Great Carrs
Great Carrs at 785m (2,575ft) is a Wainwright summit in the Southern Fells, forming the rocky northern arm of the Swirl How ridge above Wrynose Pass.
Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast
Modelled guidance for the 785 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 13° to 12°C, gusts to 36 mph, 4.2 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 785 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
Great Carrs
Routes up Great Carrs
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: Three Shire Stone, Wrynose Pass (verge), about 1.8 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.
Birketts near Great Carrs (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 Great Carrs
✎️ Walked and described first-hand by Lee, Wetherlam-first — 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.
A planned line is a suggestion, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate independently and carry a map & compass.
The View from Great Carrs
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 Great Carrs, by direction
- North: Stybarrow Dodd (19 km), Watson's Dodd (20 km), Great Dodd (21 km), Crag Hill (21 km), Grisedale Pike (23 km), Knowe Crags (26 km), Skiddaw Lesser Man (27 km), Skiddaw Little Man (27 km), Gategill Fell Top (27 km), Blencathra (27 km), Skiddaw South Top (28 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (28 km), Skiddaw (28 km), Skiddaw North Top (28 km)
- North-east: Fairfield (14 km), Dove Crag (14 km), Hart Crag (14 km), Dollywaggon Pike (14 km), High Crag (15 km), Nethermost Pike (15 km), Helvellyn (16 km), Helvellyn Lower Man (16 km), White Side (17 km), Raise (18 km), High Street (20 km), Rampsgill Head (21 km), High Raise (22 km)
- South: Brim Fell (2 km)
- North-west: Crinkle Crags South Top (4 km), Crinkle Crags (4 km), Crinkle Crags (4 km), Crinkle Crags (5 km), Crinkle Crags (5 km), Bowfell (6 km), Esk Pike (7 km), Ill Crag (8 km), Scafell Pike (8 km), Broad Crag (8 km), Scafell (8 km), Great End (9 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Snowdon (161 km, Wales), Carnedd Llewelyn (149 km, Wales), Aran Fawddwy (183 km, Wales), Snaefell (88 km, Isle of Man), Moel Siabod (157 km, Wales), South Barrule (104 km, Isle of Man), Slieve Croob (185 km, Ireland), Yr Eifl (181 km, Wales).
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 Great Carrs
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales and the Isle of Man.
- Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) Wales
- Carnedd Llewelyn Wales
- Snaefell Isle of Man
- Ingleborough Yorkshire Dales
- Cross Fell North Pennines
- Whernside Yorkshire Dales
- Irish Sea open water
All 101 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)
Swirl How, Grey Friar, Wetherlam, Brim Fell, Cold Pike, The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man), Dow Crag, Pike of Blisco, Hard Knott, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Lingmoor Fell (Brown How), Harter Fell (Eskdale), Bowfell, Loft Crag, Pike of Stickle, Harrison Stickle, Rossett Pike, Thunacar Knott, Pavey Ark, Slight Side, Esk Pike, Blea Rigg, Silver How, Sergeant Man, Scafell Pike, Scafell, Great End, High Raise (High White Stones), Loughrigg Fell, Tarn Crag (Easedale), Glaramara, Helm Crag, Gibson Knott, Nab Scar, Illgill Head, Heron Pike (Rydal), Steel Fell (Dead Pike - Steel Fell), Stone Arthur, Ullscarf, Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, Whin Rigg (Wasdale), Low Pike, Great Rigg, Seat Sandal, High Pike (Scandale), Middle Fell, Great Crag (Stonethwaite), Fairfield, Baystones (Wansfell), Dove Crag, Hart Crag, Dollywaggon Pike, Red Screes, Nethermost Pike, Seatallan, Dale Head, Middle Dodd, Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Sour Howes, Helvellyn, Hindscarth, Sallows, White Side, Yoke, Hartsop Dodd, Ill Bell, Raise, Froswick, Thornthwaite Crag, Bleaberry Fell, Gray Crag, Stybarrow Dodd, Watson's Dodd, High Street, Mardale Ill Bell, The Knott (High Street), Sail, Kentmere Pike, Rest Dodd, Scar Crags, Great Dodd, Shipman Knotts, Rampsgill Head, Lank Rigg, Kidsty Pike, High Raise (High Street), Clough Head, Grisedale Pike, Tarn Crag (Sleddale), Grey Crag (Sleddale Fell), Lonscale Fell, Dodd (Skiddaw), Skiddaw Little Man, Carl Side, Blencathra - Hallsfell Top, Long Side, Ullock Pike, Skiddaw, Bannerdale Crags, Knott, Binsey
How Great Carrs’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 Great Carrs
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 The Coniston Horseshoe route:
On-route facilities © OpenStreetMap contributors, per route — an absent marker doesn’t mean none.
Buses to Great Carrs from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere
No regular bus serves the start points for this fell — this is one for the car (or a long approach from the nearest served valley). The nearest hubs are Penrith (X4/X5 & 508), Ambleside and Windermere (555, 505, 516).
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
My hikes over Great Carrs (Strava)
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 Aug 2024
Interactive route maps and photos load here for visitors with JavaScript. Data from Strava.
Hazard & Incident Information for Great Carrs
A high fell on the Coniston (Furness) skyline whose gentle western slopes give no hint of the abrupt drop on its eastern side, where the ground falls away in crags and steep scree into the Greenburn corrie. The summit edge is also the site of a wartime aircraft memorial — a Halifax bomber crashed here in cloud in 1944, a sober reminder of how the flat top and sudden edge combine in poor visibility. Coniston Mountain Rescue Team covers this remote high ground.
- The steep eastern edge above Greenburn (and the memorial): 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.
- Navigation on the high plateau in cloud: 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; this is the kind of disorientation that brought the bomber down here.
- Winter cornices and the steep descents: Cornices build along the eastern edge in winter and can collapse; the Wet Side Edge descent is steep and rough. Full winter kit and competence are needed when there is snow or ice, and extra margin kept from the corniced rim.
Most common causes: Falls over the sudden eastern edge into the Greenburn corrie · Navigation errors on the featureless high plateau in cloud · Cornice collapse and slips on iced ground in winter · Problems compounded by the remoteness and long walk-out
Local Mountain Rescue: Coniston Mountain Rescue Team (opens in new tab) · Reviewed 14 Jun 2026
Safety: Hazard guidance compiled from published Mountain Rescue reports and well-documented accident history - editorial background, not a live feed of callouts. 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.
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, though the lead and cadmium that would harm a person stay below the drinking limit here. Treat any hill water before drinking (a 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 Great Carrs in cloud
StraightforwardA broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. Navigation here is relatively straightforward even in cloud — but carry map and compass and know how to use them; a low score never means “safe”.
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 Great Carrs 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 Great Carrs
- Allen Crags
- Black Fell
- Bowfell
- Brim Fell
- Cold Pike
- Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle)
- Dow Crag
- Esk Pike
- Glaramara
- Great End
- Green Crag
- Grey Friar
- Hard Knott
- Harter Fell (Eskdale)
- Holme Fell
- Illgill Head
- Lingmell
- Lingmoor Fell (Brown How)
- Pike of Blisco
- Rossett Pike
- Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot
- Scafell
- Scafell Pike
- Seathwaite Fell (Wainwright summit)
- Slight Side
- Swirl How
- The Old Man of Coniston (Coniston Old Man)
- Wetherlam
- Whin Rigg (Wasdale)
Maps & guidebooks for Great Carrs
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