Gray Crag
Gray Crag at 638m (2,093ft) stands above Hayeswater and Hartsop, its steep eastern face dropping to the Hayeswater valley in a series of crags.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 698 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 15° to 13°C, gusts to 38 mph, 13.5 mm of rain forecast.
Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 698 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.
About the walk
Gray Crag
Routes up Gray Crag
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
Map & nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.
Nearest parking: Hartsop village (free, donation), about 2.2 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Gray 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.
Routes over Gray Crag
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass.
The View 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.
What you can see from Gray Crag, 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 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 (opens in new tab) (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.
What you can see from Gray Crag
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.- Morecambe Bay bay/estuary
All 40 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
The Knott (High Street), Hartsop Dodd, Thornthwaite Crag, Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor), Rest Dodd, Kidsty Pike, 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, 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 Gray Crag’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 Gray Crag
Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).
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.
Water & shelter on the way up
On the Hartsop Dodd, Stony Cove Pike, Thornthwaite Crag and Gray Crag route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
Buses to Gray Crag from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
My hikes over Gray Crag (Strava)
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 Feb 2025
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Navigating Gray Crag in cloud
Serious in cloudWalkable ground sits close to a lethal drop — in cloud it’s easy to walk straight onto steep ground. 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: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.
Other fells near Gray Crag
- Angletarn Pikes (Angletarn Pikes North Top)
- Arthur's Pike
- Baystones (Wansfell)
- Beda Fell (Beda Head)
- Bonscale Pike
- Branstree
- Brock Crags (Wainwright)
- Froswick
- Grey Crag (Sleddale Fell)
- Hallin Fell
- Harter Fell (Mardale)
- Hartsop Dodd
- High Raise (High Street)
- High Street
- Ill Bell
- Kentmere Pike
- Kidsty Pike
- Loadpot Hill
- Mardale Ill Bell
- Place Fell
- Rampsgill Head
- Rest Dodd
- Sallows
- Selside Pike
- Shipman Knotts
- Sour Howes
- Steel Knotts (Pikeawassa - Steel Knotts)
- Stony Cove Pike (Caudale Moor)
- Tarn Crag (Sleddale)
- The Knott (High Street)
- The Nab
- Thornthwaite Crag
- Troutbeck Tongue
- Wether Hill
- Yoke
Maps & guidebooks for Gray Crag
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