenkin Hill (15 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (16 km), Skiddaw Little Man (16 km), Gategill Fell Top (16 km), Carl Side (16 km), Blencathra (16 km), Doddick Fell (16 km), Skiddaw South Top (17 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (17 km), Skiddaw (17 km), Skiddaw North Top (17 km)
South: High Raise (3 km), Shelter Crags (7 km), Crinkle Crags (7 km), Crinkle Crags (8 km), Crinkle Crags (8 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (8 km)
South-west: Glaramara (3 km), Looking Steads (4 km), Allen Crags (5 km), Esk Pike (6 km), Great End (6 km), Bowfell (6 km), Ill Crag (7 km), Scafell Pike (8 km)
West: Green Gable (6 km), Great Gable (7 km), High Crag (10 km), Pillar (10 km), High Stile (11 km), High Stile (11 km), Scoat Fell (12 km), Red Pike (12 km)
North-west: Dale Head (6 km), Sail (11 km), Wandope (12 km), Crag Hill (12 km), Grasmoor (13 km), Grisedale Pike (13 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Green Lowther (107 km, Scotland), Queensberry (92 km, Scotland), Ballencleuch Law (99 km, Scotland), Hods Hill (102 km, Scotland), White Hill (75 km, Scotland).

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 Eagle Crag

Eagle Crag waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 May, when the sun is up for 55 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 06:30 against an almanac sunrise of 05:35. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the east-north-east from here (73.2°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 7.02°.

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	05:18 BST ±5.0 min	04:37	+41 min
Equinox	07:01 GMT ±5.0 min	06:16	+45 min
Midwinter	09:07 GMT ±5.0 min	08:33	+34 min

The northern horizon stands at about 0.76° from here.

Last light — when the sun leaves Eagle Crag

Eagle Crag loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls at midwinter, when last light is 34 minutes before almanac sunset — 15:15 against 15:49. The sun goes down to the south-west from here (221.4°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 3.21°.

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	21:39 BST ±5.0 min	21:53	-14 min
Equinox	18:13 GMT ±5.0 min	18:26	-13 min
Midwinter	15:15 GMT ±5.0 min	15:49	-34 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 Eagle Crag

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

52Wainwrights in view+6 marginal

—Sea in viewnone from here

All 52 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Sergeant's Crag, Ullscarf, Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, High Raise (High White Stones), Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Glaramara, Grange Fell (Brund Fell), High Tove, Castle Crag, Pike of Stickle, Rossett Pike, Allen Crags, Grey Knotts, High Spy, Esk Pike, Great End, Brandreth, High Seat, Green Gable, Dale Head, Bowfell, Great Gable, Fleetwith Pike, Maiden Moor, Hindscarth, Bleaberry Fell, Scafell Pike, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Cat Bells (Catbells), High Crag (Buttermere), Pillar, Causey Pike, Barrow, High Stile, Sail, Wandope, Crag Hill (Eel Crag), Red Pike (Buttermere), Clough Head, Grasmoor, Grisedale Pike, Lonscale Fell, Dodd (Skiddaw), Skiddaw Little Man, Barf, Carl Side, Lord's Seat, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Long Side, Ullock Pike, Skiddaw, Knott

How the view from Eagle 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 Eagle 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

Seatoller House B&B (opens in new tab) guest houseabout 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 Eagle Crag

Where is Eagle Crag?

At the head of Borrowdale, standing over the meeting of Langstrath and Greenup Gill above Stonethwaite — one of the most dramatically positioned small fells in the district. It's 523 m (1,715 ft), a Central Fells Wainwright, and its craggy prow is the picture everyone photographs from the Stonethwaite valley floor.

How hard is Eagle Crag? Is it a scramble? Answered above.

Is Eagle Crag dog friendly?

Take care here: our route survey found a ladder stile and several stiles of unmapped type on the Stonethwaite round, so a dog will likely need lifting — awkward with a big dog on steep ground. Sheep graze throughout; leads on.

How long does Eagle Crag take? Answered above: Routes up Eagle Crag.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-07-20 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

Eagle Crag

Summit conditions on Eagle Crag

Wind on the top

Rain, and the becks

Routes up Eagle Crag

How hard is Eagle Crag? Is it a scramble?

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Parking & buses for Eagle Crag

Parking

Buses

Hazards on Eagle Crag

Hazard & Incident Information for Eagle Crag

Navigating in cloud

If you need Mountain Rescue

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Birketts within 3 km of Eagle Crag

Routes over Eagle Crag

On the hill: terrain and water on Eagle Crag

Water & shelter on the way up

About Eagle Crag

Field notes

My Strava hikes over Eagle Crag

Classifications & hill data

Is Eagle Crag a Wainwright?

Selected lists

The view from Eagle Crag

The 360° skyline from Eagle Crag

Sunrise and sunset on Eagle Crag

Last light — when the sun leaves Eagle Crag

What you can see from Eagle Crag

Places to stay near this fell

Frequently asked questions about Eagle Crag

Other fells near Eagle Crag