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698 m · Wainwright — Far Eastern Fells · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Wainwright — Far Eastern FellsAlso a Birkett

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.

698 m
Height
~3–4 h
Typical time
+2
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX → Parking & buses →
698 mWainwright — Far Eastern Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+2 bonus Birketts within 3 km Serious in Clag

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 (Fri 11 Sep): 11° to 8°C, gusts to 21 mph, 1.3 mm of rain forecast.

Fri 11 Sep
🌦️
11° / 8°
💨 21 mph
🌧 1.3 mm (100%)
Sat 12 Sep
🌧️
14° / 8°
💨 48 mph
🌧 28.4 mm (100%)
Sun 13 Sep
🌦️
11° / 6°
💨 14 mph
🌧 0.6 mm (62%)
Mon 14 Sep
🌧️
14° / 7°
💨 32 mph
🌧 11.3 mm (100%)
Tue 15 Sep
🌦️
13° / 7°
💨 35 mph
🌧 4.3 mm (89%)
Wed 16 Sep
🌦️
10° / 8°
💨 31 mph
🌧 2.0 mm (78%)
Thu 17 Sep
🌦️
10° / 7°
💨 36 mph
🌧 3.2 mm (92%)

Forecast snapshot from 11 Sep 2026, 08:30 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.

Gray Crag at a glance

Gray Crag

Gray Crag, a Lake District fell
Photo: Mick Knapton at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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. Wainwright noted the fine views of Hayeswater from the summit and the good prospect of the High Street range to the north. The ascent from Hartsop via the direct ridge is short and entertaining. Often combined with The Knott and Thornthwaite Crag for a Hayeswater circuit. A modest but satisfying summit with good views of this quiet corner of the Eastern Fells.

Routes up Gray Crag

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

Classifications & hill data

Wainwright
Far Eastern
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
698 m
Height
2,290 ft
In feet
NY 4275 1171
Grid ref

The short answers

Is Gray Crag a Wainwright?

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

Where do you park for Gray Crag?

The nearest car park we hold is Hartsop village (free, donation), about 2.2 km from the summit in a straight line. The next is Hartsop Dodd car park (free), 2.4 km out. We only look within 2.5 km, measured straight-line: over longer distances a road may cross a pass and the drive bears no relation to the line.

My hikes over Gray Crag (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

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

Parking & buses for Gray Crag

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).

Hartsop village (free, donation) — 2.2 km from summit (straight line)
For Hartsop Dodd, Gray Crag, High Street via Hayeswater, Brock Crags.
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
If it is full: Cow Bridge, Hartsop (paid) (0.9 km)
Hartsop Dodd car park (free) — 2.4 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Hartsop Dodd (0.9 km), Gale Crag (1.2 km), Brock Crags (Wainwright) (1.6 km). Free (OSM-tagged). Compacted surface (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
Hartsop Dodd (layby) — 2.5 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: Hartsop Dodd (0.9 km), High Hartsop Dodd (1.2 km), Gale Crag (1.3 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
High Hartsop Dodd (layby) — 2.6 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: High Hartsop Dodd (1.0 km), Hartsop Dodd (1.1 km), Gale Crag (1.5 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?
High Hartsop Dodd car park (free) — 2.7 km from summit (straight line)
Nearest fells: High Hartsop Dodd (0.8 km), Middle Dodd (1.3 km), Caudale Moor - John Bell's Banner (1.3 km). Free (OSM-tagged).
Directions (opens in new tab)Something changed here?

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.

Vehicles are left entirely at their owner’s risk. We list places people park; we cannot vouch for any of them. Judge it on the day: take valuables with you, leave nothing on show, and if a spot feels wrong when you get there, park somewhere else.

Getting to Gray Crag by bus

The 508 stops at Hartsop, adjacent to road end, 590 m and 28 m of ascent from the start of Hartsop Dodd, Stony Cove Pike, Thornthwaite Crag and Gray Crag. The last bus is 19:51 towards Windermere (508), every day. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 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.

Hazards on Gray Crag

No hazard card for this fell. The usual open-fell rules apply: check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected.

Navigating Gray Crag in cloud

Serious in cloud

Walkable 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.

