Russet moor grass in the foreground, with a distant fell almost lost in haze and low light

Gray Crag

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Summited February 2025

Home › Fells › Gray Crag

698 mWainwright — Far Eastern Fells+2 bonus Birketts within 3 km Serious in Clag

Gray Crag at 698m (2,290ft) stands above Hayeswater and Hartsop, its steep eastern face dropping to the Hayeswater valley in a series of crags. The ascent from Hartsop via the direct ridge is short and entertaining.

Summit conditions on Gray Crag

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 10° to 4°C, gusts to 57 mph, 9.3 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 44 mph times our exposure factor of 1.2. 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.

Rain, and the becks

Past the line

9.3 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 1 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 28 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 Gray Crag

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

Hartsop Dodd, Stony Cove Pike, Thornthwaite Crag and Gray Crag Walked by Lee

10.0 km · ~858 m ascent · ~3¼–4¾ h · loop · 4 summits

Moderate effort Severe: steepness

Park: Hartsop village (donation) · Bus: 508, 590 m walk from Hartsop, adjacent to road end

Four tops above Hartsop in 10 km with 858 m of climbing, including a stage averaging 35% — as steep as anything on the site. Severe for steepness but only moderate for navigation and exposure. About 3¼–4¾ hours.

Distance and climb are measured from the route’s GPX track, and the time from them by Naismith’s rule; the route page says what each grade rests on. How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 698 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

9.3 mm (100%)

Wed 28 Oct

9° / 5°

40 mph

9.2 mm (100%)

Thu 29 Oct

8° / 6°

28 mph

0.8 mm (33%)

Fri 30 Oct

8° / 6°

29 mph

0.0 mm (23%)

Sat 31 Oct

9° / 0°

12 mph

0.0 mm (18%)

Sun 1 Nov

7° / 0°

13 mph

0.0 mm (10%)

Mon 2 Nov

7° / 0°

14 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 Gray Crag

Parking

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

Hartsop village (donation) — at the start of Hartsop Dodd, Stony Cove Pike, Thornthwaite Crag and Gray Crag

For Hartsop Dodd, Gray Crag, High Street via Hayeswater, Brock Crags. It asks an optional donation, not a charge (Lee, who walked past it on 14 August 2026). People also use the Cow Bridge car park, 0.9 km away, if they would rather not drive down the lane.

Directions Something changed here?

If it is full: Cow Bridge, Hartsop (paid) (0.9 km, 32 m up)

Brothers Water, east shore (free) — 2.4 km from summit (straight line)

On the A592 by the east shore of Brothers Water (OpenStreetMap, 26 m from the road). The nearest route starts are 'Finishing of the Far Eastern Fells', 0.8 km north on foot at Hartsop, and the two at Cow Bridge, 1.0 km north on foot. Free (OSM-tagged). Compacted surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Caudale Bridge (layby) — 2.5 km from summit (straight line)

On the A592 south of Brothers Water, near Caudale Bridge and about 290 m from the Brotherswater Inn bus stops. The nearest route starts are 'Finishing of the Far Eastern Fells', 1.8 km north on foot at Hartsop, and the two at Cow Bridge, 2.0 km north on foot. Free (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

2 more places to park near Gray Crag

Windy Corner (layby) — 2.6 km from summit (straight line)

On the A592 at Windy Corner, beside the Windy Corner bus stops. The nearest route starts are 'Finishing of the Far Eastern Fells', 2.1 km north on foot at Hartsop, and the two at Cow Bridge, 2.3 km north on foot. Free (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

A592 south of Windy Corner (car park) — 2.7 km from summit (straight line)

South of Windy Corner on the Kirkstone Pass side, about 480 m south of the Windy Corner bus stops. The nearest route starts are 'Finishing of the Far Eastern Fells', 2.6 km north on foot at Hartsop, and the two at Cow Bridge, 2.9 km north on foot. Free (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 508 and 509 stop at Hartsop, adjacent to road end, a 590 m walk and 28 m of ascent from the start of Hartsop Dodd, Stony Cove Pike, Thornthwaite Crag and Gray Crag — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: steepness). The last bus is 19:51 towards Windermere (508), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026; that timetable runs to 1 November 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.

