489 mWainwright — Southern Fells+7 bonus Birketts within 3 km
Green Crag at 489m (1,603ft) is a delightful rocky summit above the Ulpha Fells in Dunnerdale, its small crags and bilberry-covered knolls quite different in character from the high fells to the north.
Summit conditions on Green Crag
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 12° to 6°C, gusts to 43 mph, 2.2 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
54mph, our estimate for the open top in the worst daylight hour
The Met Office 2 km model’s gust of 47 mph times our exposure factor of 1.15. The summit line above gives Open-Meteo’s highest gust for the whole day, 43 mph, before any exposure factor.
under 25
25–35
35–45
45–55
55+
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.
Also checkedcold: feels like 3 °C, no ice or snow forecast; cloud: a clear-top reading of 35 out of 100, over our in-cloud line of 20; rain: 2.2 mm in the day, under our 6 mm line. 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
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 →
Choose the way up before the car park: these two routes start from two places, and the last two rows give the parking and bus at each route’s own start. Full maps further down.
Goat Crag layby, foot of Hardknott Pass (Eskdale side)
Birker Fell Road (Devoke Water)
Distance and climb
14.68 km, 961 m of climb
12.03 km, 544 m of climb
Time, fast to steady
~4½–6¼ h
~3¼–4½ h
Scrambling
Hands for a few steps: the summit tors of Green Crag and Harter Fell (about km 4.4 and about km 7.7). Rocky summit tors (Harter Fell, Green Crag) — a hands-on move or two, no sustained exposure.
Hands for a few steps: Green Crag's summit tiers, and the way off it (km 6.8–7.4). The final approach requires a short, sharp scramble up steep, rocky tiers to attain the commanding, craggy summit of Green Crag.
Exposure
Moderate
Not assessed
Navigation
Moderate
Moderate
Steepest stretch
Climb of about 38% at 7.4 km (Severe)
Climb of about 22% at 4.3 km (Moderate)
After the summit
Over Harter Fell (Eskdale) and Hard Knott
Over Broad Crag - Birker Fell and Birker Fell - Great Crag
Walked or planned
Planned: drawn, not yet walked
Planned: drawn, not yet walked
Car park at the start
Goat Crag (layby) (free)
Devoke Water turning, Birker Fell road (verge) (free)
Bus to the start
Nearest stop 10.9 km on foot
Nearest stop 17.3 km on foot
Times run from fast to steady pace (Naismith’s rule). Scrambling quotes each route’s own notes; “not mentioned” means they do not say, not that the ground has none. Each route’s page has its map, stages and GPX.
Distance, climb and the steepest stretch are measured from each route’s GPX track; the other grades are set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap, and each route page says which. How we check →
Is Green Crag hard to reach?
The getting there is most of the work. Green Crag stands above Eskdale in rough, boggy, pathless country, and the ground between the road and the fell is what makes it a proper day rather than a stroll.
Our round with Great Winscale and Broad Crag is 12.0 km with 544 m of ascent, which we rate Hard overall — note how little of that is climbing for the distance covered. The summit rocks need a short, sharp scramble up rocky tiers, and care coming back down; the view down Eskdale is the reward.
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
Goat Crag (layby) — at the start of Alternative Hardknott Round (Green Crag, Harter Fell & Hard Knott)
Walking base for Green Crag, Harter Fell (Eskdale) and Hard Knott — the 'Alternative Hardknott Round (Green Crag, Harter Fell & Hard Knott)' route starts 25 m away. Free (OSM-tagged). Grass surface (OSM-tagged).
Goat Crag, south-east (layby) — 2.9 km from summit (straight line)
Walking base for Green Crag, Harter Fell (Eskdale) and Hard Knott — the 'Alternative Hardknott Round (Green Crag, Harter Fell & Hard Knott)' route starts 204 m away. Free (OSM-tagged). Unpaved surface (OSM-tagged).
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 nearest bus stop we hold is the 516 at Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, 10.9 km of walking from the start — no bus route we hold serves it.
Notes from a planned route, not walked: Alternative Hardknott Round (Green Crag, Harter Fell & Hard Knott)
The ground north of Green Crag is boggy — wet, tussocky and slow, and worse after rain. Pick a dry spell and expect to lose time here.
Rough, rocky and only lightly pathed — navigation needs care in poor visibility. Carry map and compass.
A long, remote round (nearly 15 km, 950 m of ascent) with little quick escape; start early and carry food, water and layers.
Livestock on the lower fields; keep dogs under close control.
If you need to get off (the leg from Goat Crag layby, foot of Hardknott Pass): The map shows the line on the Hardknott Pass road for its first 0.3 km, then on paths south over the moor to Green Crag; no mapped path reaches a road sooner than going back, so the way off is back the way you came, up to about 4.1 km from Green Crag; not walked for this guide.
Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: its warnings and the note for the leg that reaches Green Crag.
