Great Crag - a rocky, heathery knoll topped by a small cairn, under a heavy grey sky

Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Summited August 2025

Home › Fells › Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

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

Great Crag at 449m (1,473ft) is a small, craggy summit above Watendlath, its rocky top giving fine views of the charming hamlet and tarn below and across to Glaramara and the Borrowdale fells. Wainwright included it in his Central Fells guide.

Summit conditions on Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 13° to 7°C, gusts to 54 mph, 10.2 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

47 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 1.05. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 54 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

10.2 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 4 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 43 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 Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

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

Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag Walked by Lee

14.11 km · ~838 m ascent · ~4–5¾ h · loop · 4 summits

Hard effort Hard: distance and steepness

Park: Rosthwaite (NT, paid) · Bus: 78 at the start

Borrowdale's small rough summits in one round: Castle Crag, King's How, Brund Fell and Great Crag, 14.1 km and 838 m.

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 →

Is Great Crag a hard walk?

Short and rocky rather than hard. Great Crag sits above Stonethwaite in a knot of small crags, heather and boggy hollows, and the climbing is brief — but the ground is more broken than the height suggests and there is no single obvious line to the top.

Our round with Castle Crag and Brund Fell is 14.1 km with 838 m of ascent. Note this is the Stonethwaite Great Crag; there is another fell of the same name, which is worth checking before you set off from the wrong valley.

How we check →

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Modelled for the 449 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

Full 7-day forecast

Tue 27 Oct

13° / 7°

54 mph

10.2 mm (100%)

Wed 28 Oct

11° / 7°

34 mph

11.6 mm (100%)

Thu 29 Oct

10° / 8°

28 mph

0.1 mm (26%)

Fri 30 Oct

10° / 7°

29 mph

0.0 mm (31%)

Sat 31 Oct

11° / 1°

8 mph

0.3 mm (25%)

Sun 1 Nov

9° / 1°

8 mph

0.0 mm (12%)

Mon 2 Nov

8° / 1°

17 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 Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Parking

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

Rosthwaite (NT, paid) — at the start of Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag

Village car park in the heart of Rosthwaite, for the central Borrowdale fells and Watendlath ridge. The 'Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag' route starts 10 m away; 'The Borrowdale Fells (Rosthwaite Fell round)' 23 m. Toilets beside it, often closed in winter (National Trust, read 5 October 2026). Fees: pay and display (Lake District National Park car-parks directory, checked August 2026). The National Trust does not allow overnight parking here (NT, checked August 2026).

Directions Something changed here?

If it is full: Stonethwaite village (roadside, free) (1.5 km, 32 m up); Seatoller (NT, paid) (2.2 km, 27 m up); Quay Foot Quarry, Borrowdale (NT, paid) (2.4 km, 94 m up)

Rosthwaite Village (~32 m straight line) — Free · Accessible The Flock-in

Rosthwaite, south-east field car park (paid) — 1.1 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?

Stonethwaite village (roadside, free) — 1.2 km from summit (straight line)

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

2 more places to park near Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Stonethwaite lane (layby) — 1.2 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 17 m away. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).

Directions Something changed here?

Stonethwaite lane, south-west (layby) — 1.3 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?

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 General Store (near), a 180 m walk from the start of Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag — a route we rate Hard overall (hardest: distance and 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 20:05. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 12 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 Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Notes from the Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag route

If you need to get off (the leg from Grange Fell): You can head west off the moorland to drop down toward the Borrowdale valley, though the paths are steep and rough.

Quoted from the route page: the note for the leg that reaches Great Crag (Stonethwaite).

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

Severe

Of the three things our terrain model measures, the highest reading here is the amount of near-level ground around 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 Great Crag (Stonethwaite) 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 Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

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

1.9 km EWatendlath Fell (Long Moss)515 m · Central

2.0 km ENEShivery Knott491 m · Central

2.1 km ENEMiddle Crag484 m · Central

2.3 km SELow Saddle656 m · Central

2.3 km NNWKing's How - Grange Fell392 m · Central

2.6 km SEColdbarrow Fell - High Saddle675 m · Central

2.8 km EBell Crags (Long Moss) (Blea Tarn Fell)559 m · Central

3.0 km ENEArmboth Fell (Birkett)479 m · Central

3.0 km ESEStanding Crag611 m · Central

Routes over Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag

14.11 km · ~838 m ascent · loop · ~4–5¾ h

Hard effort Hard: distance and steepness

Summits: Castle Crag King's How - Grange Fell Grange Fell (Brund Fell)Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Download GPX Walked by Lee, August 2025

Route guide: Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great 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 Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Water & shelter on the way up

On the Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag route:

bus shelter (8 m off the line) toilets (11 m off the line) General Store (N bound) (68 m from the start, straight line) General Store (S bound) (82 m from the start, straight line) Howe Lane End (S bound) (337 m from the start, straight line) Howe Lane End (N bound) (339 m from the start, straight line)

About Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

The ascent from Watendlath is short and pleasant. A fine small fell for those visiting Watendlath, one of the most picturesque spots in Lakeland.

My Strava hikes over Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

Least favourite hike, should forget the Birketts and their dodgy tracks (opens in new tab) — 13.6 km · 790 m ascent · 4h 09m moving · 30 August 2025

Data from Strava.

Classifications & hill data

Is Great Crag (Stonethwaite) a Wainwright?