Stagecoach 508 “Ullswater Bus”

Penrith – Pooley Bridge – Aira Force – Glenridding – Patterdale (summer services continue over Kirkstone Pass to Troutbeck and Windermere)

Catch it from: Penrith · Windermere (summer only)

The key route from Penrith for the Eastern and Far Eastern fells: Helvellyn from Glenridding, Place Fell, the Hartsop fells. The summer Kirkstone extension drops you at the pass for Red Screes and Caudale Moor.

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 Gray Crag

Notes from the Hartsop Dodd, Stony Cove Pike, Thornthwaite Crag and Gray Crag route

The climb from Threshthwaite Mouth to the beacon is steep, rough and loose in places; take it slowly, especially when wet.

If you need to get off (the leg from Thornthwaite Crag): Decide at Thornthwaite Crag's beacon, before you commit to the Gray Crag ridge: on over Gray Crag and down its steep northern nose, or back the way you came, which means reversing the loose climb out of Threshthwaite Mouth. Do not drop directly into either valley from the ridge: the flanks are overly steep and pathless. If you cannot move safely, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Police, then Mountain Rescue.

Quoted from the route page: its warnings and the note for the leg that reaches Gray Crag.

We have not written a hazard card for this fell yet, and that is not a sign that it is low-hazard. Read the warnings on the route pages that climb it, check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected. The National Park Authority’s What to pack page, AdventureSmart’s hill walking kit list and Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s safety page are linked from our what to carry guide.

Navigating in cloud

Serious 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. 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 Gray 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 Gray Crag

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

2.2 km SWCaudale Moor - John Bell's Banner755 m · Far Eastern

2.7 km ERough Crag (Riggindale)628 m · Far Eastern

Routes over Gray Crag

Hartsop Dodd, Stony Cove Pike, Thornthwaite Crag and Gray Crag

10.0 km · ~858 m ascent · loop · ~3¼–4¾ h

Moderate effort Severe: steepness

Summits: Hartsop Dodd Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor)Thornthwaite CragGray Crag

Download GPX Walked by Lee, February 2025

Warnings: The climb from Threshthwaite Mouth to the beacon is steep, rough and loose in places; take it slowly, especially when wet.

Route guide: Hartsop Dodd, Stony Cove Pike, Thornthwaite Crag and Gray 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 Gray Crag

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Hartsop Dodd, Stony Cove Pike, Thornthwaite Crag and Gray Crag route:

Road End (497 m from the start, straight line)

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

About Gray Crag

Often combined with The Knott and Thornthwaite Crag for a Hayeswater circuit. A modest but satisfying summit with good views of this corner of the Eastern Fells.

My Strava hikes over Gray Crag

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Nice windy Hike with Henry, Chris and Bobby (opens in new tab) — 10.0 km · 996 m ascent · 3h 11m moving · 9 February 2025

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is Gray Crag a Wainwright?

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

Selected lists

698 m

Height

2,290 ft

In feet

NY 4275 1171

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 Gray Crag

The 360° skyline from Gray 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-east: High Raise (3 km), Red Crag (4 km)
South: Thornthwaite Crag (2 km)
South-west: Stony Cove Pike (2 km), Caudale Moor (2 km), Red Screes (4 km), Pike of Blisco (17 km), Wetherlam (18 km), Cold Pike (18 km), Great Carrs (19 km), Swirl How (19 km), Great How (19 km), Stonesty Pike (19 km), Little Stand (20 km)
West: Dove Crag (6 km), Hart Crag (6 km), St Sunday Crag (6 km), Fairfield (7 km), Dollywaggon Pike (8 km), High Crag (9 km), Helvellyn (9 km), Crinkle Crags (19 km), Crinkle Crags (19 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (19 km), Crinkle Crags (19 km), High Crag (25 km)
North-west: Catstye Cam (9 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (10 km), Raise (10 km), White Side (10 km), Green Side (10 km), Birkett Fell (10 km), Hart Side (11 km), Stybarrow Dodd (11 km), Great Dodd (12 km), Blencathra (19 km), Gategill Fell Top (19 km), Knowe Crags (19 km), Atkinson Pike (20 km), Bowscale Fell (21 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Broad Law (115 km, Scotland), Moel y Gamelin (167 km, Wales), White Coomb (107 km, Scotland), Ettrick Pen (99 km, Scotland), Cadair Berwyn (183 km, Wales), Moel Famau (151 km, Wales), Wisp Hill (88 km, Scotland), Roan Fell (81 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 Gray Crag

Gray Crag waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 November, when the sun is up for 41 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 07:55 against an almanac sunrise of 07:14. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the east-south-east from here (122.7°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 4.81°.