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
Not graded by the model
Our terrain model finds nothing to grade on this summit, so it gives no cloud grade here — that is not a sign of easy navigation. Read this fell’s hazard notes and the route pages before a day in cloud. Carry map and compass, and know how to use them.
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 Green Crag 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.
Three wild, quiet Eskdale tops linked into a big round — boggy in stretches (notably north of Green Crag) and rocky underfoot; a dry, clear day makes all the difference.
Best season: Late spring to autumn, in dry weather. The ground north of Green Crag is notably boggy and much slower when wet.
Warnings: The ground north of Green Crag is boggy — wet, tussocky and slow, and worse after rain. Pick a dry spell and expect to lose time here. Rough, rocky and only lightly pathed — navigation needs care in poor visibility. Carry map and compass. A long, remote round (nearly 15 km, 950 m of ascent) with little quick escape; start early and carry food, water and layers. Livestock on the lower fields; keep dogs under close control.
Park on the verge at the Devoke Water turning on the Birker Fell road between Ulpha and Eskdale — a narrow, remote fell road, so come prepared and don't rely on a phone signal. It's a long walk in across open moor to the first top.
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.
About Green Crag
Wainwright included it in his Southern Fells guide, praising its excellent views south and west to the Duddon estuary and the Cumbrian coast. Our routes reach it from the Birker Fell road by Devoke Water, or from the foot of Hardknott Pass in Eskdale on a longer round with Harter Fell (Eskdale) and Hard Knott, with views of Black Combe to the south. A genuinely pleasant summit that well repays the modest effort needed to reach it.
Classifications & hill data
Is Green Crag a Wainwright?
Green Crag is a Wainwright. It is also on the Birkett list, the Synge list, the Fellranger list and the HuMP list.
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 Green Crag
The 360° skyline from Green 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
The skyline as a list, by direction
North: Scafell (8 km), Scafell Pike (9 km), Ill Crag (9 km), Broad Crag (10 km), Esk Pike (10 km), Kirk Fell (12 km), Kirk Fell East Top (12 km), Red Pike (13 km), Scoat Fell (14 km), Black Crag (14 km), Pillar (14 km), High Crag (16 km), Grasmoor (22 km)
North-east: Stonesty Pike (8 km), Little Carrs (8 km), Hell Gill Pike (8 km), Crinkle Crags South Top (8 km), Crinkle Crags (8 km), Bowfell (9 km), Pike de Bield (9 km)
East: Walna Scar (6 km), Dow Crag (6 km), Grey Friar (6 km), Buck Pike (6 km), Brown Pike (6 km), Brim Fell (7 km), The Old Man of Coniston (7 km), Great How (8 km), Swirl How (8 km)
South-east: White Pike (6 km), White Maiden (6 km)
South-west: Whitfell (7 km), Burn Moor (8 km), Buck Barrow (9 km), Black Combe (14 km), Black Combe South Top (15 km)
North-west: Illgill Head (7 km), Seatallan (12 km), Haycock (14 km), Little Gowder Crag (14 km)
On the clearest days the far horizon adds: Carnedd Llewelyn (144 km, Wales), Aran Fawddwy (179 km, Wales), Snaefell (81 km, Isle of Man), Moel Siabod (152 km, Wales), Arenig Fawr (166 km, Wales), South Barrule (97 km, Isle of Man), Moel y Gamelin (152 km, Wales), Cadair Berwyn (166 km, Wales).
Green Crag waits for the sun. Its longest wait of the modelled year falls at midsummer, when the sun is up for 37 minutes before it clears this skyline — first light 05:15 against an almanac sunrise of 04:38. You are standing in shadow while the valley below is already lit. The sun comes up to the north-east from here (52.8°), and the skyline on that bearing stands at 3.59°.
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
05:15 BST ±5.0 min
04:38
+37 min
Equinox
06:34 GMT ±5.0 min
06:16
+18 min
Midwinter
08:30 GMT ±5.0 min
08:33
-3 min
The northern horizon stands at about 1.52° from here.
Last light — when the sun leaves Green Crag
Green Crag holds the light. On not one of the sixteen dates modelled does the sun leave this summit before almanac sunset — the ground falls away westward rather than standing over you.
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
21:52 BST ±5.0 min
21:52
—
Equinox
18:31 GMT ±5.0 min
18:27
+4 min
Midwinter
15:51 GMT ±5.0 min
15:50
+1 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 Green Crag
On a clear day — computed sightlines, curvature- and refraction-corrected.
23Wainwrights in view+1 marginal
140 kmFurthest sightlineCarnedd Llewelyn · possible under favourable refraction
2Sea in viewIrish Sea, Morecambe Bay
On the clearest days the view reaches across to Wales and the Isle of Man.
How the view from Green Crag 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 Green 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.
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
We have not verified an independent place near this fell — these are the chains and charities that serve it.
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).