Great Crag (Stonethwaite) is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list and the Fellranger list.

Selected lists

449 m

Height

1,473 ft

In feet

NY 2700 1468

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 Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

The 360° skyline from Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

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: Skiddaw Lesser Man (13 km), Knowe Crags (13 km), Skiddaw Little Man (13 km), Gategill Fell Top (14 km), Skiddaw South Top (14 km), Skiddaw Middle Top (14 km)
North-east: Watson's Dodd (8 km), Stybarrow Dodd (8 km), Little Dodd (9 km), Great Dodd (9 km)
East: Helvellyn Lower Man (7 km), White Side (7 km), Helvellyn (7 km), Nethermost Pike (7 km), High Crag (7 km), Raise (8 km), Dollywaggon Pike (8 km), Cofa Pike (9 km), Fairfield (9 km)
South: Bowfell (9 km), Shelter Crags (10 km), Crinkle Crags (10 km), Crinkle Crags (10 km), Crinkle Crags (10 km), Crinkle Crags (10 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (10 km), Great Carrs (14 km), Swirl How (14 km), Dow Crag (17 km)
South-west: Glaramara (5 km), Great Gable (7 km), Great End (8 km), Esk Pike (8 km), Kirk Fell East Top (8 km), Kirk Fell (9 km), Ill Crag (9 km), Lingmell (9 km)
West: Pillar (10 km), Scoat Fell (12 km)
North-west: Grisedale Pike (11 km)

On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Queensberry (90 km, Scotland), Ballencleuch Law (96 km, Scotland), Hods Hill (99 km, Scotland), White Hill (72 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 Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Great Crag (Stonethwaite) waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls on 1 December, when the sun is up for 51 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 09:02 against an almanac sunrise of 08:11. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the south-east from here (138.9°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 4.92°.

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	05:01 BST ±5.0 min	04:37	+24 min
Equinox	06:41 GMT ±5.0 min	06:16	+25 min
Midwinter	09:22 GMT ±5.0 min	08:33	+49 min

The northern horizon stands at about 0.94° from here.

Last light — when the sun leaves Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Great Crag (Stonethwaite) loses the sun early. Its earliest evening of the modelled year falls on 1 May, when last light is 25 minutes before almanac sunset — 20:22 against 20:47. The sun goes down to the west-north-west from here (293.4°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 2.89°.

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	21:37 BST ±5.0 min	21:53	-16 min
Equinox	18:11 GMT ±5.0 min	18:26	-15 min
Midwinter	15:25 GMT ±5.0 min	15:49	-24 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 Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

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

59Wainwrights in view+8 marginal

—Sea in viewnone from here

All 59 Wainwrights in clear view (nearest first)

Grange Fell (Brund Fell), Castle Crag, Rosthwaite Fell - Bessyboot, Eagle Crag, High Tove, Sergeant's Crag, High Seat, High Spy, Dale Head, Maiden Moor, Glaramara, Bleaberry Fell, High Raise (High White Stones), Base Brown, Hindscarth, Cat Bells (Catbells), Brandreth, Fleetwith Pike, Green Gable, White Side, Helvellyn, Great Gable, Pike of Stickle, Nethermost Pike, Great End, Raise, Dollywaggon Pike, Haystacks (Buttermere), Esk Pike, Causey Pike, Watson's Dodd, Barrow, Stybarrow Dodd, Bowfell, Kirk Fell, Lingmell, High Crag (Buttermere), Sail, Fairfield, Great Dodd, Crinkle Crags - Long Top (Second Crinkle), Clough Head, Latrigg, Pillar, Pike of Blisco, Grisedale Pike, Cold Pike, Lonscale Fell, Skiddaw Little Man, Barf, Carl Side, Lord's Seat, Great Carrs, Long Side, Swirl How, Ullock Pike, Grey Friar, Broom Fell, Dow Crag

How the view from Great Crag (Stonethwaite) 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 Great Crag (Stonethwaite). 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 Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Is Great Crag a hard walk? Answered above.

How hard is Grange Fell and Great Crag?

Moderate — a straightforward climb. Our round from Rosthwaite over Castle Crag, Grange Fell (King’s How and Brund Fell) and Great Crag is 14.1 km with 838 m of ascent.

The catch is that three small fells add up to a long day: we rate the length hard, and the steepest pull, about 31%, comes early. Terrain, navigation and exposure are all moderate, so it asks for stamina, and some route-finding between the knolls, and the heather and boggy hollows between the tops slow you more than the map suggests.

Questions from Google’s “People also ask”. · Last updated 2026-09-23 · Suggest a question or correction (opens in new tab)

Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Summit conditions on Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Wind on the top

Rain, and the becks

Routes up Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Is Great Crag a hard walk?

Conditions and 7-day summit forecast

Parking & buses for Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Parking

Buses

Hazards on Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Notes from the Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag route

Navigating in cloud

If you need Mountain Rescue

Map, GPX and nearby Birketts

Birketts within 3 km of Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Routes over Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

On the hill: terrain and water on Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Water & shelter on the way up

About Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

My Strava hikes over Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Classifications & hill data

Is Great Crag (Stonethwaite) a Wainwright?

Selected lists

The view from Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

The 360° skyline from Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Sunrise and sunset on Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Last light — when the sun leaves Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

What you can see from Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Places to stay near this fell

Frequently asked questions about Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Other fells near Great Crag (Stonethwaite)