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	04:58 BST ±5.0 min	04:36	+22 min
Equinox	06:42 GMT ±5.0 min	06:15	+27 min
Midwinter	09:06 GMT ±5.0 min	08:32	+34 min

A low, open northern horizon — the ground falls away northwards (mean -0.12°).

Last light — when the sun leaves Gray Crag

The evening here runs close to the flat-horizon case. Even on its earliest evening of the modelled year (at midwinter) last light is only 10 minutes before almanac sunset, so the published sunset time is a fair guide on Gray Crag.

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	21:47 BST ±5.0 min	21:52	-5 min
Equinox	18:15 GMT ±5.0 min	18:25	-10 min
Midwinter	15:38 GMT ±5.0 min	15:48	-10 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 Gray Crag

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

42Wainwrights in view+14 marginal

1Sea in viewMorecambe Bay

Far horizons

Morecambe Bay bay/estuaryS · 45 km in view

All 42 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

The Knott (High Street), Hartsop Dodd, Thornthwaite Crag, Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), Rest Dodd, Kidsty Pike, High Raise (High Street), High Hartsop Dodd, Little Hart Crag (Little Hart Crag - West Top), Hartsop Above How (Gill Crag - Hartsop Above How), Arnison Crag, Troutbeck Tongue, Birks, Dove Crag, Beda Fell (Beda Head), Place Fell, Hart Crag, High Pike (Scandale), St Sunday Crag, Fairfield, Loadpot Hill, Glenridding Dodd, Birkhouse Moor, Dollywaggon Pike, Sour Howes, Sheffield Pike, Catstye Cam, Helvellyn, Raise, White Side, Gowbarrow Fell (Wainwright summit), Little Mell Fell, Great Mell Fell, Pike of Blisco, Cold Pike, Great Carrs, Swirl How, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Grey Friar, Carrock Fell, Harter Fell (Eskdale), High Pike (Caldbeck)

How the view from Gray 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 Gray 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

Greenbank Farm Bed and Breakfast (opens in new tab) guest houseabout 1.8 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 Gray Crag

Is Gray Crag steep?

Steep at the start and then not at all — it is a narrow grassy ridge running north from Thornthwaite Crag, with Hayeswater on one side and Pasture Beck on the other, and once you are on the crest the walking is level and lovely.

Getting onto it is the work. Our round with Hartsop Dodd, Stony Cove Pike and Thornthwaite Crag is 10.0 km with 858 m of ascent — not a long day, but we grade its steepness severe, with the sharpest pull in the first kilometre out of Hartsop. The round also drops steeply into Threshthwaite Mouth between Stony Cove Pike and Thornthwaite Crag, over a couple of awkward rock steps that may need down-climbing and are greasy when wet, and it ends down Gray Crag’s steep grassy nose.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

Gray Crag

Summit conditions on Gray Crag

Wind on the top

Rain, and the becks

Routes up Gray Crag

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Parking & buses for Gray Crag

Parking

Buses

Hazards on Gray Crag

Notes from the Hartsop Dodd, Stony Cove Pike, Thornthwaite Crag and Gray Crag route

Navigating in cloud

If you need Mountain Rescue

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Birketts within 3 km of Gray Crag

Routes over Gray Crag

On the hill: terrain and water on Gray Crag

Water & shelter on the way up

About Gray Crag

My Strava hikes over Gray Crag

Classifications & hill data

Is Gray Crag a Wainwright?

Selected lists

The view from Gray Crag

The 360° skyline from Gray Crag

Sunrise and sunset on Gray Crag

Last light — when the sun leaves Gray Crag

What you can see from Gray Crag

Places to stay near this fell

Frequently asked questions about Gray Crag

Other fells near Gray Crag