Map & nearby Birketts

Free 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.

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

10.0 km · ~832 m ascent · loop · ~3–4.5 h

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

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

On the hill: terrain and water on Gray Crag

Water & shelter on the way up

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

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
Computed 360-degree skyline from Gray Crag29 labelled tops shown (6 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWHelvellyn · 9 kmCatstye Cam · 9 kmHigh Crag · 9 kmRaise · 10 kmFairfield · 7 kmBlencathra · 19 kmCrinkle Crags · 19 kmGreat Dodd · 12 kmStybarrow Dodd · 11 kmHigh Raise · 3 kmSwirl How · 19 kmDove Crag · 6 kmThornthwaite Crag · 2 kmRed Screes · 4 kmStony Cove Pike · 2 kmRed Crag · 4 kmBowscale Fell · 21 kmCold Pike · 18 kmLoadpot Hill · 7 kmCarrock Fell · 24 kmKidsty Pike · 2 kmThe Knott · 1 kmRest Dodd · 2 kmGreat Mell Fell · 14 kmBeda Fell · 6 kmLittle Mell Fell · 12 kmSour Howes · 8 kmGlenridding Dodd · 8 kmTroutbeck Tongue · 5 kmDollywaggon Pike · 8 kmSt Sunday Crag · 6 kmHart Crag · 6 kmGreen Side · 10 kmCaudale Moor · 2 kmHigh Crag · 25 kmLittle Carrs · 19 kmWether Hill · 6 kmHarter Fell · 24 kmHeron Pike · 8 kmSwarth Fell · 8 kmCapple Howe · 9 kmGreat Meldrum · 11 kmGummer's How · 24 kmNewton Fell South · 30 km · clear daysBroad Law · 115 km · a rare clear dayMoel y Gamelin · 167 km · a handful of days a yearWisp Hill · 88 km · a rare clear dayRoan Fell · 81 km · a rare clear dayDun Rig · 121 km · a handful of days a yearBlackwood Hill · 85 km · a rare clear day
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.

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°.

30°40°50°60°70°04:58
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 lightAlmanac sunriseDifference
Midsummer04:58 BST ±5.0 min04:36+22 min
Equinox06:42 GMT ±5.0 min06:15+27 min
Midwinter09:06 GMT ±5.0 min08:32+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 lightAlmanac sunsetDifference
Midsummer21:47 BST ±5.0 min21:52-5 min
Equinox18:15 GMT ±5.0 min18:25-10 min
Midwinter15:38 GMT ±5.0 min15:48-10 min

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. 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.
39Wainwrights in view+16 marginal
1Sea in viewMorecambe Bay
Far horizons
  • Morecambe Bay bay/estuaryS · 45 km in view
All 39 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

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.

Places to stay near this fell

Greenbank Farm Bed and Breakfast (opens in new tab) guest house

about 1.8 km from the start, in a straight line

Ranked first despite being the eighth-nearest candidate because it answers more of the 6pm questions than anything else in the radius, and it answers them in its own sentences with prices attached: drying facilities, evening meals from £14.00, packed lunches at £6.00, and the only stated room composition on an independent B&B here. Its family room is a room for three, not four — which is exactly the fact a family of four needs before booking, and the reason a bare family_rooms=yes would have been a worse row than this one.

The farmhouse sits below Arnison Crag and looks across at Place Fell and Angletarn Pikes — the two fells this start's routes climb.

  • Drying room “We also have drying facilities and a large patio and garden to enjoy the view.”
  • Family rooms “Family: Room for three with a double and one single bed.”
  • Evening meal “We offer hearty home-cooked breakfasts and evening meals as well as packed lunches if required.”
  • Packed lunch “Packed Lunches £6.00”

Worth knowing before you book

These places state on their own site that they do not take children.

What each place says about itself, quoted from their own site. We have not stayed at any of them, and there are no prices, no booking and no affiliate links. 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 832 m of ascent — not a long day, but we grade its steepness severe, with the sharpest pull in the first kilometre out of Hartsop. Pace that and the rest is a reward.

Questions drawn from real Google “People also ask” searches; answers written and fact-checked by us. · Reviewed 2026-08-30 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

Other fells near Gray Crag