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449 m · Wainwright — Central Fells · Birketts to bag nearby, parking, buses, my hikes and live summit weather.

Great Crag - a rocky, heathery knoll topped by a small cairn, under a heavy grey sky
Wainwright — Central FellsAlso a Birkett

Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

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.

449 m
Height
~2.5–3 h
Typical time
+9
Bonus Birketts
See routes & download GPX →

Home › Fells › Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Written and walked by Lee McCoy · Last reviewed

449 mWainwright — Central Fells✓ summit is also a Birkett+9 bonus Birketts within 3 km Severe in cloud

Is it worth going? — Today’s conditions & 7-day summit forecast

Modelled guidance for the 449 m summit. Always check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.

On the summit today (Tue 28 Jul): 17° to 15°C, gusts to 33 mph, 4.4 mm of rain forecast.

Tue 28 Jul
🌦️
17° / 15°
💨 33 mph
🌧 4.4 mm (99%)
Wed 29 Jul
🌧️
16° / 12°
💨 26 mph
🌧 4.7 mm (100%)
Thu 30 Jul
🌦️
14° / 5°
💨 29 mph
🌧 2.0 mm (87%)
Fri 31 Jul
🌤️
15° / 3°
💨 23 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (86%)
Sat 1 Aug
🌦️
16° / 4°
💨 14 mph
🌧 5.4 mm (82%)
Sun 2 Aug
🌫️
17° / 4°
💨 18 mph
🌧 0.0 mm (35%)
Mon 3 Aug
🌦️
16° / 5°
💨 16 mph
🌧 0.4 mm (23%)

Forecast snapshot from 28 Jul 2026, 04:58 UTC — refreshed nightly and updated live in your browser. Temperatures and gusts adjusted to the 449 m summit altitude via Open-Meteo. Summit conditions are always harsher than the valley — check the professional mountain forecasts before you go.

Pro mountain forecasts: MWIS · Met Office mountain forecast

About the walk

Key information

Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

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

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

Routes up Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

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

Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag
14.1 km · ~4.1 hr
Classifications & hill data
Wainwright
Central
Birkett
Fellranger
Synge
449 m
Height
1,473 ft
In feet
NY 2700 1468
Grid ref

Map & nearby Birketts

Free mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap (switch layers top-right). Parking positions are approximate.

Nearest parking: Stonethwaite (roadside, limited), about 0.6 km from the summit (straight line). Full parking, toilets and bus details are below.

Birketts near Great Crag (Stonethwaite) (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.

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 CragRevised
14.11 km · ~795 m ascent · loop · ~4–5.5 h
Summits: Castle CragKing's How - Grange FellGrange Fell (Brund Fell)Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

⬇️ Download GPX

Full route guide ↗

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

The View 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
Computed 360-degree skyline from Great Crag (Stonethwaite)36 labelled tops shown (1 distant behind the far-horizon toggle). Theoretical visibility in perfect clarity; computed from terrain, not photographed.eye levelNNEESESSWWNWHelvellyn · 7 kmIll Crag · 9 kmSkiddaw Middle Top · 14 kmBowfell · 9 kmGreat Gable · 7 kmPillar · 10 kmNethermost Pike · 7 kmEsk Pike · 8 kmRaise · 8 kmFairfield · 9 kmDollywaggon Pike · 8 kmGreat Dodd · 9 kmGategill Fell Top · 14 kmStybarrow Dodd · 8 kmCrinkle Crags · 10 kmLingmell · 9 kmSwirl How · 14 kmKirk Fell · 9 kmGrisedale Pike · 11 kmSail · 9 kmHigh Raise · 5 kmDale Head · 5 kmHigh Crag · 9 kmJenkin Hill · 13 kmHindscarth · 6 kmClough Head · 10 kmLonscale Fell · 13 kmGreat Knott · 10 kmUllock Pike · 14 kmColdbarrow Fell · 3 kmHigh Seat · 4 kmLord's Seat · 14 kmStanding Crag · 3 kmLining Crag · 4 kmGrange Fell · 2 kmCastle Crag · 2 kmHelvellyn Lower Man · 7 kmHigh Crag · 7 kmWhite Side · 7 kmSkiddaw Lesser Man · 13 kmGlaramara · 5 kmDow Crag · 17 kmHopegill Head · 11 kmCarl Side · 14 kmLow White Stones · 5 kmBrandreth · 6 kmScar Crags · 9 kmCalfhow Pike · 9 kmHigh Spy · 4 kmCausey Pike · 8 kmHaystacks · 8 kmBleaberry Fell · 5 kmSergeant's Crag · 3 kmBarf · 13 kmLow Saddle · 2 kmDovenest Top · 4 kmBrown Crag · 6 kmHigh Tove · 3 kmQueensberry · 90 km · a rare clear day
What you can see from Great Crag (Stonethwaite), 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 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 (CC BY 4.0). See how we compute the view · and the summit intervisibility report below.

What you can see from Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
58Wainwrights in view+9 marginal
—Sea in viewnone from here
All 58 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, Brandreth, Fleetwith Pike, Green Gable, White Side, Helvellyn, Great Gable, Pike of Stickle, Nethermost Pike, Rossett 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, Carl Side, Lord's Seat, Great Carrs, Long Side, Swirl How, Ullock Pike, Grey Friar, Broom Fell, Dow Crag

How Great Crag (Stonethwaite)’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 Crag (Stonethwaite)

Where we have the data, each parking spot also shows the nearest public toilets and facilities (cafés, pubs, shops).

Stonethwaite (roadside, limited) — 0.6 km from summit (straight line)
Small roadside area near the hamlet — Eagle Crag, Sergeant's Crag, Langstrath approaches.
Directions
🚺 Rosthwaite Village (1156m) — Free · Accessible☕ Peathouse Tea & Coffee Shop🍺 The Langstrath Inn
Rosthwaite (NT, paid) — 1.3 km from summit (straight line)
Village car park for the central Borrowdale fells and Watendlath ridge.
Directions
🚺 Rosthwaite Village (189m) — Free · Accessible☕ The Flock-in

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 Castle Crag, Brund Fell & Great Crag route:

🛖 map (8 m)🚺 map (11 m)🚌 General Store (N bound) (68 m)🚌 General Store (S bound) (82 m)🚌 Howe Lane End (S bound) (337 m)🚌 Howe Lane End (N bound) (339 m)

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

Buses to Great Crag (Stonethwaite) from Penrith / Ambleside / Windermere

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, 20 min walk up the lane).
Stagecoach 77 / 77A “Honister Rambler”
Keswick – Portinscale – Hawse End (Catbells) – Grange – Seatoller – Honister Pass – Buttermere – Lorton – Whinlatter – Keswick (circular)
Catch it from: Keswick (connect via 555 from Windermere/Ambleside or X4/X5 from Penrith)
Seasonal (roughly Easter–October). Brilliant for the North Western fells: Catbells, Dale Head from Honister, the Buttermere fells and Whinlatter.

Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com or Traveline before relying on a last bus.

My hikes over Great Crag (Stonethwaite) (Strava)

1 logged hike pass over this summit:

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

Navigating Great Crag (Stonethwaite) in cloud

Severe

A broad, gently-sloping top with little to steer by — easy to lose your bearings and hard to relocate in mist. 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: navigating in cloud. A relative, deliberately cautious guide; the site can’t navigate for you.

Other fells near Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

Maps & guidebooks for Great Crag (Stonethwaite)

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